CHAPTER 027: This Was A Mistake
I force myself to walk in a straight line.
Back tall. Shoulders squared. Like I’m not being held hostage by a vibrator currently pulsing in–between my legs.
It’s only after reaching the foot of the stairs that I realize how stupid I’m being. There’s literally an elevator leading to the top floor.
I stare at it for a second, then turn, walk to it, and press the button.
The doors slide open, and I can’t say how grateful I am that no one’s inside.
Once I’m in the elevator, I suck in air through my nose and hold it while the numbers climb. Each ding vibrates against my spine. I adjust the collar of my coat and try not to squirm, but the heat crawling between my thighs makes that a losing. battle.
The doors open.
I don’t wait–I dart out, make a sharp right, and head toward the rooftop access. I come face–to–face with a bouncer standing by the heavy glass door, arms crossed, face set as stone.
Now I feel self–conscious. Could he hear it?
He squints at me. “This area is private, ma’am.”
“I, uh… I’m meeting someone. A friend.”
He raises a brow. “Name?”
“Knox Hartley.”
“Your name, I mean.”
“Sloane.”
He eyes me a second longer, then sighs, pulling the door open and handing me a hotel–branded umbrella. “Take this. It’s wet out.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, grabbing it like it might be the last thread of dignity I have left.
I step into the drizzle and snap the umbrella open, the light spray dotting my shoes. The wind picks up slightly, but it’s not unpleasant. Just enough to wake up the parts of me that have been lulled into submission by tension and adrenaline.
And then I see him.
Knox.
He’s in the far corner of the rooftop beneath a modern awning, the kind with sleek beams and hanging lights that blur softly in the mist. As I suspected, he’s conveniently sitting in a shadowy corner–or maybe he’d turned off the lights there himself; you can never tell with that man. He’s draped over a lounge chair, one arm slung casually over the backrest, the other holding a thick cigar. Smoke coils around him, veiling his face in a ghostly swirl that only makes him look more dangerous.
I walk straight to him.
“Knox,” I call. “Turn it off.”
He doesn’t move at first, just lifts his chin.
Once I’m under the shade, I collapse the umbrella and set it down with more force than necessary. My breath is uneven. My heart is a hammer in my chest.
Knox ashes his cigar with slow, practiced ease. Then he looks at me.
Expression unreadable. Calm.
“You look quite flustered,” he says.
I tap a foot. “Turn it off, Knox.”
His lips twitch. He picks up his phone without breaking eye contact and taps it.
Merciful silence.
My thighs unclench on instinct, and I let out a sigh of relief that borders on a moan. God, I almost came in the elevator.
“Alright,” I say, trying to collect myself. “Can we go now
Successfully unlocked!
“For someone who finally got what she wanted tidy,
“What I wanted?”
“You waited over ten years for this, did you not? You should be elated. Celebratory.”
Wait a minute. “Are you talking about what happened in there? The kiss?”
CHAPTER 027: This Was A Mistake
He shrugs. “What else would I be talking about?”
“You think I’d want Finn to kiss me to make Delilah jealous?”
“I think you’d want to be kissed by Finn in any way.”
“Well, you thought wrong.”
“Did I?” he asks.
“In case you didn’t notice, that kiss ended with a slap.”
“For some people, that’s foreplay.”
I groan. “I don’t have the patience for this. Are you helping me or not?”
“Whether I help you or not will depend on the answers you give me.”
His face shows nothing, but something tells me he’s suppressing anger. His jaw is slightly clenched, and his eyes are blank. Even at that, he looks devastatingly gorgeous. Maybe it’s just my hormone–soaked, chaos–loving brain playing tricks on me. I try not to let my eyes linger. But they do. Of course they do.
“Well, go on then,” I say. “Ask your questions.”
His gaze drops to my heels, settling there for a while before slowly trailing up my legs. Over my coat. Up to my face. Landing on my eyes.
“Why’d you come up here, Sloane?” he asks.
“Excuse me?”
“You brought yourself all the way up here after I asked you to. Why?”
“Are you kidding me? You practically blackmailed me into coming.”
“I didn’t. There are restrooms on every floor in this building. You could’ve stopped anywhere. But you didn’t. You came to me. Don’t say it’s because you need someone to access my parents‘ house. We both know, the moment you stepped foot up here, you’re not going anywhere.”
He stands. His movements are so slow and predatory that my breath stutters. But I don’t walk back. For some weird reason, I can’t.
He stops right in front me. Close enough that I feel his body heat. Close enough to taste his smoke in the air between us. “Why’d you come here, Sloane?” he repeats. “Is it a kink for you? Lusting after two brothers?”
