What’s wrong? What is it? Are you okay?
Just come. Please.
Are you at the office?
No, I worked from home today.
I’ll be there in twenty minutes.
The mere fact that he was on his way eased some of her shivering, but she couldn’t make her limbs work. So she sat very still at her desk, not bothering to stem the flow of tears. She didn’t have the will to make them stop. She couldn’t don her stiff upper lip, like Princess Jihae should.
In what seemed like both a second and a year, keys jingled and her door opened. Even though they were always together when they visited each other’s places, they had exchanged their keys just in case. It was a good thing since her legs wouldn’t hold her long enough to have stood up and opened the door for him.
“Jihae.” Colin came thundering in, his hair standing in peaks and his eyes wild with worry. When he spotted her at her desk, he rushed to her side and kneeled beside her. He held her face between his warm hands as the tears continued to fall. “What is it? What’s wrong, baby? Please tell me.”
There was so much—so much that needed to be said. But now, she only wanted him and to forget everything else. By some miracle, she managed to whisper, “Hold me, Colin.”
He wrapped his strong arms around her without hesitation, and he held her head tucked into the crook of his neck. He murmured soothing words while his hand drew reassuring circles on her back.
At some point, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the sofa, then nestled her on his lap. The murmurs and the gentle touches didn’t stop. She couldn’t remember how long they stayed like that, but at some point, her tears finally ran dry and she clutched at the front of Colin’s shirt.
She’d been abandoned by her father in the worst way, and she couldn’t lose Colin, too. There was no family for her anymore. Even if her mother hadn’t been part of her father’s scheme, she would never oppose him for Jihae. She was alone and had no obligations, responsibilities or duties to make her return to Korea. Rotelle Entertainment was as good as lost since she’d disobeyed her father. But she had the experience and connections to start fresh in Hollywood. Losing Rotelle Entertainment didn’t frighten her anymore. As long as she had Colin, she could face anything.
“I love you, Colin. I love you so much.” She wanted promises. She wanted forever with Colin, and she didn’t have to hold back anymore.
“Jihae.” He tensed under her, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. “You can’t say that. Not yet. Not right now. You’re hurting, and there are things you should know...”
All she needed to know right now was that she loved him. That she’d finally found the courage to tell him she loved him. Talking could wait. She placed the tips of her fingers on his lips.
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to hear it. In fact, I don’t want to talk, either. All I want is you. Right now. Make love to me, Colin. Make me feel whole.”
He gently pulled away her hand and looked at her with such sad eyes that it frightened her. “Jihae, I have something to tell you.”
She didn’t want to hear why he had such sorrow in his eyes. She couldn’t handle any more bad news today, so she grabbed his face with both her hands and brought his mouth down to meet hers. He stiffened and tried to pull away, but she straddled him and swept her tongue across his bottom lip. When she swiveled her hips against him, he capitulated with a helpless groan and kissed her back with dark, stormy passion.
Their mouths met and dueled, and their teeth bit and teased. They frantically tore off each other’s tops, and Jihae spread her hands possessively over his broad, muscular chest, then leaned back to admire his beautiful body. While she was distracted, Colin threw her bra to the floor and palmed her breasts and massaged them.
She moaned and ground her center against his hard length until he echoed her moan and leaned in to kiss the sensitive spot behind her ear.
“Colin, please,” she said, grinding her hips harder while hot moisture soaked through her panties.
He hiked her skirt to her waist and grabbed and tore her lacy lingerie in half. With fumbling hands, she helped him unbuckle his belt and unzipped him, pulling out his erection. She wrapped her hand around it and moved it up and down, drawing a groan from him.
“Condom,” he rasped, lifting his hip off the sofa. “Back pocket.”
The shift of his hips tore a high-pitched moan from Jihae, but she quickly reached down, pulled out his wallet and found the condom. When he grabbed for it, she shook her head. She tore open the package with her teeth.
“No, let me,” she said.
As soon as she covered him with the condom, she pushed herself up on her knees then sank deep onto him. Colin made an attempt to check his passion and started out at a slow tempo. But she didn’t want slow. This coupling was about her claiming him. Marking him as hers.
She pulled herself up and came down with a rotation of her hips. He scrunched his eyes shut and hissed, as though in pain. So she did it again. Faster and harder. She kissed him and her tongue mimicked the movement of her hips.
“I’m going to take you fast and hard, darling,” she said against his lips. “And you’re going to fall apart under me, screaming my name.”
“God, you’re killing me.”
“Am I?” She emphasized her question with two hard pumps. “Tell me you’re mine.”
“I’m yours, Jihae.”
“Tell me I’m yours.” This time his response faltered, so she sank into him even deeper, circling her hips until he groaned. “Tell me I’m yours.”
“You’re mine. God help me. You’re mine. Mine alone.”
His eyes opened then and he grabbed her waist and lifted her up, tilting his hip into her. He filled her so deeply and fully that she whimpered, her smooth tempo falling apart. Colin took over with a fast, desperate rhythm, his movements hard and inelegant. Jihae was going to be sore later, but it felt so good. So right. There was nothing for her to do other than push him even harder.
She was so close, but she wanted to prolong this moment, so she hung on.
“Come on, baby. Come for me. Come for me, baby.”
His pleading words were almost enough to push her over the edge, and when he sucked her aching nipple into his hot mouth, she came apart, atom by atom.
“Colin.” Her scream echoed through her liv-ing room.
He was pushing faster and faster into her, his movements becoming more erratic by the second. A hoarse shout escaped his throat as he jerked into her one final time. They sat there cradling each other as they came back to earth. Her condo was still and quiet except for their harsh, shallow breaths.