WE MOVED TO MY room so Claire could do her work at the desk in the living room of my suite. That lasted for an hour before I had her on her back again, fucking her so hard, she ripped the sheets off the bed. She’d just looked too goddamn sexy in her little glasses, chewing on the end of a pen, her legs tucked under her in the big, leather desk chair.
Now, she had her tablet in bed, tapping out an email. I was supposed to be working on writing music for my next album, but that wasn’t happening. Not when I had this little filthy angel beside me in nothing but lacy black panties and a T-shirt. She was on her stomach and the freckled cheeks of her ass were looking like a nice place to lay my head.
With a groan, I rolled onto her, nuzzling against her impossibly soft skin. My arms slid between her stomach and the mattress, holding her close.
I’d never felt anything better than this girl. She was sexy without trying, and when she did try, she blew me the fuck away. No woman had ever staggered me this way.
“What are you doing back there?” She sounded bemused, but not unhappy.
“Mmm.” I pressed my face into her. God, she smelled like sex and honey. We’d already had sex twice today, and somehow, my dick was getting hard again.
“Are you cuddling my butt right now?” Claire let out a little wheezing giggle-snort that sent a wave of delight through my bones. “That’s adorable.”
“I don’t cuddle.” My arms banded tighter around her.
“I think you do. I fall asleep to you wrapped around me every night. That’s cuddling.”
I lifted my head. “Are you telling me you don’t like it?”
She twisted enough for me to see the smile on her lips. “I would tell you if I didn’t like something.”
I grunted, dropping back down onto my resting place.
“So, what are you doing back there, if not cuddling?”
“Thinking about how good your ass would look covered in my cum.”
“You already know how good it looks, silly.”
I licked one of my favorite freckles. “True. But I forget easily, so I’m going to need a reminder.”
She wiggled her hips a little, moaning softly. “Aren’t you supposed to be slowing down at your age? How can you possibly want it again so soon? I won’t be able to walk.”
I swatted her ass for mouthing off, momentarily mesmerized by the way her flesh moved under my hand. “I can admit this isn’t exactly usual for me. Our time is limited, though, so I’m taking all I can get from you.”
She tried to roll to her side, but I held her down. “Dominic…”
“I’m comfortable here, Claire. I’ll let you do your work.”
“Actually, I need to talk to you.”
Those words were like nails on a fucking chalkboard. Nothing good ever came after them. I immediately hated that Claire’s mouth was even capable of forming them.
Resigned, I shifted off her to lie on my back beside her. She sat up, cross-legged, her tablet in her lap. She turned on the screen and handed it to me.
“Isabela called me this morning while you were at the gym to tell me one of the interns had spotted us together in this picture.”
The screen showed a whole lot of me and a little bit of Claire at the restaurant I took her to in Salt Lake City. Having my picture taken by random people was an everyday occurrence for me, but not for Claire. If I could have protected her from this, if there was any way, I would have.
I switched the screen off and tossed the tablet onto the bed beside Claire. “What’d Iz have to say?” Her shoulders jumped, but it was so quick, if I hadn’t been looking, I wouldn’t have noticed. “You okay?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, it was weird hearing you call her that. I forget my boss is your ex-wife.”
“That’s because I’m your boss.” I curled my fingers around her ankle and tugged, sending her falling over me. She pushed up from my chest, her glasses crooked and hair over her face. I pushed a curl off her forehead, tucking it behind her ear. “Tell me what she said.”
She scrunched her nose. “I told her nothing inappropriate was going on—which was a stretch of the truth—and she reminded me I’m nothing special. I shouldn’t throw away my career on a man who would take me to the restaurant he takes all the women who require a little extra effort to coax into bed.”
Heat blanketed me from head to toe. I was angry, but not just at Isabela. I hadn’t given one iota of thought to the implications of taking Claire somewhere I’d taken other women. Just because we had a hard and fast end date didn’t mean I wouldn’t treat her right while I had her.
“She didn’t lie. I have taken more than one woman there.”
Claire sat up again, tugging her shirt over her bare thighs. Her eyes darted around the room before settling on my hand gripping her foot. “Well, that…sucks. And taints that memory for me. How many women have you gone down on in the bathroom there? Do they keep a special stall just for you?”
