With my heart constricting in my chest—and my willpower slipping away—I strode forward and cupped his cheek. His eyes opened in shock. I knew it was wrong. So fucking wrong. I shouldn’t be touching him.
“Only a fool would ever leave you,” I said, loving the warmth of his cheek against my palm. That close, I saw swirls of deep green in his hazel eyes. “You’re kind. Smart. And so goddamn beautiful, Reed.”
I had every intention of kissing him despite all the warning bells going off in my brain telling me how horrible of an idea it was.
But in typical Reed fashion, he surprised me.
He rose up on his toes and crushed his mouth to mine. His lips were even softer than they looked. As his fingers tangled in my hair, I slipped an arm around his waist and tugged him closer, deepening the kiss. He tasted like lemon and cream mixed with the woodsy scent of the evergreen trees surrounding us.
Nothing had ever tasted better.
However, my conscience took over, and I gently pulled back.
“We shouldn’t do this,” I panted against his parted lips.
“So why are you still holding me?” he asked, just as breathless, eyes heavy.
“I don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of my position as your boss. If you don’t want this, push me away. Tell me no.”
Reed smiled up at me before ghosting his mouth over mine. “To be blunt, I don’t give a fuck if you’re my boss or not, Daniel. I just want you to kiss me again like you mean it.”
That’s all I needed to hear.
I kissed him hard on the mouth, savoring the sound of his soft moans with each pressing of our lips. He locked his hands behind my neck as he stood on his tiptoes. I didn’t know how much time had passed as we kissed in the snow, but soon, the cold became too much.
“I can’t feel my toes,” Reed mumbled, shifting his weight from foot to foot. I wrapped my arms around him and picked him up. He let out a surprised yell and held on to my shoulders as I started to walk back the way we’d come. “What are you doing?”
“Sweeping you off your feet?” I said, my chest light and my soul content. He brought it out in me. It was unstoppable. As soon as our lips had first met, something broke in me, as if the cold barrier I’d used to keep everyone at arm’s length over the years cracked and sunlight had spilled in, warming me from the inside out.
“You think you’re some kind of Prince Charming or something?” Reed arched a brow, and the edge of his mouth hitched up. “Does that mean you have a white steed I can ride later?”
I nearly dropped him.
He threw his head back with a laugh. “Oh my god. The look on your face is priceless.”
When the manor came into view, I placed him back on the ground. My earlier euphoria started to dissipate the closer we got, and nerves took its place. What happened now? Had it been a onetime kiss, or would there be more?
God. Let there be more.
Reed grabbed my hand as soon as we were inside and rushed toward the staircase with me in tow. I stumbled after him and laughed when his wet shoes caused him to slide on the first stair. I caught him, though, before he could fall.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” I asked against his nape.
A small shudder rippled through him, and he reached back to grip the front of my coat. “I’m taking you to bed, big guy.”
Jesus.
Chapter Nine
Reed
Sure. It was bold of me to assume just because Daniel kissed me that he wanted to fuck me too. But the hard dick poking my ass as we stood on the staircase left little doubt in my mind. He wanted me as much as I wanted him.
I didn’t give my brain time to overthink anything. Up until that moment in the woods, I thought he was one hundred percent straight. Fuck had he proved me wrong. My lips still tingled from the hard kisses in the snow. I didn’t think about what would happen when we finally returned to Blue Harbor. I believed in taking the moment by the balls and making it my bitch.
YOLO, as Monty had said. The asshole.
But he was right.
When I tugged on Daniel’s coat and pulled him with me up the stairs, he didn’t fight me. He swooped me up and carried me the rest of the way up the staircase, my giggles echoing in the stairwell. As he walked down the hall with me literally over his shoulder, the door beside ours opened and Claire stepped out.
“Oh,” she said, surprised, as we passed her. Then she laughed. “Assistant, my ass.”
Daniel’s chest rumbled with a deep chuckle. He set me down and reached into his back pocket for our room key. I smiled over at Claire as I waited for it to be unlocked.
“Beautiful weather we’re having today,” I casually said, hands on my hips. Daniel pushed the door open and tugged me inside. “Oof!”
He shut the door and pushed me against it once we were in the room, his lips finding mine again. As we kissed, my heart beat like crazy. Part of me worried it was a daydream, that it couldn’t be happening, but his taste, his big hands caressing me, felt too real.
Felt too right.
Daniel unzipped my coat and tugged it off my shoulders as I pulled at his and tossed it to the floor. I kicked off my shoes, and he did the same before pulling me to his chest and stepping backward to the bed. He pushed me onto the mattress and joined me there.
“Are you sure this is okay?” he asked, sliding his hands beneath my shirt, his chilled fingers sending ripples along my skin.
“Yes.” I stared up into his winter blue eyes and brushed aside a strand of his black hair. “Kinda embarrassing to admit, but I’ve fantasized about you fucking me for months.”
An almost shy smile touched his lips. “I’ve thought the same about you.”
“I didn’t know you liked men.”
“There’s a lot you didn’t know about me,” he said, moving his face closer. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Do it, then,” I challenged. “Stop talking and—”
He kissed me, cutting off my words. I smiled against his lips, so horny I could barely stand it. Mr. Indifference had a dominating side for sure. He pulled my shirt up and over my head before discarding it, and I wasted no time taking his off, exposing his toned chest and rippling abs.
“I fucking love your body,” I said, running my hands up his muscled arms. “I’ve wanted to squeeze these babies for a while.”
“What else have you wanted to do?” Daniel hovered over me, our bare chests pressing together. “Show me.”
I pushed against his chest and flipped him to his back. He smiled up at me as I straddled his hips and popped the button on his jeans. That smile turned cocky as I worked his pants down his thighs and legs, leaving him in just his boxer briefs. Once I was back in place, Daniel sat up and kissed me. His hand moved between us and unbuttoned my skinny jeans before sliding into the back of them.
“You’re not wearing underwear?”
“Better access this way.”
He chuckled and squeezed my ass cheek. “I can work with that.”
I had no time to come back with a witty response. He tossed me to my back and kissed down my stomach as he tugged off my pants. My dick rose to attention under his heated gaze. I wasn’t used to men taking the time to get me worked up. They mostly fingered my ass just enough to stretch me, and then they were shoving inside and bottoming out quicker than I liked. A lot of the time I had to finish myself off.