Tarian.
Minutes later…
I drive us to one of my bachelor pads in the city.
The smell of the night slips in as I wind down the glass, letting the fresh air break through.
It fills my lungs.
I reach into the glove box, pull out a cigarette, and light it.
Drawing out smoke slowly after the flame catches.
Cars surround us in the open parking lot.
Cars owned by residents and non-residents of the building.
But I don’t see any of that.
I only see flashes of what happened at the party, replaying in my head.
“Why did you bring me here, Tarian?” Murieann’s quiet voice cuts through my fogged thoughts.
I drag in smoke again.
I have wanted to quit this for a long time now.
And tonight, I broke the streak that I recently started.
I couldn’t do without it.
I needed something to calm the turmoil clawing through my nerves.
“Tarian?”
“Murieann…” I say shakily.
“Just give me a few seconds to calm down.”
I just burned my entire life back there for her.
The party.
My parents.
Viola.
Her family.
I didn’t see anyone else but her.
Murieann.
She was all that mattered in that moment.
I can already see the headlines splashed across the media.
‘Sawyer Heir brought in another woman.’
But the thing is, she doesn’t feel like the other woman.
Murieann feels real.
Her presence feels like sunshine kissing away the darkness that has plagued my life for years.
“I have a business meeting to attend in the morning.
I will be really happy if you take me back to where my car is parked, so my driver and I can go back…”
I don’t let her finish.
I toss the cigarette out and reach for her, pressing my scorched lips to hers.
I don’t wait.
I don’t need her to finish.
I need her here.
I need her now.
She moans deeply, pressing herself closer to me.
Her palms slide to the sides of my face as she kisses me back just as deeply.
Our t*ngues roll.
Our hands trail urgently over our bodies, pressing, caressing, feeding the fire building between us.
She drags her t*ngue along my lower lip, pulling it with her teeth.
Teasing.
God.
She presses her b*easts closer to me.
I take what she offers, pulling her from the passenger seat onto my lap.
My hands sink inside her dress, rubbing her bare thighs.
My fingers catch the lace of her lingerie, some of it hanging around her thighs.
She rocks her hips against the ridge of my pants.
The movement is painfully distracting.
“If you keep doing that, Murieann…” I mutter against her breath, voice strained.
“I might not last…”
She smiles against my lips.
Presses more kisses to me.
Her fingers sink into my hair, ruffling it as our kiss deepens, tongues seeking, reacquainting.
I push my fingers along the lacy lingerie, teasing it. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
And she mewls against my lips, soft, frustrated,because I deprive her of what she needs.
Me.
Inside her.
Touching the part of her that craves me the most.
I pull back slightly, a dark smile tugging at my lips.
“You missed me, didn’t you?” I whisper.
She startles.
Her eyes fly open.
For a second, just one, I see it.
A crack.
A shift.
Small.
Almost imperceptible.
But it’s there.
And just as quickly, it’s gone.
Her mask slides back into place.
“What is this, an interrogation?” She counters, matching my tone.
Her usual indifference wars with the desire cracking her open from the inside.
I tilt my head, observing her differently now.
Who broke you, Murieann?
I should ask.
But memory of the last time I pushed her with questions, the way she reacted, flashes through me.
So I hold my tongue.
And I watch her instead.
This is a woman, powerful.
Wealthy.
Untouched by scandal.
No man tied to her success.
No whispers of affairs that I know of.
And yet, she’s here.
Letting my fingers circle inside her lacy lingerie.
A woman who has never shown an ounce of weakness.
“It’s okay to need me, Murieann,” I murmur.
“It’s okay to miss me.
It doesn’t mean weakness.”
She frowns, lips tightening.
“Some men see such women as weak.”
Her voice turns cold.
Sharp enough to slice this moment apart.
But I don’t let it.
I reach for her, kissing her deeply again.
My fingers trail along the soft lines of her face as I kiss her.
Then slide to the back of her head, pulling her closer, deepening it.
She starts moving her hips again.
I still her.
My hand slips inside her dress, into the bodice of her lingerie.
Finding skin.
The bare, warm flesh of her breasts.
She inhales sharply, arching into me, granting access.
My touch reignites something in her, something that must have been extinguished long ago.
Pain.
Because that’s what buries a woman like this.
Pain.
“Tarian…” She calls shakily, her voice a low whisper.
I smile, brushing my fingers over her peaked n*pples.
She lets out a soft cry.
“What do you need, Murieann?” I ask calmly, even though I’m hard as a rock inside my pants. Get faster updates on g.com.
She shakes her head slowly, letting it fall to the side as I continue.
Denial.
She’s still holding on.
“Say it… or I won’t let you find release…” I whisper against her neck.
She breaks.
A shaky cry of defeat leaving her lips as I feel it, her walls giving.
“I need you inside me, Tarian…”
The words settle deep in me.
I don’t wait.
I shift the edge of her lingerie aside and sink my impatient fingers into her wet, warm center.
She moans deeply, soaking my fingers.
I curl them inside her, coaxing, pushing, drawing her closer, until she nears the edge.
Then I pull away.
Free myself.
And replace my fingers with my arousal.
Her body parts for me, stretching, yielding, as I bury myself fully inside her.
We move together immediately in sync.
Bodies pressed tight.
Breaths breaking.
Gasps filling the tight space of the car, the closeness making everything sharper, more intense.
We don’t last long.
She tightens around me, her soaked walls squeezing as her cry spills out, her head falling back in ecstasy.
I follow right after.
No control left.
No restraint.
Just the rush.
She collapses against me, her head falling over my shoulder.
Both of us breathless.
I rub her back slowly, letting us come down, letting the silence settle before we climb out and go upstairs.
And maybe finish what we just started.
But something inside me refuses to stay quiet.
“Murieann,” I whisper.
She hums softly in response.
I chuckle under my breath, already dreading my next words.
Already knowing I shouldn’t.
“What turned you this way…” I murmur.
“Cold… emotionless?”
She stills.
Then slowly lifts her head to look at me.
For a moment, it’s like I’ve struck her.
Something raw flashes in her eyes.
Then it’s gone.
Her composure snaps back into place.
But this time, there’s something darker beneath it.
“Tarian, don’t.” She warns, her voice ice cold.
My eyes narrow.
“Don’t bring up ghosts you don’t want to see.”
A pause follows.
Heavy.
Loaded.
And then, her hands slide off my shoulders.
Her body pulls back.
Distance follows again.
And something in my chest tightens.
Because for the first time, I have the unsettling feeling, that whatever broke Murieann, might be far worse than anything I’ve ever survived.