“Sir.” Claude nodded at Aria’s father. “I just want to say, I’ve been watching this whole affair, and your daughter does care about this man. And he’s been pretty damn persistent in getting her back.”
Aria’s dad raked his hand through his hair and glared up at the bodyguard. Then, he turned away from us again. Aria looked at me, and I could see sadness in her eyes, as though she knew this would be the last time she’d see her father. But she took my hand, firmly interlacing her fingers with mine and hitched her dress up a few inches so she could actually walk without falling over.
“Come on.” She nodded to me, a slight waver in her voice. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t want to stay any longer.”
We turned and started toward the door. The entire room went completely silent, apart from a few whispers. But right before we reached the exit, a voice boomed from behind us, a voice that I was relieved to hear.
“Marshall? Take care of her, won’t you?”
I turned and found Aria’s father looking at me with deep sadness in his eyes but acceptance, too. I nodded.
“She’s still my little girl.” He nodded in Aria’s direction. His voice cracked. “I can trust you with her, right?” But when the inevitable was before him, he had no recourse. I gave him that, even though I knew he still had no love or respect for me.
“You have nothing to worry about, sir,” I promised him and glanced over at a beaming Aria.
“Let’s get out of here,” she repeated, but this time, it was with a completely different tone. And with that, we headed outside into the night, finally together.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Aria
I giggled as Elliott pushed me down onto the bed, but he soon quieted me as he covered my mouth with his and kissed me for the first time since we’d left my father’s event.
“You look like a snack in that dress,” he groaned in my ear. “How do I get you out of it?”
I knew how he felt. I had an urgency running through my veins that wouldn’t shut up. One that had started as soon as we walked out of the event and slipped into his car to head to my beach house. Alone of course, apart from Betsy, who was sleeping on the couch where we’d left her. Giving us all the time in the world to do whatever we wanted.
He grabbed me by the hips and flipped me over. I let out a squeal as he quickly found the zipper for the crazy-expensive dress my father had purchased for the fundraiser, and he pulled it down quickly. He pulled apart the two sides of the dress, and I wriggled out of it, letting him pull it off my body. He climbed back onto me before I could turn back around, running his hands up my bare back and down my legs, planting kisses on the back of my neck and making me squirm.
Fuck, I missed this. I hadn’t realized how much I craved him until he turned me over again. He pulled me onto his lap so I was straddling him, and I could feel his cock pressing up against my panties.
“Fuck, I missed you,” he panted, pulling back to look at me, as though reminding himself that yes, this was real, and yes, this was really happening.
“I missed you too,” I said.
I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him slowly, loving how much time I could take with him, loving how sweet and soft this was between all the urgency and hunger and want for each other.
“I really want to fuck you,” he growled in my ear, the words coming from deep inside of him.
I bit my lip and studied him, wondering if I should tease him a little longer or if I should give him what he wanted. Both options were tempting, but I would have plenty of time for teasing. For now, I just needed him inside of me, more than anything else in the world.
I reached down between his legs, groping at him as I’d done in the library, and caught hold of the collar to the fancy shirt he wore. He looked really cute all dressed up, but he’d look even better naked.
“Undress,” I ordered, and he raised his eyebrows, seemingly amused.
“Oh, so you’re calling the shots now?” he teased, but he did as he was told, quickly rolling off the bed and stripping down.
“We don’t have any time to waste,” I pointed out. I hooked my thumbs around my panties and wriggled them down my hips, making a show of it, and he practically licked his lips as he watched me. I still felt incredible with his gaze on me, with his eyes traveling across my body. Nothing got me hotter.
“Turn over,” he commanded, and now, it was my turn to obey.
I planted myself on all fours, pushing my butt up off the bed, and looked out the window onto the beach beyond my bedroom. It was dark out, but I could still make out the glistening water in the distance. I felt instantly calm knowing how close we were to the ocean. I heard him tear open a condom and then felt his hands on my hips.
“Ready?” he breathed, and I nodded, biting my lip.
We had never done it from this angle before, and I was already feeling the needy, desperate sensation deep in my stomach telling me this was going to be good. Without waiting another second, he pressed himself against me and pushed all the way inside of me.
“Fuck,” he groaned, but I couldn’t even come up with a word to describe how I felt.
It was a fullness, more than ever before, as he pushed into my pussy. I was stretched around him, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt good. Better than ever before. Maybe it was the waiting—the anticipation—or maybe it was knowing we could finally be together without any interference. Something about the way he took me made me feel free and wild, and so fucking good.
I worked my hips back against his, matching his pace until the two of us were frantically grinding against each other in a horny, hungry mess. He slipped an arm around my waist to keep me upright and leaned down to run his mouth over my spine, his breath hot against my skin. I reached back with one hand to stroke his hair, to feel him, to remind myself this was really happening. After all this time, the two of us were finally together again.
“You feel so fucking good,” he panted against my skin.
I moaned at his words. I loved it when he spoke to me this way, when he reminded me just how badly he wanted me. The hand on my belly traveled down, and he found my clit, his fingers stroking me and bringing me to even higher planes of pleasure. My jaw hung open, my breath came fast, and my blood felt overheated in my veins. I couldn’t take this much longer. It felt as though all the tension building up since the day we met was about to explode. It was about to crest and break within me. I gritted my teeth, my thighs clenching and my body buckling beneath him.
“Oh, fuck!” I yelled out, not caring one bit if anyone heard me or what they thought if they did. I didn’t give a damn about anything but the feel of his gorgeous cock buried deep inside me as I came, my pussy clenching over and over again around him, my body wracked with a kind of pleasure I never believed possible until now. My jaw shook, and my muscles trembled. I let myself fall onto the bed, only him holding me up anymore.
He pushed into me a few more times, moving quickly, and then with a groan, thrusting one last time inside me, he shuddered and came.
He slowly pulled out of me, letting me collapse onto the bed, and he disposed of the condom while I did my best to come back down to earth. My scalp was prickly, and my pussy felt raw, used, but in the best possible way. I flipped over and inhaled a giant lungful of the beautiful sea air, letting it wash through me, and a giant grin broke out across my face.