But then I felt Penn’s hands in my mass of silvery-white hair. My eyes fluttered closed at the feel of him touching me. Something eased in my chest. I breathed out in relief before I realized what he was doing.
A pin pinged on the floor. Then another.
The pins that Amy had carefully put my hair up with earlier that day fell to the ground. And as Penn removed more and more, he loosened the strands of my hair until it fell down to the middle of my back like a waterfall whose dam had been broken. His fingers slid up into the strands, checking to make sure he’d gotten them all. When he was satisfied he slowly massaged my scalp until I was practically swaying with sleep from the relaxation.
He collected all of my hair in one hand and then put it over one of my shoulders. Then he pressed one more kiss into my neck.
“I like it better down.”
My heart thrummed in response. “I don’t wear it up often.”
But he wasn’t finished. He found the zipper on the Cunningham dress and tugged it all the way down. I slid the straps off of my shoulders and let the priceless material fall down my narrow hips to pool at my feet.
“Shoes,” he demanded.
The Louboutins followed. I faced him then in nothing but nude underwear and his crown necklace.
“Better,” he said, his eyes traveling down my naked body. “You don’t need any of that adornment.” He tipped my chin up. “You should always be unbridled with a flair of wildfire. Fearless, all-consuming, and so bright that you burn.”
My throat bobbed at his words. At the way he cut straight through me.
I was consumed by rage, and I wanted to burn the city to the ground. I was fearless in my desire to make the people pay for what they’d done to me. Finally free and wild.
But not in the way he was talking about. He was seeing me as he had seen me before. The Natalie who had let herself get run over, manipulated, used, and crushed under a stiletto heel. I wouldn’t let that happen again.
He must have seen some of that flair in my eyes because his widened. But I didn’t back down. I didn’t douse the spark that had grown to flames in my eyes. I let him see a part of the person I was now. Let him get his fill.
Then I stepped forward and captured his lips with my own. The tension sizzled between us, flames building, steam rising. The world ceased to exist around us as we set it on fire in that one searing kiss.
Chapter 4
Natalie
It was all I could do not to rip his tuxedo off. My hands were making quick work of the buttons. Hastily tugging them out of each individual loop. The restraint I’d felt evaporated.
Then Penn’s hands grasped each of my bare wrists. My arms were pushed up over my head. The grip tightened until he was once again in complete control.
My breaths came out in hot pants as I stared into his impossibly blue eyes. Dark lashes framing those midnight-ocean orbs that only got wider and wider as his pupils dilated and his gaze shifted down my naked form.
“Tell me this isn’t like last time,” he instructed.
“It isn’t like last time,” I said on instinct. At his command. The words were out before I thought of what he was asking.
Last time. When I’d found out about Lewis and we’d fucked like animals. He said yes to me when I confessed I’d always wanted him. But it didn’t make it any better. It was pure and primal need. Anger mixed with lust that fed into carnal bliss. Nothing more. I hadn’t been able to give anything more then. And he’d accepted it.
The look in his dominating eyes said he wouldn’t this time.
“Natalie.”
I huffed out a short breath and released the tension in my body. Turning into water against his hard touch. Was it different? This had nothing to do with Lewis. Nothing to do with what came next. I didn’t have to do this to reel Penn in. He wanted to talk first and foremost. But I wanted this. And I was tired of holding back. Tired of hating him so much. Of pretending that I didn’t want him when I did.
“It’s different,” I assured him.
He read my own eyes as if he could see all my secrets laid bare before him. He must have approved of what he saw in me because he nodded once. “Then we have all the time in the world.”
He stepped forward, releasing my arms, and scooped me up into his. I felt weightless in his grasp as he carried me out of the living room, down the darkened hallway, and into his bedroom.
The space was enchanting in how closely it reflected the professor, whose body was pressed tight to mine. The bookcases filled with tomes and skinny philosophy texts and a row of leather journals. The navy-blue comforter that beckoned as he laid me out like a feast. The glass window that opened onto a balcony overlooking the park, fireworks already bursting in the distance even though it wasn’t yet midnight.
I propped myself up on my elbows, so I could get a better view of him. Something had shifted in his features at my acceptance. At whatever he’d seen on my face before he picked me up. Now, he was the Penn Kensington that I’d fallen hopelessly head over heels for. He was all male. Standing taller with those wide shoulders that fell down to his narrow hips. The bulge straining at the front of his slacks. My fingers itched to remove his length and feel that hardness against my skin, in my mouth, but one look from him held me in my place.
He was in control here. We might push and pull, fight, argue, and debate outside of the bedroom. But here, I was his.
No, this wasn’t some midnight romp to expunge my anger. This was finally taking back what I wanted despite the costs.
Penn untied the bow tie at his throat and let it hang loose around his neck. Then, he finished where I’d started, unbuttoning his shirt and tugging it from his pants to bare his defined chest before me. I wanted to run my fingers down his chest, lick my way down his abdominal muscles. Feel each ridge under my tongue. Watching and not touching was torture.
And maybe he knew that because one corner of his mouth lifted at my response.
“Tease,” I murmured.
“You have no idea,” he said with that same heady grin.
“I think I do.”
“We’ll test your theory.”
The heat in his look went straight to my core. “Okay, Professor.”
He dropped his shirt off of his shoulders at my comment. He snapped open his slacks and dragged the zipper down, revealing the erection hidden beneath.
“Let’s see if you can pass the exam.”
“Oh dear,” I said, playing along. My body ached all over at his playful words. “I didn’t study.”
“Who knew that you were such a bad student?” he said. “Let’s see how fast you can learn.”
“I’m definitely a fast learner,” I breathed.
He smirked. “We’ll see.”
He stepped forward, his erection still straining against his boxer briefs, but he was attentive to me. His fingers hooked into the soft material of my thong, and then he slid it down my body, effortlessly tossing it away. His strong hands came down on my inner thighs, spreading me wide open before his face.
My pussy pulsed with anticipation and need. He leisurely stroked one finger down my core, and I trembled with the desire for more. More, more, more. I couldn’t stop the need. Then he was spreading my lips apart, slicking through my wetness, hitting every nerve ending, and making my back arch off of the bed.