It was dark before I sent everyone home. When I’d failed to appear for dinner, Clara had appeared. She circled around my desk and grabbed the arms of my chair. Spinning me to the side, she leaned down and covered my mouth with hers. A curtain of hair fell around my face, surrounding me with her sweet scent. My hands went to her ass, drawing her closer.
“I thought you were coming to bed,” she murmured, taking her lips from me.
“Too far,” I grunted, shoving her skirt to her hips.
“You have a one-track mind.” She wiggled away from me, but didn’t push it back down. Instead she hoisted herself onto my desk, allowing her legs to fall open. Her stockings stopped at her creamy thighs, held in place by garters.
“I do.” I wasn’t ashamed of it. I rolled my chair between her legs and hooked a finger under the fabric bunched at her waist. Lifting it, I discovered a lace garter belt slung low under her belly. My cock, which has been following recent developments, stiffened at the sight of her sex on display, her body rounded with the life she carried for me. “Fuck, Poppet. We are definitely not making it to the bedroom.”
“How was your meeting?” she asked, playing with a strand of hair in an expert display of coyness.
My eyebrow arched, a low rumble growling in my chest. “No business talk.”
I gripped her hips but before I could yank her forward, she placed her palm on her chest. “We said no more secrets, X. Tell me how it went.”
“As expected. Brexton thinks we should get in front of this and out Anders. Norris seems to think he won’t tell anyone.” It was hard to concentrate with her so near and so naked.
“I think Norris is right,” she said as though she’d considered this, too. “Anders doesn’t seem interested in getting dragged into this family.”
“The first smart move he’s made,” I muttered.
“Try to think of how he feels,” she urged.
“Yes, Poppet. You’re right. He’s had his whole life paid for without any responsibilities. I must consider his feelings.” He raced cars. He was reckless. He was everything that my father had tried to stamp out of me.
“Don’t be an ass.” She smacked me on the shoulder. “What else?”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“You were in here for ages. You can’t have spent all that time worrying about Anders.”
“Nothing much.” I settled into my chair, my eyes never leaving the temptation in front of me. I blew air through my lips. She was determined to have a conversation. “Is this some torturous new form of foreplay?”
“Huh?” She glanced down and her eyes widened. Crossing her legs, she smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, X.”
“Now I wish I hadn’t said anything.” This was definitely not an improvement.
“What else did you talk about?” she pressed.
I hesitated. I hadn’t told Clara everything that had been going on lately. She’d had enough on her mind, but she’d asked for no more secrets and I could give her that moving forward. “There is an issue with Parliament.”
She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing as if she was trying to get a better read on me. I did my best to look unconcerned by this news.
“It will come to nothing. A few people are upset that we arrested Jacobson, but there will be press coverage.”
“When is there not?” she asked, suddenly looking tired.
“Do you ever wish”—I searched her face hoping to find the truth—“that you had a normal life? Away from all of this insanity?”
“Don’t you?”
“I’m serious. Sometimes I hate myself for taking away your choices in life.” I meant every word. I thought about it more often than I liked to admit, because considering it forced me to imagine a life without her.
“You gave me the chance to make the most important choice of my life,” she said softly. “You let me choose you.”
A wide smile carved over my face. “I think you’re a better statesman than I am. You always have a good answer.”
“It’s the truth.” She pushed her hair over her shoulder and leaned forward to hook her arms around my neck. “I chose all of you. Nothing you could tell me will ever make me regret that. No mistake. No secret. I need you to know that.”
“I do,” I said, sweeping a kiss over her lips.
“I need to know that you’ll stop keeping secrets. I can handle it.”
“I know you can.” I nuzzled her nose with mine. “In the spirit of being honest, I suppose I should tell you that I’m finding it hard to think, knowing what’s under that dress.”
She didn’t laugh. Instead, her eyes bored into me.
“Promise me.” Her voice broke on the request.
“I promise.” I would do everything in my power to keep that vow. She deserved that much. Every time I thought she was fragile, she reminded me how strong she was. “God, I love you.”
Her head tilted, tears filling in her eyes. She tried to blink them away but they clung to her dark lashes. “I love you, too.”
She gulped, but she couldn’t swallow away her emotions. There was only one way to set her free from her worry. My hands sank into the soft flesh of her hips and drew her to the edge of the desk. Clara responded, opening her legs so I could lift her onto my lap. Her arms coiled around my neck as she kissed me hungrily.
“Oh, X,” she whimpered, burying her face against my neck.
“I’m right here,” I said in a hushed voice.
She released my neck, her hands going to my pants. “I need to feel you.”
I considered carrying her to the bedroom, but the thought ran away from me as she unfastened my belt and slid a hand down to grip my cock. I groaned as her delicate fingers stroked my shaft. If she wanted all of me, I definitely wanted all of her. I reached up and found her zipper and drew it undone. Lifting her dress over her head, I unhooked her bra, allowing her full breasts to swing loose.
Clara moved against me, her hand still manipulating my cock, as I bent to capture her dark, pert nipple. I sucked it, watching as she slowly came undone, writhing against me. She was primal and beautiful—my very own goddess.
I moved to the other breast, my hand reaching to knead and plump the one I’d abandoned.
“Yes, please,” she whimpered as I drew the soft furl into my mouth. I would never have my fill of her, but I would never stop trying. Our story was only beginning, but she was every word, every page, every chapter.
I felt her hands undoing the rest of my pants and a cool breeze as my cock met air. She planted her palms on my shoulders and lifted her body to hover over the wide crest of my cock. My eyes never left hers as she eased, inch by inch, over me. Hers started to close, but she fought the urge, her irises rolling slightly as she moaned.
“That’s right,” I said, rubbing her back as she adjusted to the deep position. The dazed pleasure on her face was nearly enough to make me come. “Is this what you need?”
“Yes,” she whispered, her teeth sinking into her lip and she began to circle her hips. “I need you—all of you.”
“You have me.”
She tightened against me, her channel contracting around my cock as she slowly rode me.
Her face fell forward, burrowing against my neck. A small, anguished cry escaped her mouth as she began to roll her hips in desperate circuits. I rocked my hips, urging her there faster. I needed to feel her come. She clung to me as a violent spasm surged through her. I held her through it, joining her in the end. Then I carried her to our bed and proved she had all of me.