Chasing Temptation Read online

  He thought he heard her gasp. This wasn’t a conversation for a happy day at the lake, or any day for that matter. But this was the first time he’d ever felt the urge to share. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth…

  “Why are you scared of losing what you love?”

  He swallowed, willing the words to stay down, but instead they came out. “Because I saw what power over another person can do. Saw what humiliation and devastation look like. How one person can turn another inside out and manipulate your life and your future.”

  “You’re talking about your mom and dad?” she whispered.

  He nodded.

  “That doesn’t have to be you. Their situation and how they handled it was their choice. Their failure. I’m sorry you suffered because of it.”

  “I don’t need your pity.”

  “I’m not pitying you. You’re the strongest man I know. I just want you to realize that. You being in someone’s life makes that person lucky.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, Penny Diamond is lucky to have me in her life.”

  “I am,” she said. “You’ve changed me in a way that can’t be undone. And I’m happy about that. But even before our arrangement, you were a constant in my life. You’ve been loyal and kind. I trust you.”

  Her words hit him hard. She thought he was strong? Thought he was better than what he came from? Trusted him? Thought he was good enough to be on her level?

  “What is it you love most?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Nothing.” He turned to face her. “Love nothing, fear nothing.”

  Her green eyes seared into his. He saw sadness there. For him? Probably. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything.

  “Then what do you have to live for?”

  “I still have fun. But what’s the point of loving something if you’re just going to lose it?” he asked in a low tone, keeping his eyes locked on hers.

  Shit, had he said that out loud? He hadn’t meant to. But looking at her face, those lips, that concern and sadness in her eyes made all his defenses crumble.

  He knew now that not spending every moment with her was the definition of missing out. And he was the poor bastard that was suffering. Which should just prove how badly he needed to cut this off.

  Before he could put his face of stone on and spout his reminder of their deal, she squeezed his hand, not seeming to care if anyone noticed.

  “Certain things are worth the risk. I hope you realize that you’re something incredible.”

  A brick would have been preferable to what settled in his chest.

  “Penny, I—”

  “Hey guys!” Finn said, walking up.

  Sebastian instantly pulled his hand from hers and sat straighter. She looked at him like he’d just slapped her, but she shook it off and faced Finn.

  “Hi.” She smiled, shadowing her eyes with her hand to look up at him.

  “Nice day, huh?” he said, glancing at Bass, then back at Penny. Bass just nodded. He hadn’t realized until right then that Finn Billings was the one guy in town he might dislike the most. Not because he wasn’t a good guy. Ryder was right, he was solid. The man volunteered at the old folk’s home for God sake’s.

  So why did he feel threatened? Sure, Finn was in shape, but Bass outweighed and outstood the guy. And it had nothing to do with size or success.

  It had to do with Penny and how right a guy Finn was for her.

  “Yes, very nice,” she agreed.

  “Well, I was just talking with your brother and friends,” he said to her and pointed toward the lake where, yep, their crew was hanging out. “Would you come join us? Both of you, of course.”

  “Oh! Um…” She glanced at Bass. She saw the same thing he did. Ryder was yelling at her to come over, and Jenna was waving her arm and beckoning. Seemed all their friends liked this idea.

  “I’m going to sit here for a bit,” Bass said and looked at Penny. “You go on.”

  Jenna then yelled for Penny, and it seemed this mission of getting her a date to the rehearsal was turning into shoving her and Finn together. Bass couldn’t blame his friends. They didn’t know how he felt about her.

  Even if they did, there were things he couldn’t change. Finn could give Penny everything she wanted. More, he could give her those things for longer than two weeks.

  She stared at him a moment.

  “Go on,” he said again.

  “Here.” Finn held out his hand to Penny and helped her up.

  “I’ll be right there,” she said.

  Once Finn was out of earshot, Bass said, “Maybe it’s best to keep a distance.”

  She looked hurt, stunned, betrayed. And he wanted to instantly call back his words.

  She bent, pretending to straighten her towel, and whispered, “I wish it was you I was walking toward…not away from.”

  And despite what he’d said, part of him wished she would walk toward him. Stay with him. But maybe she knew what he did, that she would eventually have to walk away from him, because she turned from him and did just that. And he had pushed her to do so.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sebastian hit the steering wheel of his car. Yesterday at the lake, there’d been so many things he should have said to Penny. She thought he was incredible? Would she feel that way knowing he intended on ending this? That he was knowingly shoving her in the direction of another man?

  “I’m an asshole.”

  He had to say it out loud or else he would forget. Forget that for a moment they could steal a piece of time together where they could be a couple. Do normal things, like go to the lake and hold hands, catch a movie, maybe dinner, then he’d take her back to his place and sink inside her until sunrise.

  He closed his eyes. That was a fairytale, and he knew better. Maybe he was a bigger masochist than he realized. The punishment and pain of being with her was getting to him.

  Finn was the kind of man she wanted. But the way she looked at him made him think maybe he could be the kind of man she deserved.

