Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
On another shelf, I found a statue of a young man playing a violin. It looked as if it had been sculpted out of clay. The figure was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but his clothes and hair were all pulled behind him as if he were standing against a strong wind. I wanted to tease him about it but bit back my words. I was more afraid that the statue would be removed from his office if I called attention to it.
All these secret things called to a hidden soft side that was so easily overlooked if you weren’t bothering to search for these things.
“To be fair, I haven’t always been this way,” I continued with a playful smirk. “When I was a teenager making appearances at parties like this, I was something of a disaster. It wasn’t clear to me why I had to make nice with these people. The only things I wanted to do were play my violin, listen to their applause, and leave.” I wandered to the big sofa and dropped onto it with a sigh. “My agent had to explain that being a prodigy wasn’t enough. People wanted to say they had met me, had their picture taken with me, and heard me tell some witty story. It was all part of the package I was selling.”
Pierce’s lips twisted into a wry grin. “You sold my employees plenty.”
“I wasn’t selling myself to them.” I lifted my eyebrows. “That display out there was all for you.”
Pierce pushed off his desk and strolled closer, his hands shoved into his pockets. “You don’t need to prove to me how talented you are.”
“I think I do. You’ve not seen half the things I can do.”
Pierce rolled his eyes and stopped a couple of feet away, standing over me. “I’ve seen plenty.”
“Not even close.” I sprang up and pressed my hands to his waist, sliding them up his chest. Surprisingly, he didn’t stop me. He just watched, a wary look in his eyes as if he were still trying to decide how far to let me go. “Have you ever had any fun in this office?”
“Do I want to know what you mean by fun?”
I lifted on the tips of my toes, my lips barely an inch from his. “Oh, I think you know what kind of fun I’m talking about.” His breath hitched as I moved closer, but I didn’t kiss him. I dropped to my heels and walked away, crossing to his door.
With a glance at him past my shoulder, I locked it so no one could intrude upon our privacy.
“Simon,” Pierce growled, his voice full of warning, but there was a light to his eyes that hadn’t been there before. He was turned-on and didn’t want to admit it. “I believe we discussed how we were going to be just friends. I’m not in the habit of kissing my friends.”
“First: You did the discussing. I didn’t agree with any of the nonsense you were spewing.” As I started walking toward him again, I pulled at my tie, loosening it until I could lift it over my head and toss it onto a chair or table. Fuck, it could have landed on the floor—I didn’t know or care. I wasn’t willing to take my eyes off him. “And second: I plan to do a lot more than kissing. I’m even willing to skip the kissing part this time and get right to the fucking.”
Pierce moved his head back and to the side as if trying to loosen up his neck, or maybe his skin was suddenly too tight. “This isn’t an appropriate place.”
I tugged at my suit jacket and let it slide along my arms to land crumpled on the floor. “That’s what makes this so fun.”
“We can’t.”
“You need this. Life has been really stressful for both of us. Your parents have been harassing you. I’ve been stressed about my concerto. We need this.”
I stepped between the coffee table and the couch, so close now I could hear his ragged breathing. I lifted my hands to rest them on his chest, prepared to continue seducing him until I finally had him worn down to putty in my hands, but he grabbed my wrist and hauled me in so fast my chest crashed into his. A gasp left my parted lips, and Pierce slammed his mouth on top of mine.
Ah. Got it. No more seduction necessary. He was already seduced. However, he didn’t feel like putty in my hands so much as I was melting into him, ready to do whatever the fuck he wanted so long as he didn’t stop kissing me. His tongue dove into my mouth and swept over every inch of it, as if he were laying claim to all of it as his domain. I moaned and returned the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck while trying to press even closer. Large hands moved along my back, massaging muscles and molding me into his harder body. Long fingers dug into my ass and cupped the cheeks, hiking me higher so that my hard dick rubbed his through our trousers.