I’m strangely nervous as I park in front of the unfamiliar house Celeste asked me to meet her at. When I realized she’d never truly give me a chance, I told myself I’d leave her in the past and tried my best to move on, yet here I am, simply because she called and asked me to come. If she ever realizes how much power she holds over me, I’m done for.
I sigh and reach for the stargazer lilies I brought for her. I planted them myself because I thought she’d like the smell of them, but I didn’t think I’d get the opportunity to give them to her.
The front door swings open, and there she is, staring up at me with a hesitant smile on her beautiful face. That red dress and her matching red lips make me weak, but somehow, I manage to smile back at her. For weeks, I tried to forget all about her, tried to bury the hope I held on to in every way I could think of, only for my intentions to fade to dust at the sight of her. “Hey,” I murmur, my voice soft.
“Hi,” she replies, standing aside to let me in.
It’s odd how so much seems to be standing between us now, when nothing has really changed. I suppose I’m a little disillusioned, reality finally drowning out the pink haze she wrapped me in. I’d so badly wanted to believe that we could start off with a fresh slate, that nothing would matter so long as she wanted me too. If only things were that simple.
“Brought you a gift,” I tell her as I hold up the stargazer lilies, my eyes roaming over the beautiful but very empty foyer. Surprise crosses her face, and she moves to take them from me, but I shake my head and pull them against my chest. “It’s a heavy bouquet. Just tell me where you want it.”
She nods and leads me into the house, her shoulders sinking as we walk in. “This is a terrible idea,” she says, her voice soft. “I don’t even have a seat to offer you. I just bought this house, and I moved in with nothing but my suitcase. All I’ve really got is a mattress, because even my bed isn’t here yet. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m so sorry. Why don’t I grab my purse, and we can go somewhere instead?”
She’s rambling, the way she does when she’s nervous. It’s fucking adorable. “This is your home?” I ask, seeing the place through fresh eyes. She nods as we walk into the kitchen, and I can’t help but whistle. “Damn, Celeste. This is one hell of a house. This kitchen is even better than mine — and mine, well, it was custom made for me.”
She blushes as I look around, and something about her shyness just tugs on my heartstrings. I place the flowers on her white marble counter, my eyes roaming over her. “So I’m your first guest, huh?”
She tucks her hair behind her ear and nods, her cheeks still tinged pink. “Kind of. You’re my first guest since I’ve owned it. Not even my parents have been here yet — they’re dropping by tomorrow.”
I grin at her, intensely pleased for reasons I can’t quite identify. “In that case, you’ll have to show me around.”
She looks into my eyes, both of us well aware of everything that needs to be said, but neither of us willing to break the fragile peace between us. “I will, but first… I just wanted to say I’m sorry, Zane.” She wraps her arms around herself, her posture betraying her vulnerability. “When you saw me at the restaurant, it truly wasn’t what you thought it was, but I understand how me saying that it wasn’t a date wouldn’t be enough of an explanation — especially because I’d told you I’d be with my mother. I’ve gone over this in my head a million times, reminding myself that this is a bad idea, that I should take the excuse our argument offered me and distance myself from you, let this thing between us just fizzle out, but I… I can’t.”
I cross my arms and lean back against her counter, noting the way her eyes are drawn to my biceps. She bites down on her lip and drags her eyes back to mine, the air between us slowly becoming charged. I drink her in as she explains how her mother set her up, but that only reinforces my doubts — not in her, but in us.
“Clifton Emerson,” I repeat, feeling oddly defeated. It only took me a few hours to find out who she’d been with, but hearing her say his name still hits me hard. “So that’s the man your mother envisions you with, huh? Notoriously calm and collected, patient, studious. He’s from a good family, but not one whose notoriety will bring you unwanted attention. Same industry too, but they’re not giants, so you’re on an even playing field. Yeah, you’d make for a great couple.”