I raised an eyebrow at the dulcet, steady tone of her voice. She didn’t sound angry or enraged with jealousy. Not for the first time, she spoke to me like I was the younger, inexperienced one in our arrangement.
“Only you, Claire.” I snagged her hand, bringing her fingertips to my lips. “I like that place and thought you’d enjoy it, just like I told you. No one else was on my mind when I took you there. I can see it makes me look like a jackass, though.”
“It kind of does,” she agreed. “I don’t need to be seduced by you, and I really don’t enjoy knowing I’m getting the ‘Dominic Cantrell treatment.’”
“I apologize.” I nibbled each of her fingers while keeping my eyes locked on hers. “It won’t happen again.”
“I know it won’t. No more dinners out. I don’t want to lose my job because flirty waitresses can’t stop taking pictures of you.” She gestured around my hotel room. “This is it.”
“We’ll see.”
She ripped her hand away from me, swatting my chest. “No ‘we’ll see.’ This doesn’t work if I’m fired, Dominic. I’m not going to trail behind you as your concubine for the rest of the tour. We don’t have to leave your hotel room to follow through on the arrangement we made.”
“That’s not what this is. I thought I made it clear I like you.”
“You like fucking me.” Her fingers stroked my cheek and beard gently, softening her harsh words. I knew I was damned weeks ago, so I didn’t hesitate to lean into her touch.
“I do. I love it. But I also enjoy the hell out of your company. We can be discrete, more so than we were, but if I want to take you out, I’m going to take you out.”
I had no idea why I was pressing this issue. We weren’t dating. I didn’t date—not anymore. And she was right, I didn’t need to seduce her. But I had this undeniable need to be around her, and I couldn’t live the next few weeks in hotel rooms. If I went out, Claire would be coming with me.
“I don’t like feeling like I’m being controlled.” Her nails scratched light trails along my jaw. “My ex didn’t want me to work. I built my life around him. Now I’m building my life for myself. Right now, that means I am indulging in discovering a different side of myself with you. But it also means I’m just starting my career. That’s important to me, and I would like you not to dismiss it as something small and easily tossed aside. I’m not a rock star, but I am something other than a wife.”
“Claire.” I went to her, laying my head in her lap and banding my arms around her middle. “I would never dismiss you. I don’t know shit about your marriage or how you were treated, but now that you’ve told me, I’ll try to keep my tendency to steamroll at a low simmer.”
Her hands glided down my bare back, still as gentle as she was. “You know, you might actually be sweet. One day, some woman’s going to crack you open and get to see that side of you all the time.”
I huffed a humorless laugh against her soft stomach. “It hasn’t happened yet. I’m not that guy.”
“Well…” one fingernail dragged the length of my spine, “luckily I won’t be waiting around for it to happen. But if I open up a magazine ten years from now and see you with your blushing bride, my wedding gift to you will be a silver platter engraved with ‘I told you so.’”
“That doesn’t sound like something I’d register for.”
She giggled. “I like to be a rebel and go off-registry.”
With a growl, I got on my hands and knees and crawled over her until she had to lean back against the pillows. I gripped her jaw, brushing my lips over hers.
“I’m not the guy who gets a happy ending, Claire. That’s not me.”
Her brown eyes held something that looked so close to pity, I had to squeeze mine shut.
“Life is so unpredictable. I thought I had my happy ending, but I was only at the beginning. I refuse to shut myself off to experiences. You shouldn’t either.”
My eyes opened again, holding hers. “I’m brutally aware of the unpredictability of life. I didn’t get to be forty-two without seeing that for myself. This is where our age difference shines bright. I’m not shut off, I just know what life holds for me, and a happy ending isn’t it. I get moments, brief reprieves, and that’s it.”
“But why?” She raised her head, kissing me slowly, sliding her tongue into my mouth to gently curl with mine. She held onto the back of my neck, keeping me in her tender kiss.
I never answered her, and she didn’t ask again.
When we reached Seattle, Claire, Marta, and I took a car to the rental house we’d be staying in for the next week. Claire tried to sit in her normal place across from me, but I snagged her around the waist, pulling her down beside me.
“What is happening right now?” she squeaked.
“You’re sitting here,” I answered.
