“Anyone who is anyone will be there,” Elizabeth said.
Katherine.
“I’ll have a ticket to you for my event and dress you for the gala.”
Her eyes were sly and cunning, saying way more than the offer sounded. By taking my side, she was going to piss off Katherine. And I was going to be in a guaranteed spot to see it go down.
“That would be wonderful,” I said with a smile.
“What would be great?” Penn asked, appearing at my side.
“Elizabeth invited to dress me for Fashion Week.”
Penn didn’t miss a beat, and I was sure only I could see the pain in his expression. “Perfect. We’ll see you there then.” His gaze dropped down to mine. “Let’s go bid on that auction you were interested in.”
I nodded and then smiled at Elizabeth. “So wonderful seeing you again.”
“You, too, Natalie. I’ll be in touch.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Penn and I walked in silence past the row of auction items, out one of the side doors, and into a secluded alcove before Penn released a breath of relief.
“Fuck, you should have saved me from talking to Percy,” he said, slumping back against the wall.
“You seemed to be in complete control of the business talk. I didn’t even know that you were invested in your dad’s company.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not. I know enough to bullshit. And that is the basis of my mask, Nat. I can even bullshit Carlyle Percy about a business that I don’t give two shits about. And I can make you believe it. Even though you know I despise that company.”
“Impressive.”
Penn stepped away from the wall, and then his hands came up on either side of my body, caging me into the adjacent wall. “And what were you and Mrs. Cunningham-Percy discussing?”
“Fashion Week.”
“Mmm,” he said, dipping his head and trailing kisses down my neck. “Don’t look to your left when you lie. It makes it more obvious.”
“We were discussing that.”
“Yes, but something else. She’s taken an interest in you.” He pulled back to assess me. “Why?”
“I don’t think that she likes Katherine,” I admitted.
He pursed his lips. “Harmony hates Katherine. It makes sense that Elizabeth would feel similarly, but I thought maybe she didn’t know much since Katherine was always wearing her designs.”
I shrugged lightly. “I think she likes the competition.”
“You’re asking for Katherine’s wrath.”
My grin was merciless. “Bring it on.”
Penn’s hand slid into my hair, and then his lips were against mine. His body pressing me back into the wall. Our tongues volleying for position. My heartbeat ratcheting up in response to his demanding touch. I didn’t know if it was the tension that we’d both had to hold on to all night that fueled this, but I melted in him, wanting nothing more than for him to drag my dress up my thighs and thrust his cock deep inside of me. Taking me against this wall, wild and relentless. Releasing all of the pent-up energy that came with trying to fit in. I understood, maybe for the first time, why someone who had everything could want to escape this world.
Then Penn pulled back. His forehead rested against mine. Our breathing mingled in sharp pants between us.
“We should get back to my place,” Penn said.
“Oh?” I whispered, pressing my lips to his again.
“I want to be me when I’m with you,” he told me earnestly. “This…this is the old me.”
“Can’t you be both?”
He shook his head.
“You warned me that you might say and do things that I didn’t like.” I unbuttoned his suit pants, sliding the zipper to the base, and then gently ran my nails against the head of his cock. “You didn’t factor in that…I might like both sides of Penn Kensington.”
He groaned deep in the back of his throat. As if the beast had finally slipped his leash, and suddenly, the man was both sides of his ego—philosopher and monster. Achingly logical and deliciously carnal.
He slammed me back against the wall, harder than the last time. His hands gripped the blue dress that he’d chosen for the evening, wrenching it up, up, up until it was bundled up around my stomach. His cock sprang free of its restraint, revealing the throbbing length of it and his need for me.
He grasped one of my legs and tugged it up around his waist before pushing my thong aside. His fingers slipped through the wetness that was already present from our indulgent kiss. I moaned softly at the feel of his fingers probing and readying my pussy. Then they disappeared with a vicious grin. His cock replaced them, and in one swift motion, he thrust into my pussy.
I closed my eyes, knocking my head into the wall to keep from crying out. This wasn’t a slow, playful Penn. This wasn’t New Year’s Eve where we had taken our time and become reacquainted with each other’s bodies. Where I’d surrendered myself to him. This was something else entirely.
Frantic, frenetic, frenzied, and forceful.
Wild, electric, and passionate.
It was a shattering and a coming together.
The two sides of his person reuniting in a way I had never thought was possible. Maybe even he had never thought that he could be both people at once. And I never wanted it to end.
Even as I came to new heights with Penn’s hand tight against my mouth to keep me from screaming out. And him coming deep, deep within me. As my walls tightened around him and I milked him for every drop that he had.
When we finished, breathless and shaking from the exertion, I saw stars in his eyes and the crown that we’d plucked from the sky atop his head.
And I realized I was in so much trouble.
Chapter 10
Natalie
If I’d ever thought that I could handle Penn Kensington, I’d been lying to myself. Unequivocally.
We split our time between his place and my new one the next week, and I tried not to overthink it even though that was my specialty. I just wanted to enjoy it.
I hadn’t given up on my desire to bring down the people who had wronged me. I just felt like Penn and I were a bit more on a level playing field. Yes, he’d put a bet on me. But I had slept with his best friend. Regardless of the fact that I’d thought we’d never get back together and that I was never going to forgive him, it still hurt him. So, we were equals.
And by easing back into things with him, something had shaken loose in my chest. The words had come back. I’d pulled my computer out of the place it had been collecting dust and started writing again. I had no idea what it was, but the fact that it was anything after the bullshit with Lewis and Katherine was a start.
“I like to see that,” Penn said, stifling a yawn as he walked out of my bedroom in nothing but a pair of boxers.
“Totle curled up on my lap under a blanket?” I pulled the covers up just enough so he could see Totle’s little head hidden in my lap.
“Ah, so that’s where the little traitor went.”
“I didn’t want to wake you up. You were sleeping so peacefully.”
“You are taking full advantage of the fact that I don’t have Friday classes.”