of what lies beneath. There’s a strong tingling between my legs that’s so persistent I press my thighs together to try and alleviate the sensation, but I only manage to make it worse.
So much worse.
“I’m all good on gifts,” I say, trying to regain some control.
“Oh, what did Seth get you?” His gaze leaves mine as it trails down my body then back up again. I grip the ledge harder, because I’m shaking and afraid my knees will give out. How can I lust for and hate a man so much at the same time?
“Why would Seth get me anything?”
“He wouldn’t. I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t your boyfriend,” he says, his nostrils flaring.
“What does it matter if he’s my boyfriend or what he might have gotten me for my birthday?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
His gaze licks the top of my rounded breasts.
“What do you want for your birthday?” he asks.
I shake my head. To be noticed. To feel alive. To live.
“What every girl wants,” I say casually, shuffling my feet in the grass.
“You’re not every girl,” he says as if he knows me.
“You don’t know me,” I remind him once again.
He smirks again. “I bet you want to be fucked. Tied to a bed. Degraded yet appreciated. I bet you want things that you’ve never dared speak out loud.”
I want to be appalled, but his words do nothing but draw me in. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me flush against his chest. I want to push him away, but I can’t. It’s like my body has made the decision for my mind before it could form a coherent thought.
He brushes away a dark lock of hair from my neck and replaces it with his lips. “First, I’d make you tremble with anticipation. I’d make you see and do things your pretty little brain has never thought of before. I’d make you feel everything while thinking of nothing but me.”
I raise an eyebrow in challenge. My entire body trembles at his dirty promise that I can see clearly as if it’s taking place before me. Every sweaty detail. Lips. Skin. Tongues. “You think you’re that good?” I manage to say, feeling heat drip across my skin with his touch.
“With you?” He says, without a trace of humor in his voice. “I know I’d be.”
“I do have a boyfriend,” I lie.
He smiles against me, then nips at my neck with his teeth.
It’s as if he’s plucked a string that’s connected to the most sensual parts of my body begging to be played with. “Answer me this, princess. When your boyfriend fucks you, does he make you want to scream? And I’m not talking that fake shit that some women do for the sake of the man, I’m talking a raw animal pleasure scream. The kind that leaves your lips as you’re digging your nails into his back.”
“I uh…we….I mean.”
He pulls back and again searches my eyes. “You don’t fuck,” he says. “You never have.” And it’s not an insult exactly, but a curiosity. “That makes so much more sense now.” His eyes darken. “Oh Neve, the things I can show you.”
Frustrated with his presence and the way he’s making me feel confused, I push against his chest and put some space between us. “Why this? Why now? You never spoke to me when we were kids. You never paid me any attention and now suddenly, on the night I turn eighteen and inherit my father’s company, you’re suddenly interested?” I roll my eyes. “I’m not interested in whatever your plans are, and I won’t let you take control of his company.”
“The answer isn’t always the obvious one,” he muses.
“So, you haven’t been buying up huge chunks of my father’s company for yourself?” I throw at him, pointing at his chest.
He nods. “I have.”
I throw my hands in the air. “Then what am I supposed to think?”
He hesitates before pushing off the fountain and again wrapping his arms around me. “Think whatever you want,” he whispers, trailing his lips along my neck once again. “You really want to know why now?”
I nod, my lips parted in anticipation of his next words and as much as I hate to admit it, his next touch.
“Because I’ve waited long enough.” His lips crush mine, devouring me in a kiss that I feel deep within my bones. I’m dripping wet as he moans into my mouth and our tongues tangle. I lift up on the balls of