  His grand plan had been to push her limits and send her running from him. He combed a hand through his hair. He couldn’t think about her with someone else without wanting to punch something. But every time he saw Finn talking to her, they looked…right.

  Like a normal couple.

  And she deserved to spend time with a man who could offer her a future. That wasn’t Sebastian. But that didn’t stop him from tasting her, needing her.

  Which begged the question: what would it take to actually pursue Penny? In the open? With long term intentions?

  That would have to start with the truth and end with some kind of open acknowledgment. Not something he’d ever done.

  And there was one person who wouldn’t take kindly to him setting his sights on the innocent Miss Diamond, especially for a short term romp.

  Ryder.

  Bass had never flaunted his tastes, but his best friend knew of them. Knew the kind of man he was and the kind of women he’d been involved with. Knew of his short-term status.

  He started his car, needing time and space to think this through.

  Chapter Twelve

  Penny’s third shot was kicking in as she pounded on Sebastian’s front door. It was late and had been a crappy day, but it was officially midnight, which meant it was the last day of their secret affair. And here in several hours, the rehearsal dinner would start.

  This was still her time. She had the whole day left with Sebastian, and she intended on using it. It was her last chance to show him how great they were together. If there was one thing she’d learned these past weeks—and there was a lot—it was that there was no point in being a sex goddess if she ended up with a lukewarm guy she didn’t love.

  The whole point to this wasn’t coming out the other side to find a man that was comparable to stale bathwater. The man she wanted was on the other side of the door she was staring down. And he was beyond hot in every way.

  She knocked again, and he opened the door in nothing b
ut his boxer-briefs and a sleepy expression.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “It’s our last twenty-four hours,” she said and stepped inside. “And I want all of them.”

  “Have you been drinking?” he asked, shutting and locking the door.

  “Yes. But I know what I want, and I’m going for it. I’m fighting for you.” She might have slurred just a little that time. But damn it, she was running out of time.

  Watching his brain work through his thoughts tore something in her chest. She’d hoped her coming out and saying how much she wanted him would be what convinced him to make his own declaration, but she could see it in his face now. He was pulling away from her. And she couldn’t take it.

  She whispered his name, and then she went in for the one thing she needed—him. She didn’t wait for his approval. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

  His skin was warm, and she buried her face in his neck. Then, finally, his strong arms hugged her back, and it was the best feeling she’d ever had.

  “It’s been a long day,” she said against his chest, trying to keep the tears at bay.

  “I know, darlin’,” he said against her hair.

  “Don’t send me away.” All she wanted was to stay, right there in his arms, because for a brief moment, the world, their situation, and everything she’d been fighting seemed so small. She felt safe. Protected. Loved.

  He picked her up and carried her to his room. Laying her in his bed, he pulled the covers around them, and her eyes went instantly heavy. It was then she realized that she was reaching out for him for more than just sex. She was reaching out for comfort. Because she trusted him. A fact that made her eyes heavy and sleep take over.

  …

  He’d asked her to keep her distance, but she’d come anyway. Funny thing, he wasn’t totally upset about that. About the idea that someone like her ran toward him.

  He’d been staring at the ceiling for hours. He’d known as soon as she’d declared that she was going to fight to keep him that this had to end. Not after the rehearsal. It had to end today.

  His goal had been to put distance between them today. Prepare her for when they had to go back to being friends. But knowing this was the last time he’d see her like this, he couldn’t send her away. Even if it made him a bigger asshole, he needed these final hours with her.

  He closed his eyes and rested his face against her hair. The smell of strawberries engulfed him. He’d reason with her as soon as they woke up in the morning. But just as his eyes slid shut, he felt the smallest rustling of the petite woman in his arms.

  “Bass?” she said.

  “I’m here,” he whispered.

  She turned in his arms, her face against his bare chest. They hadn’t done anything sexual, and that somehow made her sleeping next to him more intimate.

  “My Sebastian,” she murmured in a sleep-soaked voice. The feel of her lips moving against his skin made his cock instantly hard and his chest hurt.

  My Sebastian?

  She was claiming him.

  “Penny?” he whispered back quietly, seeing if he could rouse her from sleep. How was he supposed to handle this? All he could think about was everything that made him wrong for her. But when she wiggled a little, he felt her lips open and deliver a kiss on his chest. He groaned, trying to keep his growing erection from causing a problem. But then she did it again, only this time lower.

  Murmuring his name, she peppered his skin with those sweet lips, her long hair blanketing his body as she worked her way down his torso.

  “Penny?” he quietly called out, hoping she was asleep and might stop if she realized this wasn’t a dream.

  “Yes?”

  Okay, so she was awake.

  “Why don’t we talk?”

  She glanced up at him. All that wild red hair fanned out and green eyes burning with lust.

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  God no. But he couldn’t tell her that. “I just want to establish a few things and—”

  “I know,” she said, then closed her mouth over his nipple and gently sucked.

  That did him in.

