Beneath This Mask (Beneath, #1)(34)

He reached for his belt and paused. “I’m staying tonight.” It wasn’t a question.

“Okay.” I reached for the hem of my shirt and started to drag it upward. He reached out, covering my hand with his to stop me.

“But if you take that off, I’m not going to be able to stop myself from having you.”

“Good.” I yanked at his grip, trying to get the shirt off.

He squeezed my hand. “No. Not tonight. The first time we’re together, you’re going to be stone cold sober, because I want you to remember every single thing I do to you.”

My insides turned hot and liquid. A pulse thrummed between my legs. “You already told me you’d put out. No take backs. It’s not fair.”

He leaned down and brushed his five o’clock shadow against my cheek before saying into my ear, “Tough shit.”

He pulled back, and I stuck out my lip and pouted. Simon caught it between his teeth and tugged before releasing it. “So f*cking tempting. You have no idea.” He spun and looked at my bureau. “Pajama pants? And I know you own them. I distinctly recall a striptease that involved a pair.”

I huffed. “Second drawer from the bottom.” He opened the drawer, pulled out a silky pink pair, and tossed them at me.

“I’ll be right back. You better not be naked.”

“You’re such a hardass prude, Mr. Duchesne.” He took a step toward the doorway and gripped the top of the frame. His tongue swiped across his bottom lip, and his hazel eyes shifted from playful to serious.

“You’re worth the wait.”

He walked out of the room, and I heard the bathroom door shut.

I clutched the pajama pants in my fist as my heart tumbled further down the path of no return. A single thought crystallized in my head: Fuck. I could fall in love with this man.





I awoke as the sun was just starting to rise. But it wasn’t a nightmare that woke me. It was the hot, wet suction on my dick. I groaned, burying my hand in Charlie’s—Charlotte’s—wild hair.

“Jesus, woman. Holy shit.” I jerked my hips as she hummed against my cock, and her small, soft hand cupped my balls. “Holy f*ck.”

My breathing grew labored. The urge to come slammed into me, and I gently tried to tug her away. “Baby, you gotta stop. I—I’m…” She didn’t stop. Instead she took me deeper and worked me harder and faster. I couldn’t hold back. So I just let go.

After she sat up and wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, she smiled at me. “I’ll be right back.”

She slipped out of the bedroom, and I heard the bathroom door shut and the water turn on. I tucked myself back into my boxer briefs, laced my hands behind my head, and stared out the skylight in the slanted ceiling above me. She’d already been passed out by the time I’d come out of the bathroom the night before, still in her jeans, pajamas clutched in her hand. I’d been as gentlemanly as possible as I’d swapped out the jeans for her more comfortable sleepwear. I couldn’t help but marvel at the pale, un-inked skin of her legs. Next to her arms … they seemed almost … unfinished.


I’d tucked her into bed before slipping beneath the covers and pulling her against me. It was another solid night of uninterrupted sleep. Until Charlie had decided to provide the world’s best wake up call. I heard the water turn off, and she walked back into the bedroom. She bit her lip and her hair hung forward, obscuring part of her face. For the first time since I’d met her, she looked … shy.

I grinned. “That was, hands down, the best way I’ve ever been woken up.”

Her smile reappeared. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, babe. Come here.” I sat up so I was leaning against the headboard and held out an arm. She climbed back into bed and snuggled into my side. I tucked her under the covers. “Best morning ever.” I kissed her hair. “So, tell me about Charlotte.”

She froze, and I tightened my grip as she struggled uselessly against me. I spoke slowly, pitching my words so they would resonate in her ear. “I don’t care what your name is. I just want you. That’s all. I don’t care if you’re Charlotte or Charlie or Lee or anybody else. I just want to know you.”

She stopped struggling. I pulled back and looked down at her. “I just want you to let me in. To trust me with a little piece of you.” I tucked an unruly lock of purple hair behind her ear. “I’m falling for a girl who won’t even tell me where she’s from. You’d think I’d care, but it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to me.” Her mouth dropped open and her aqua eyes widened. “Nothing you tell me is going to change how I feel.”

We stared at each other for several beats before she spoke.

“The East Coast.” Her voice was shaky and barely more than a breath. Finally. Something.

“Figured you were a Yankee.” I leaned down and kissed her. Slowly, reverently, like I was learning her for the first time. And maybe I was. Her fingers gripped the back of my neck as she pressed closer. That fit perfectly with my plans, because we weren’t leaving this bed without getting a hell of a lot closer—and not just in the physical sense.

She pulled back from the kiss and asked, “You going to follow through this time or leave me hanging? Because I gotta tell you, I’m not sure I can survive that again.”