The Arrangement Anthology (7 page)

CHAPTER
15

Sean takes me to his room. It’s the penthouse, located high above the city. The entire floor is ours. I’ve never seen such a place in person. Space is a commodity in the city and the vast size of the room is flaunting wealth.

“Do all guys get this room?” I ask, looking around. I feel Sean’s eyes on me as I walk.

“I’d think not. It’d be a huge tip off. Plus the room cost more than the average services your company provides.”

My face flames red. I try to hide it, but Sean
sees my blush. He walks toward
me and takes my hands from my face.

I say, “I’ve not done this before.”

“I know,” he says, his voice deepening as he speaks. Sean keeps a hold on my hands and turns me from the window to meet his gaze. A light dusting of stubble lines his jaw. That dark hair that I want to touch so badly falls into his eyes. He tilts his head to the side and it falls back. “Tell me something. How is it that you’re a virgin? I wouldn’t have thought that could be possible.”

My gaze darts away from his, but he tilts my chin so that I can’t look away from him. My heart is pounding rapidly and I feel vulnerable. I want to jerk my face away. I want to run, but I don’t.

His voice is a whisper, “Tell me.”

“I never found the right guy,” I breathe.

Sean’s eyes devour me, raking over my face like he can’t get enough. Finally, he nods slowly. His hands drop from my body and I feel nervous again. I’m nervous when he touches me and more anxious when he’s not.

Sean sees the slight tremor of my hand. He says over his shoulder, “I won’t have sex with you, not unless you want it.”

What?
I nearly fall over.
Did he really say that?
“I’m sorry?”

Sean sits at a desk and turns the chair toward me. I stand in front of him staring with my lips parted. “It’s the way I do things. I have no intention of forcing you. Actually, the whole thing is left up to you, really.”

I swallow hard and stare at him like he has two heads. “But, I thought…”

“I know what you thought, but that doesn’t matter now. We need a new arrangement, since the old one won’t work anymore.”

“Why won’t it work?” I don’t understand what he’s thinking.

“Because I know you. It just can’t be the way I thought, so let’s come up with something new. I won’t lay a hand on you, unless you ask me to. I won’t have sex with you unless you want it. How’s that for starters?”

“Sean, I can’t change things that much. It isn’t right. You wanted something when you called for me. What did you want?”

He’s quiet for a moment. The fingers on his hands lace together between his knees as he leans forward. I think he’s going to answer me, but he doesn’t. “Listen, this week is hard for me, okay? I’m not usually here, in fact I do everything I can to steer clear of New York at this time of year. Business didn’t work out that way this year. I need something to occupy my thoughts when I’m not at work, someone to be with. Since I know you can do that on some level, I want you around.”

When he speaks, I hear the hitch in his voice. Sean’s running from something, something he doesn’t want to remember and being here forces the memory forward. I nod slowly and walk toward him. “So the arrangement is platonic? Not sexual?”

“Yes, if that’s what you want.”

My heart sinks. I look at him and I have no idea what I want. I thought I was going to have sex tonight. I nod, like I’m in shock. My gaze is lost, staring somewhere across the room when he speaks.

“That isn’t what you wanted, is it?”

“I—” my mouth hangs open and I have no idea what to say. I try to explain, but I can’t.

Sean looks surprised. “You wanted to do it, didn’t you?”

I shake my head, but Sean puts his hands on my waist and pulls me to him. “You’re breaking your rule,” I say.

“I don’t care,” he says with a dark look in his eyes.

“Okay, then.”

“Tell me what you want from this, what you want to learn?”

“Learn?” I squeak.

“Yeah, I’m assuming you felt safe with me and wanted to learn something. Isn’t that why you picked me from the file? I’m sure there’s more than one guy with a virgin fetish.”

My heart is pounding. I can barely focus. I nod, even though it’s not the truth. “Teach me,” I hear myself say
,
and wonder how much ether I’ve inhaled. I must have rotted my brain.

“Teach you what, Miss Smith?” He holds me close, warming me. His hands linger around my waist as his eyes hold my gaze. My heart beats harder, faster. My face warms as I think about his hands on me, about what he’s offering me. I wish I knew what he wanted originally, but I don’t. I look at his lips, wanting to taste them, wondering what it would be like to be with him.

Smiling shyly at him, I breathe, “Everything.”

THE ARRANGEMENT
SERIES

This story unfolds over the course of
multiple
short novels. Each one follows the continuing story of
Avery Stanz and Sean Ferro.

To ensure you don’t miss the next installment, text
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MORE BOOKS BY
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SCANDALOUS

SECRETS

VALENTINE’S
KISSES

DEMON KISSED

And more.

To see a full book list, please visit:

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The Arrangement

Vol. 2

H.M. Ward

www.SexyAwesomeBooks.com

Laree Bailey Press

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by H.M. Ward

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in

any
printed or electronic form.