I look away and run a hand through my hair, unsure of what else to say. I can’t compete with someone like him — my family is too well-known, the feud between the Harrisons and Windsors is too longstanding, and even if I suggested a merger, they’d just feel like we’re usurping them. Not that either her family or mine would ever consider it.
“Zane,” she says, my name a whisper on her lips. She takes a step toward me, and then another, until she’s standing between my legs.
“Why did you ask me to come over, Celeste?” I ask, unable to keep myself from reaching for her. I gently cup her face, and she sighs as she leans into me, her own hand finding its way to my chest. She places her palm over my heart, and it instantly beats faster for her. Always for her.
“Because each time I close my eyes, I think of the way you looked at me. I thought you’d been messing with me. That at most, you just wanted to sleep with me. I thought this was just something you wanted to get out of your system, that you couldn’t possibly be serious about everything you’d told me. Part of me was simply scared too, Zane — scared to trust you, to admit to my own feelings. To me, giving into this thing between us feels like losing. I was supposed to come back home and be this person who’s entirely unfazed by you, yet here I am, facing my demon and wanting more.”
My free hand wraps around her waist, and I hold on to her tightly. “This changes nothing, Celestial. If anything, it just proves you don’t trust me. Our past won’t let you, and I can’t compete with twenty years’ worth of bad memories. I’m not sure why I thought I could, but you and I… how could this possibly end in anything but disaster?”
“I don’t know,” she whispers, as her hand slides up from my chest until she’s got it wrapped around the back of my neck. “I don’t know, Zane, but I do know that I want you.”
Fuck. Fuck.
Celeste rises to her tiptoes and draws a shaky breath, her gaze roaming over my face like she’s hoping for something she knows I can’t deny her. “You were right, Zane. I want to find out what it’s like to be with you, truly, fully. It’s all I’ve been able to think about in the last couple of weeks. Maybe this is a terrible idea, maybe our argument was a sign, a warning from the universe… but it’s one I’m going to ignore.”
Having her so close is eating away at my resolve, and when she tilts her face, bringing her lips a touch closer to mine, I’m done for. “You’ll be the death of me, Celeste Harrison,” I whisper before tightening my grip on her and pulling her close, taking those pretty red lips and making them mine. She moans against my mouth and opens up for me, her hand threading through my hair as she steals away the candy I’d been sucking on. “Fuck, Celestial,” I whisper as I turn us around and lift her on top of her kitchen counter. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of her.
Her legs wrap around my waist and her hand roams over my body with the same urgency I’m feeling, and it’s fucking exhilarating to be wanted by her. I inhale sharply when she slips her fingers underneath my t-shirt, my mind buzzing. She makes me feel fucking delirious.
Celeste pulls my t-shirt up, and I groan as I take it off, letting it fall to her kitchen floor as my hands find their way underneath her red dress. “I missed you,” I whisper before recapturing her sexy little mouth, unable to keep the words buried. Not just in recent weeks, when we weren’t speaking, but in the years she was away. I didn’t realize it until she left, but she’s always been my anchor.
Her hand moves to my jeans, and I pull my lips off hers, needing to look into her eyes. “We should slow down,” I tell her, hating every word. I want her desperately, but I don’t want to fuck things up with her. Not again.
“No,” she says, her tone firm as she undoes my zipper. She lifts her gaze to look at me as she slips her fingers underneath the waistband of my boxer shorts, and I nearly fucking stop breathing. “I need you, Zane. Please. I want this. I want you.”
How the fuck am I supposed to say no to that? I can’t. What my goddess wants, she gets. I look into her eyes as I push her silky panties aside, my cock fucking throbbing when I feel how turned on she is. “Is this all for me, my beautiful Celestial?”
She blushes scarlet and nods as she clumsily pushes my jeans down, taking my boxers with them. Her impatience is so fucking sexy, but the way she licks her lips when she lays her eyes on my cock undoes me.
“I need to see you,” I beg. She nods as she holds her arms up for me. Seconds later, her dress joins my clothes on the floor. Celeste looks into my eyes as she reaches behind her and undoes her red bra, and I’m fucking spellbound, desperate to commit every second to memory. She was beautiful when we were younger, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the woman in front of me today. She truly is a goddess, and fuck, I’m not worthy.