I jerk back like I’ve been slapped. “I beg your pardon?”
He turns away and paces toward the railing. His hands rest on the edge, his shoulders tight.
“I don’t even know why I’m mad,” he mutters. “This was a mistake. Just leave.”
I stare at him. The more I look, the more my blood boils.
“You think you can say whatever you want and then dismiss me?” I ask.
“I just did, didn’t I?”
“I swear to God, Knox, if I take one step forward, it’ll be to shove your arrogant ass off this building.”
He turns.
Slowly.
A brow lifts. For the first time since I arrived here, he smiles. “You would?”
“Don’t test me. I’m already pissed off at two Hartleys. I’m going to transfer all that aggression to you.”
He stalks forward. “Do it.”
“What?”
“Transfer the aggression. Hit me.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
“Come on, Kitten. You made the threat. Follow through.”
I try to walk back, but he catches my wrist, yanking me close.
“You can’t promise me a good time and then retreat. Do it. Hit me.”
“You’re insane.”
“Fucking do it, Sloane.”
So I do.
My hand flies across his cheek with a slap that echoes against the rooftop tiles.
CHAPTER 027: This Was A Mistake
His eyes darken. He grins again.
“I knew the monster was in there,” he says. “Another, Harder this time. When you’ve poured out all that rage, we’ll talk about what you actually came here for.”
“I’m done playing your games,” I hiss, pulling myself out of his arms.
I turn to leave, but suddenly my feet leave the ground.
He’s behind me. One arm hooked around my waist. My back flush to his chest. His mouth by my ear.
“Put me down,” I snap.
“That’s my intention.”
He strides to the chair and tosses me down like a doll. I barely catch myself before I fall over, turning back just as he grabs the collar of my coat and yanks me upright again.
And then his hand slips inside the coat, fingers searching for my nipples and pinching thern through the gown. I cry out.
“Why did you come up here, Sloane?” he says.
“I hate you. I fucking hate you, you arrogant, infuriating-”
His hand curls in my hair, yanking my head back just enough to bring our lips a breath apart. But he doesn’t kiss me. I want him to so badly.
“You came here to be filled,” he says. “You won’t leave until I’ve fucked every man out of your system.”
“Knox…”
“Tell me what you
want.”
“You’re a crazy son of a bitch.”
“What do you want from this crazy son of a bitch?”
I whimper. “Get inside me. Right now. Please.”
His lips crash into mine with a force that sucks the breath right out of my lungs.
His hand is still buried in my hair, gripping just tight enough to hold me in place without hurting. The other curves to my back, sliding past the open edge of my coat, fingers finding bare skin and splaying wide across my spine. He pulls me in with the grip of a man who’s starved for touch.
His kiss is not sweet. It’s not gentle. It’s not even remotely sane.
His mouth moves like it owns mine, teeth catching my lower lip, tongue sliding in to stroke against mine until I’m moaning into him, nails digging into the thick muscle of his arms. I feel like I’m unraveling, thread by thread, and he’s the only thing holding me together.
Then he moves. Hand to my ass. Lifting one of my legs until my thigh hooks high on his hip, spreading me open just enough for him to press the hard line of his arousal right against my soaked panties. The pressure of him grinding with the toy in place only makes me more insane.
It’s too much. Too good.
I’m so close I could scream, and maybe I do because Knox pulls back just as my body starts to tense. He breaks the kiss, eyes wild, chest heaving, lips red from where I bit him.
“Get on your knees,” he says.
‘I don’t know why I do it. It just… happened. Like muscle memory. Like instinct. I drop down and stare at him, waiting.
“Take off my belt,” he says, voice thick, throatier than before.
I reach for it without hesitation. Fingers trembling.
The leather is warm from his body. The buckle, solid and cold. My hands work quickly, but it still feels like everything is moving in slow motion. Like the air around us is weighted with something I can’t name. Want, maybe. Rage. Hunger. Pain. All of it.
I unfasten him. Slide the belt out in one pull. Unbutton. Unzip. My hand slips under the waistband of his boxers.
He’s already hard.
Painfully, beautifully hard.
And then he springs free, cock flushed and thick, and–there’s a piercing. A silver ring at the tip, glinting. I blink at it, like my eyes are trying to adjust. Like it’s a mirage.
But it’s real. Every inch of him is.
My fingers wrap around him, and my thumb brushes the metal. He groans. A full–bodied sound that shoots straight to my core and leaves me throbbing.
CHAPTER 027. This Was A Mistake
His hand fists in my hair.
“Put my dick in your mouth,” he says, voice dark, commanding. “I want to see you choke on it.”
