Page 201 of Hide and Keep

“I thought you got your fill at dinner.” My body grows intolerably hot at the reminder. The same body that’s been begging for more of Crue’s touch since the moment he withdrew it.

“That’s funny.” His chuckle tickles my lips.

I lower my jaw and try to catch it in my mouth.

Crue slips his thumb in, goading my tongue into a playful dance.

Closing my lips around his second knuckle, I suck on his thumb as he slowly thrusts it in and out. I bite down.

Crue groans, then removes his thumb, allowing me to ask, “What’s funny?”

That same hand travels down the front of my throat, making a quick stop to caress my breast before continuing on to the bottom of my pinafore dress.

“That you thought I’d ever get my fill of you.”

A core-igniting need overtakes me. IneedCrue inside me, and not just his tongue or his fingers.

Just as he begins lifting the fabric, I say, “No.”

Other than pulling back to look at me, Crue doesn’t dare move any other part of his body, as still as if he was petrified.

It’s exactly how anyone should act upon hearing that word. The bare minimum really. Crue doing it only makes me want him more.

“Fuck me.”

“Here? I was just gonna—”

“Here.” I can’t wait either. Last night, he reminded me I can enjoy intimacy and I don’t have to overthink it. In fact, it’s better if I don’t.

Crue’s moss-green eyes oscillate between my lips and eyes.

“Not until—”

“I can’t kiss you.”

Cocking his head to the side, he frowns. “Can’t?”

Why did I have to phrase it like that?

“I’ll do anything you want, except that.”Please don’t make that be the determining factor again.

“Promise you’ll look at me then.”

“I…”

I drop my gaze, my entire face following after, then I sidestep Crue and go over to stand in front of one of the sinks, placing my drink next to his.

Can I look at Crue? Most days I feel that’s all I do. The days I don’t, I wish I had. He’s a Leonardo da Vinci painting amongst heavily edited selfies. He’sThe Starry Nightin a world overrun by AI-generated images. He is a true original work of art—flawed, unparalleled, and utterly mesmerizing. Looking at him is a privilege I count myself lucky to have for the time being. If I could, I’d look at him until my vision stopped working.

“I promise,” comes out quiet, yet feels like it echoes.

Crue comes up behind me, gripping my stomach and bringing me into him. Automatically, my hands rise to hold him to me, too, and a moan escapes me as I root my ass against his hard cock.

“You have no idea what you just started,” he says near my ear.

I tilt my head, giving him better access.

“A secret affair with my bodyguard?”

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