She grins as she repeats the process with her matching underwear, and there’s something so fucking ethereal about the way she holds my gaze — her red cheeks betray her shyness, but she doesn’t hide from me.
“Wow,” I whisper without thinking. “Fucking wow.” Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d have Celeste Harrison naked on her kitchen counter, her pussy dripping for me. In what fucking world is that a reality I get to live?
I grab her thighs and lift one leg over my shoulder before turning my head in to kiss her thigh. She moans and buries a hand in my hair, gripping tightly. “Let me worship you,” I plead, desperate to show her I’m no longer the clumsy and inexperienced virgin she remembers.
“Zane,” she moans when I kiss her pussy, and I can’t help but smile. I haven’t even gotten a real taste yet, and she’s already trembling. Knowing she wants me the same, fuck, it’s such a rush.
I hold on to her thighs, and she leans back on her kitchen counter, watching me through lowered eyes as I drag my tongue around her clit. She’s as delicious as I remember her being — I thought I’d dreamed it up, but no, she’s still my favorite dessert.
“I can’t,” she moans. “I want to feel you inside me, Zane. I haven’t been able to think of anything but you for weeks now. I need you, please.”
“And I need you to come on my tongue first, my sweet goddess. Come for me, and I’ll let you have my cock.”
She lies back on the counter as I bury my face between her legs, and the way she moans for me has me on the fucking edge. I could come just from the sound of her — hardly the experience I want her to have.
I bring her close, teasing her clit over and over again, not quite flicking it with my tongue the way I know she wants me to — instead, I build her up slowly, circling, lapping, until she’s shaking and desperate for me. “You’re doing so good, Celestial. So good,” I whisper as I slip two fingers into her, pressing against her g-spot.
She moans my name as she comes for me, and fuck if it isn’t the most surreal thing. None of my fantasies lived up to this — hell, not even my memories could. She’s everything.
Celeste smiles shyly as she pushes herself back into a seated position and pulls me closer, her eyes searching, like she’s wondering if this feels the same to me.
I doubt it does.
There’s no way she could possibly feel everything I just did.
Her arms wrap around my neck, and I gently cup the back of her head, mesmerized as she grabs my cock and lines it up wordlessly. I look into her eyes, pushing the tip into her slowly, my breathing ragged.
It takes all of me to stop there, to pause and find the words I need. “Celeste,” I murmur as I thread my hand through her hair and grip tightly, my other hand on her waist. “If I take you now, you’re mine. Do you understand? No more messing around, no games.”
She’s breathing as hard as I am, her gaze filled with the same intensity, the same emotion. She nods, but that isn’t enough for me.
“Tell me you understand.”
“I’m yours, Zane. I think I always have been.”
Fuck. I push into her another inch, and her eyes widen, a hint of discomfort in her expression despite how soaking wet she is. “I’m going to fuck you, Celestial, and then we’re going to talk. We’re going to figure out how to make this work, how to actually communicate with each other. We’re going to find a way to face our past and future together.”
She reaches for me and cups my face, the look in her eyes telling me all I need to know. “We’ll make it work,” she promises.
I push another inch into her, and her lips part, her muscles tensing around me like it’s too much for her. “You’re taking my cock so good, my goddess,” I reassure her. “Your pussy was just made for me, wasn’t it?”
She nods. “Made for you,” she whispers, mindlessly echoing my words, and fuck me — she’ll make me come if she keeps looking at me like that.
My hands wrap around her hips, and I hold her in place as I thrust all the way into her, earning myself the sexiest moan. “Oh God, Zane,” she whispers, her legs wrapping around me. My name on her lips is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. I’ll never get enough of it, of her.
“Mine,” I tell her as I pull halfway out, only to thrust back into her hard and fast, my control slipping in my need to have her.
Finally, fucking finally, she’s mine.
