Page 72 of Stanton Adore

“Not yet,” he snaps. “Let me enjoy you some more.” He moves me up until I am sitting on his lap with my knees on either side of his legs. Pulling my head to the side by my hair, he gently swipes his tongue through my open lips, and he kisses me with such tenderness I feel weak. My eyes roll back in my head. His hands move, one on my breast and the other down to my clit where he circles with perfect precision.

“Circle your hips,” he whispers. “I won’t move, take me how you want me.” I groan as I feel his hard length move inside me when I circle. This man is hot.

“Baby, why didn’t you go to the strip show tonight?” I whisper.

He smiles into my neck. “Because you asked me not to.”

“Is that the only reason?” I swipe my tongue through his lips again, daring him to give me the truth I so desperately want. He tweaks my nipple and my body shudders in response. I’m close.

“Why would I want to watch other women take their clothes off? When you’re the only woman I see.”

I smile as I kiss him again. “Good answer.” I smile.

“Shut up and fuck me,” he growls as he starts to lift me and slam me back down onto his brutal length. His mouth is open on my neck, his breathing burning me from the inside out. My head rolls back as I ride his hard punishing rhythm, one that pushes me into a shattering orgasm. I scream into his mouth and my body shudders as he bends me over and puts my elbows onto the mattress. He then really lets loose. A deep, heavy rhythm. Shit. One that I don’t think I can take for much longer. I can feel him getting harder and I know he’s close. His hands are digging into my hips as he pulls me back onto him with such force, I know I will have fingerprints on me tomorrow, and you know what? I love it. He grabs my hips and stills himself, deep inside me, and groans from his stomach. I feel his heat inside me, and I collapse onto the mattress, his sweaty body covering mine.

When I wake up, he is gone.

Joshua

The seagull’s cry wakes me from my daydream. Hot sun, beaming down onto my back. My hands drift in the water underneath my surfboard. This is why I love Australia. My morning ritual since being here: 6:00 a.m. surf. I’ve missed my wave but I’m too relaxed to care. Being out here and being with her are the only two things that ground me and bring me back to reality. I feel like shit and my head is pounding. Why in the hell did I drink so much? The seagulls go wild again as I look to the beach and my stomach drops. Fucking bodyguards. Two of the bastards. Ben will be back tomorrow, thank god. I can’t stand having these guys I don’t know around me. At least when Ben is here, I just feel like I’m hanging out with a mate. I wish to god they would just catch him so I can have my fucking life back. I feel like a cockroach in a jar, trapped and isolated. Unknown to her, Natasha has been guarded. I smile at the thought of her going off like a firecracker. She’d see it as an invasion of privacy. I catch my last wave in and walk up the beach, shaking the water from my head.

“Let’s go.” I gesture to the men and I walk toward home.

Brad, one of the Australian bodyguards, laughs. “Your friend is fuming.”

“Yeah, I thought he would be.” I smile at the two men with me and shake my head. Adrian is a total prick when he’s angry with me. Nobody else is game—he’s got guts; I will give him that. He, however, takes pleasure in it, I’m sure. I walk in the front door to find Adrian sitting at my kitchen bench reading the newspaper. He looks up and then back at his paper, deadpan.

I sigh. “Out with it. He shakes his head and silently sips his coffee. “Listen, if you came to my house to give me the silent treatment don’t bother. Do it from your house. I’m not in the fucking mood.”

He holds his hand up. “Do not insult my intelligence, Joshua.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re being a bit melodramatic don’t you think?”

“Melodramatic,” he shrieks. “You ordered the bodyguards and me out of the pub so you could fight like a frat boy, Josh. Last time I looked you were the CEO of a billion-dollar company. Why in the hell did you get so drunk?”

I shrug as I grab the orange juice from the fridge and drink it from the bottle.

“God, get a glass you behemoth.”

“It’s my house, get a muzzle. You’re hurting my ears.” He narrows his eyes at me. I turn my back to him and make a protein shake, my first of three today.

“What if you had fought that guy and he slapped another assault charge on you? What then, huh?”

I frown and nod as I rub my eyes. “Do you reckon he slept with her?” I ask.

“Oh fuck, not this again. You said she told you she had never been with him.”

“Yeah, well why would he go to such lengths if he had never slept with her?”

“Josh, you’re going fucking crazy.”

“Maybe.” I crack an egg into my shake. “Anyway, how did Tash know where we were last night? Maybe she was meeting him there and I crashed the party.”

Adrian puts his hands on his hips. “You’re pathetic, you know that don’t you?”

“Shut up.” I wince as my brain once again hits the sides of my skull.

“Natasha came because I rang her.”