“They were,” she concedes with a sigh. “But if you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is freedom, isn’t it?”
I can’t swallow. With those words, she has cut right through the middle of me. Because with the signing of a few documents, I’ve placed her back under lock and key, haven’t I?
All at once, however, she’s back to being playful, this mysterious girl. Once again, she’s throwing temptation my way, arms positioned above her head, hips swaying in my sheets, eyes inviting me to do the devil’s work.
I move into a sitting position and slide closer to Veda very slowly, desire eating me alive as I loom over her a moment. She goes completely still among the pillows, save the pulse jumping at the base of her neck. I take a moment to absorb the blow of her ethereal beauty, before I bend forward over her belly, heating her there with an exhale of breath. Her sleek flesh shudders, an almost inaudible whimper bubbling from above. Instead of moving lower, to the notch between her legs as I’m dying to do, I straighten, taking hold of the back neck of my shirt, whipping it over my head and tossing it onto the floor.
I’m not going to lie, it’s goddamn satisfying when her beautiful mouth falls open and her breath catches at the sight of me naked from the waist up. She is affected by me. That, at least, is not a game. And apparently I am the kind of bastard that would use a young girl’s attraction to his own advantage, because I’m already bending forward, swirling my tongue in her belly button.
It would be too easy to use my mouth on her pussy, have her clawing at my shoulders for relief within seconds, but I’m not after easy. Veda in my life permanently is what I need and that will only come with time and the breaking down of whatever resentment—warranted or not—she’s obviously harboring toward me. I’m under no delusion that I can resist getting physical with her for long. God, no. But giving in right now could drive her further away.
I’m flicking my tongue against Veda’s addictive navel when her fingers begin to twist in my hair, and I hear the sound of a moan being trapped behind her lips. With a pained smile against her belly, I trail my tongue up the center of her flat stomach, between her pink-tipped breasts, lifting my head to let my mouth hang just above hers. “Goodnight, Veda,” I breathe, knowing I’m going to regret teasing her the second I move back to my side of the bed.
Fuck, do I ever, because my cock feels like it weighs ten pounds, aching against the inside of my thigh. And I especially regret turning her on and stopping when she turns away from me, her body rigid enough to snap.
But twenty minutes later, when a crack of thunder shakes the building and she flies across the bed, I turn and wrap her up in my arms, kissing her forehead and murmuring comfort. She buries her face against my chest, her petite feet conforming to my calves for warmth. All seems forgotten.
For now.
Chapter Five
If you’re wondering whether or not I feel like a goddamn lecher walking down the hallway of a high school to meet with the teacher of my live-in sexual obsession, here’s your answer. Yeah. I do. The fact that I’ve rescheduled back to back overseas phone calls in order to fit this parent-teacher conference into my day doesn’t help, either. After holding Veda in my arms through the night, listening to her breathe and murmur nonsense, my thigh wedged firmly between her legs, I didn’t even hesitate before setting aside my professional responsibilities.
Even before she blew me a kiss on the way out the door this morning, I had faced the fact that my infatuation with her has turned somewhat unmanageable. Not having total control over everything in my life has punched holes in my gut, made me anxious, caused me to lose concentration when it comes to business decisions.
I know damn well she’s aware of my obsessed state. She loved slinking out of bed this morning and letting me devour the sight of her tight, swaying ass on the way back to her room. She’s torturing me on purpose and it’s only a matter of time before the reason is out in the open and we’re forced to deal with it.
For once, I’m not looking forward to the ensuing battle, but I’m hungry for what lays on the other side. I want to come home from work every single day and find her pouting in my sheets, whining at me for being late, until I quiet her down with my tongue between her legs. I want to dress her in clothes worthy of her and rip them to shreds as soon as we’re behind closed doors.
I want to send the staff home and make good use of that school uniform.
Most of all, I want to get inside her mind. There is so much on the other side of those blue eyes—bravery, intelligence—and I want to be immersed. I want to become so tangled in her thoughts, she can’t get me out. Like she’s done to me.