Marta was held up talking to one of the crew, so I covered Claire’s mouth with mine, sliding my tongue between her lips. She melted against me, her confusion and fight forgotten. I pushed my luck and her boundaries by snaking a hand up her shirt, thumbing her beaded nipple.
“Dominic…” Forehead to forehead, her eyes fluttered open. “Not here. I don’t want Marta to feel weird.”
“I have no intention of making her uncomfortable, but she’s not here right now.” I backed away, though, adjusting my half-hard dick in my jeans. “I hear you.”
She squeezed my knee, her plump lips turning into a grin. “Thank you for listening.”
When Marta finally climbed into the car, she did a double take at our seating arrangements, but kept her opinion to herself—which didn’t happen often.
The car started the drive to the rental house, and Marta pumped her fist. “Oh my god, I can’t wait to live out of more than one room for an entire fucking week.”
“I know. I think I’ll wander aimlessly.” Claire raised a questioning brow. “I’m assuming the house is big enough for wandering.”
“It is.” I laid my hand on Claire’s thigh, tucking my fingers around the curve. “You can get some wandering in.”
Her eyes darted to my hand, then up to mine, giving a subtle shake of her head. I’d conceded on not kissing her in front of Marta, but goddamn, I would not back down on putting my hand on my girl’s leg. It wasn’t like I was fingering her for all the world to see.
I held on tighter.
She spent the rest of the drive ignoring me, every so often attempting to dislodge my hold. Marta shot me a smug little look, letting me know she was enjoying our silent show. By the time the car pulled to a stop on the gated grounds of our house, Claire had given up, but she didn’t hesitate to dart away to freedom.
Before I could follow her, Marta finally spoke up. “That looked a lot like coupledom, Dom.”
I shrugged. It felt like that too. Didn’t mean anything changed. “It is what it is.”
Her eyes narrowed at my lackadaisical response. “Don’t fuck her over. We both know your hard little heart is impervious to feels, but I’m not so sure Claire’s is. She’s been broken far too recently to be broken again by you.”
I scrubbed my face hard, groaning with frustration. “Shit, Marta, you act like I’m a monster, but the truth is, you don’t know anything about what goes down between us. She needs something I’ve got, I give it to her. And yeah, maybe I need something she has too. We’re slaking each other’s needs, but that’s as far as it goes.” I jabbed a finger in her direction. “For both of us.”
She held her hands up. “Fine. I’m sorry. I was thrown off by seeing you being affectionate, that’s all.”
I rubbed a hand over the short sides of my hair. “Can’t help how good Claire feels to touch.”
Marta didn’t need to say anything to that. She slid out of the car with a shit-eating grin on her face, like she’d caught me in something. She hadn’t caught anything, though. I’d never once denied being attracted to and fascinated by Claire. I would’ve been an idiot to try.
I’d stayed at this house a few times before, so I was familiar with the views of the bay and lush, green trees surrounding the grounds. Marta and I both had bedrooms we always slept in, but Claire didn’t know. I found her in one of the smaller ones, her bag on the bed as she took in the view from the wall of windows.
My arms circled her waist, and I scratched her shoulder with my beard. “What are you doing in here?”
She jumped a little, then leaned back against my chest. “I call dibs on this room.”
“Wrong pick. My room is down the hall. That’s where you’ll be too.”
“So…” She turned in my arms, tapping lightly on my chest. “My period just showed up. I’ll just sleep in here.”
I blinked at her, impassive. “Why?”
She exhaled through her nose, her palm flattening on the side of my neck. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. I want you in my bed. I thought we already covered this.”
“I know you like the post-sex cuddles, but—”
“I don’t cuddle.” I covered her mouth with mine, kissing her hard and fast. “But if I did, it would not be limited to post-sex. When you agreed to be mine, I meant the entire four weeks.”
Her mouth opened—to object, no doubt—so I kissed her again.
“Another thing, Claire. If you don’t like it, fine, but some blood doesn’t scare me. I’m not a little boy.”
Her eyes went wide, and she gasped, her chest rising and pressing against mine. “Let’s put a pin in that idea.”
“For now.” I kissed her one more time, then grabbed her bag and her hand. “Let’s get you where you belong—in my room and my bed.”