  He drove his fingers through her hair and moaned. She straddled his hips and sat up to look into his eyes.

  “I want to feel you,” she said. “No competition, no rules, no establishing any conditions. Just us.”

  He cupped her face and nodded. He wanted to tell her why that was a bad idea. Tell her that emotions were running too deep, but instead, he just looked at her.

  She smiled and leaned down, delivering the hottest kiss Bass had ever felt. Lush, soft, and deep. Everything felt intensified and in slow motion.

  Her hands ran down his stomach until she reached the band of his boxers and pulled them down. His cock bobbed between her spread legs, and he had missed the part where she wasn’t wearing panties beneath her little dress. Now he knew.

  She rubbed against him. Her heat, already wet, as if recognizing him and his body, as hers.

  Fuck, he liked the thought of that. He’d always focused on keeping things surface, having a woman for a short period of time, but belonging to each other?

  No. He couldn’t think of that. Not now. He tried to stay still. Take her advances. But finally he couldn’t bear it any longer, he had to touch her.

  He sat up, cupping her face and kissing her harder, pausing only to lift her dress over her head and toss it away.

  Her beautiful skin glowed in the soft moonlight, and he kissed down her neck, tasting every inch, until he reached her ruby nipples.

  “So perfect,” he rasped. The feel of her skin against his. Her body so close. Her warmth surrounding him. He wrapped his arms around her tight and pulled one pebbled peak into his mouth.

  A little gasp escaped her lips. He circled the peak with his tongue, then sucked again before paying the same attention to the other one. She lifted enough and reached between them to position his cock at her entrance. There was no more warning than her sinking down. He shuddered as her tight heat engulfed him.

  He could stay there forever.

  His grip tightened, and he licked her nipples, her breasts, her skin. Anything he could get his mouth on.

  She wove her fingers though his hair and kissed the top of his head as she began to rock back and forth.

  On his lap, with him buried deep inside her, she slowly moved, not letting a single inch of him slip from her. He realized that she was showing him how she felt, and without him realizing what she’d started, she’d reversed their dynamic and was now commanding him. And he was lost to her. He’d do whatever, however she wanted.

  “You feel so good,” he rasped. “You feel like everything.”

  It didn’t make sense, but he couldn’t explain it. Not then. She was his everything. Everything good he’d never had. Everything he didn’t understand. Just everything. Bad idea or not, he let the word slip out and couldn’t bring himself to care.

  This level of connection, trust, and intimacy was something he’d never experienced.

  Don’t think of that now…

  “Make love to me,” she pleaded against his brow. And that’s when he realized, that’s what they were doing. She was making love to him. Taking him into her body and her heart and holding on tight. And she wanted him back. Wanted him to take over.

  With her legs locked around him, he flipped around so that she lay on her back and he was over her, still blessedly locked between those soft thighs.

  He didn’t say a word. What could he say? Nothing seemed good or powerful enough. So he wrapped her up tighter, hugging her to him. With his arms smashed between her back and the mattress, he thrust between her legs.

  She arched, gasping his name. Keeping every inch of skin touching, he surged inside again. Her legs clamped tighter, her little arms trembling from the tight grip she tried to keep him in.

  “I’m there…” she whispered.

  Looking into her eyes, he kissed her softly and delivered another thrus
t.

  “Yes…” she said. “Come with me…”

  If he’d ever had any hope of denying her, he had none now. Going deep, he grit his teeth and a slow, burning release flared through his entire body.

  “God, Penny.” He stirred his hips, unwilling to give this up yet but knowing he had to.

  The last of his release flooded her. He stayed right there, clinging to the one thing he’d always wanted, but knowing that in the morning, he would have to let her go.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Penny’s eyes fluttered open. She was surrounded by Sebastian’s sheets and scent, but not the actual man. It was still early, the sun barely showing signs of coming up through the window. With all the preparations for the rehearsal tonight in the city, she had a lot to get done.

  Sebastian seemed to have the same idea, because he walked into the bedroom fully dressed and stared at her from the doorway.

  “Good morning…again,” she said, sitting up and pulling the sheet with her. She was naked, her skin still buzzing from the incredible toll he had taken on her body.

  “We should get going.”

  He was so still, unmoving from the spot in the doorway as if ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

  “Is something wrong?” She’d thought what they’d shared was a good thing. It left her with a satisfied smile on her face. But he looked the opposite. Upset even.

  “I was prepared for last night, or this morning.” His voice was thick and precise, like talking to a client.

  “I think things turned out well. I know there’s a lot going on today, but maybe after the rehearsal you can come over to my place?”

  “No.”

  She clutched the sheet tighter. What was happening? Where was the man that had held her, made her feel safe and complete? Because he wasn’t here. The man she was staring down was pressed, clean, and stone.

  “I’m calling it,” he said quickly.

  She frowned. “What does that mean?”

  He keep his dark eyes on hers, his fists clenched. Like some internal struggle was warring within that she had no idea how to help with.