I stood there trying to psyche myself up.This was the reason I was here. This was the reason I’d gotten all dolled up. This was what I had told Sebastian I wanted more than anything else in the world.And I was terrified.A thousand terrible ‘what-ifs’ floated through my mind. What if he got angry? What if he cold-shouldered me? What if he was mean? What if he laughed at me?What if he didn’t even care?I told myself that was bullshit. Sebastian and Johnny had both told me he had been miserable for the last month; only an idiot would think it had nothing to do with me. He had cared enough to make Sebastian call Scott Shaw and get him to give me a shot.He just didn’t care enough to call YOU, the evil little voice in my head reminded me.But then the good angel whispered, So what?So what if he hadn’t called? Maybe he thought I should have called him. Seeing as I’d never bothered to call to thank him for the job advice and referral, maybe he thought I was the one being cold and aloof.
We entered a service hallway of some sort, long and white and lit by fluorescent lights. Waiters and waitresses in black vests and crisp white shirts shuttled back and forth to the ballroom carrying silver platters of drinks and hors-d’oeuvres. They watched in shock as we walked by them, their heads turning as we passed.Not every day you see a walking sex scandal, I guess.There was a loud clack behind us and the tap tap of running shoes. We turned back to see Johnny entering the hallway through the same door we’d used. At first he looked panicked – until he spotted us thirty feet away. He gave Connor an admonishing schoolmarm look, then followed along discretely at a distance.“I can’t ever get rid of that guy,” Connor joked.“And you shouldn’t,” I scolded him.“I was afraid he was going to pull me back to the party.”My step faltered the tiniest bit. “Do you… want to go back?”“Oh hell no,” he grinned, and let his hand trace down to the curve of my ass. Then his expression froze a
He swept me into the bedroom, my hands pulling at his tuxedo jacket buttons as I stumbled backwards, his hands supporting me so I wouldn’t fall. The entire time he kissed me fervently, relentlessly. I sighed and moaned as his hands edged beneath my dress, caressing my breasts, and then he smothered my moans with more kisses.He pulled the thin straps of my dress off my shoulders, and I felt the cloth slide down across my body and cascade at my feet. His arms reached around and unsnapped my strapless bra, and then he was kissing my bare breasts and licking my nipples. He knelt in front of me, kissing my stomach as he went, then hooked his fingers through my underwear and pulled them down to my ankles. I ran my fingers through his hair and closed my eyes in ecstasy as he kissed my thighs, then between them, his lips brushing lightly over the down of hair between my legs. His tongue gently touched my clit, circled it twice, stoking my fires, teasing me – and then he pressed his face aga
He started slowly again, rocking inside me, letting me feel the pressure of his cock filling me up. I moaned and sighed, and he kissed me softly, romantically as I trailed my fingers lightly through his hair, down along his shoulders, and across his muscular back.“Lily,” he whispered in my hear.“What,” I whispered back, my eyes closed, my body lost in a dream of pleasure.“I want you to tell me when you start getting close again. Not right up on the edge of coming – earlier, when you start getting close.”I opened my eyes and looked at him as he moved in and out of me. “I think you’ll be able to tell,” I teased him.“Just tell me when it starts to build,” he ordered, his voice husky and low.I frowned and smiled all at the same time. “What are going to do?”“I’m going to sexually enslave you,” he grinned, and licked and nibbled my lips and tongue.“You’ve already done that,” I whispered.“Mmm… you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”Whoa.My mind boggled at the thought.“In the meantime… I’m g
He worked on me in the elevator, too, alternating kisses (and well-placed caresses) with requests.“Come on.”“No,” I giggled as he nibbled my ear.“Are you coming back to the party?”I pushed him away at arm’s length and gave him an Are you serious?! look. “With my makeup like this? Hell no.”He grinned with self-satisfaction. “What? You just look like a beautiful woman who’s had the time of her life.”“Ohhhh, aren’t we self-congratulatory!” I said, and tapped the tip of his nose with my finger.“Well, I figured it was classier than saying ‘had her brains fucked out.’”“Yes, although the second part’s true, too,” I said, stood up on tiptoe, and bit his lower lip softly.He grunted… and then leaned over and hit the STOP button on the control panel.The elevator rapidly slowed and came to a halt.“Connor?” I asked, slightly alarmed.“We need to talk for a second,” he said.There wasn’t the annoying, clanging alarm that you normally hear in an elevator when someone stops it. I didn’t re
In the overwhelming chaos, I didn’t know what was happening. All I knew was that Connor had slumped against me and we had fallen to the floor. He was lying on top of me, unconscious.At least, I prayed that’s all it was. Or I would have been praying if I hadn’t been screaming frantically.Suddenly Connor rolled to the side, and I thanked God that he was alright – Except his eyes were closed and he sagged like a rag doll, no reaction on his face.“CONNOR!” I screamed, clutching at his limp body. “CONNOR – ”And then Johnny was there above me, just a foot away, ten times more panicked than I had ever seen him. He looked like a man who had just lost his entire family in some horrible, sudden tragedy, right before his very eyes.“Lily, are you hit?!” he yelled.“Connor – ”“LILY, ARE YOU SHOT?!”“No, no, I’m okay,” I babbled, and immediately burst into tears.I needed to tell him – I needed to tell him how Connor had sensed the danger, and had wrapped his arms around me, shielding me fr
Todd the limo driver was pretty damn good. Even without a siren and flashing lights, he got to the hospital just as the EMTs were unloading Connor’s stretcher outside the Emergency Room.The limo screeched to a halt and Sebastian and I jumped out. Johnny was already on the sidewalk as the EMTs released the legs and turned the stretcher into an instant gurney.“Johnny, is he okay?!” I cried out as Sebastian and I ran across the sidewalk.And then I heard the most beautiful sound ever:Connor’s voice, even though it was more like a croak.“…Lily…?”I rushed up beside him and burst into tears. He looked blearily up at me and grasped for my hand. I grabbed it and ran beside him as the EMTs rushed him inside.“…are you okay?...”“Yes, yes,” I sobbed.“…are you sure?...”“You’re the one who got shot!”“…I got shot?”“Just a little bit,” Sebastian said drily.Connor looked up at Johnny. “…don’t I pay you so that doesn’t happen?...”I glanced over at Johnny and saw the guilt on his face.Conn
I almost started crying again as soon as I entered the dimly lit room.Connor was lying in a hospital bed, dressed in a flimsy hospital gown and his eyes closed. He was hooked up to a ton of machines, and the gentle beep… beep of an EKG machine filled the silence. There was an IV with clear fluid taped to his arm.He looked peaceful. For that, I was grateful.I sat down next to him in a chair and held his hand with both of mine.“Connor, can you hear me?” I whispered.There was no sound but the beeping of the heart monitor.There were so many things I wanted to say to him… and now that he couldn’t hear me, couldn’t talk back… now was the only time I had the courage to say them.“I just wanted to tell you… I love you,” I said, wiping tears off my cheek. “You don’t have to say it. You don’t ever have to say it. I just want you to know that I love you. I’ve always loved you, and I never stopped loving you. I’m sorry I walked out two months ago… I just… please… please get well… please… ev