Laree Bailey Press

Fi
rst Edition: Jan 2013

The Arrangement

Vol. 2

CHAPTER 1

Sean’s eyes are locked with mine. He doesn’t react to my words. There’s no smile on his lips, no sense of relief or joy. Instead
,
he stays a breath from my lips with his fingers gently brushing my cheek. His other hand is possessively holding me against his waist. His body is so hard. My thoughts keep drifting to running my
tongue
over his
firm
stomach. It makes my toes curl and I feel shy, but I don’t look away from him.

No one has ever looked at me like this. I mean, it’s not a gaze that’s tender and sweet. Sean’s eyes are filled with desire that darkens by the second. It’s like his eyes could devour me whole. That carnal l
ook makes my body grow warmer. M
y heart slams into my ribs
like it
’
s trying to save itself, like it knows Sean’s bad for me
.

I don’t
know
what I expect
Sean
to do, but he’s slow about doing it.
He
teases me, leaving his lips
so close to mine
that I tremble
. By the time S
e
an
closes the distance between us, I can barely control
myself.
He brushes his bottom lip against mine. The electricity
that’s been
building between us ig
nites and I suck in startled breath
. My legs feel like they want to run, but I can’t.
My muscles twitch like my fight or flight response is taking over, but I force the sensation back. There is no way Sean will hurt me. Miss Black made it clear that she’ll hurt him if something happens to me. My heart on the other hand, well that’s a different issue.

I stand there
as
Sean’s body
is
pressed
tighter
to mine.
Every curve, every muscle
,
slips into place until there is no space between us. His body is rock hard and
so
warm. I feel him under the suppl
e
fabric and know how much he wants me.

Sean’s
fingers gently tangle in my curls
,
as he brushes his lips past mine again. The floor of my stomach falls away and it feels like I’m
falling
.
The kiss is so light, so perfect. It makes me lightheaded like I’m drunk and as soon as his mouth is gone, I want more. My eyes flutter open. I didn’t realize that I’d closed them.

Sean pulls bac
k and watches me with that intense gaze
.
It
burn
s
a trail
between
my eyes and my lips. Sean tilts his head in and rests his forehead
against mine
, locking our eyes
. I feel his rib cage expand as he
sucks in
a jagged breath.
Ex
citement is brimming beneath the
surface, barely
contained
.

I don’t know what I want or what I want him to do. My mind is lost in a cavern of lust and I can’t find my way out. Hell
, I don’t even know if I want out
. My life sucks and this little reprieve is heaven. There’s no reason to think, nothing to worry about. After this tryst, I’
ll have what I need as well as plenty of memories to keep me warm
on
cold nights. So why am I trembling? What am I afraid of?
I made peace with this decision.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that
, a bitter voice says at the back of my mind.

It takes me a moment, but I realize that Sean
frightens me in a way that I can’t fathom. Most of the fears in my life are tangible, but this one isn’t. My emotions feel dazed, like they don’t know what’s real and what’s fake. Sean doesn’t really love me. I don’t love
him
, but still—there’s something there and it calls to me.

The way his eyes drink me in, the way his hands feel on my skin, and t
he way he teases makes me crazy—
I’ve never reacted to a guy like this in my entire life. There was never any heat, not even a spark.
That’s what makes things with Sean all the more insane. From day one, I felt something for him. He walked into my life and filled a hole that I didn’t even know was there. It’s too soon for that. A couple of kisses and smiles later
,
and I sound like I’m ready to marry the guy. What the hell is wrong with me?

Sean watches me closely as I think. Every time I take a breath in, my breasts press harder against his chest. It feels right. I want more. As if he can read my mind, Sean lowers his lashes with his gaze fixated on my lips. When he lowers his mouth
to meet mine, the thoughts rush
from
my mind. Like a surging river they race through
, and are gone before I can blink
.

Sean’s fingers drift down to my cheek and he tilts my head to the side. My heart pounds harder in my chest. His lips are full and soft. They seek mine
,
applying the perfect amount of pressure
and the kiss deepens. I
push
my body against his chest
and my arms wrap around his neck. I play with the hair at the base of his neck as he kisses me, feeling the silky strands slip b
e
tween my fingers.

As we kiss, a thought races through my mind, a warning.
Something about kissing.
It flutters through my mind, unclear.
Sean licks the seam of my lips once, and then twice.
My heart races harder as he does it.
I’m ready to open
my mouth
and let him kiss me deeper. I want it. I want him. My body is charged, ready for that kiss. Every inch of me is tingling. There’s a wave of desire building inside of me and his kiss will set it free.

His kiss.
Kissing…

“I can’t,” I say into his mouth as the memory hits me.
Gasping, I pull away and turn my face.