Page 12 of Lovely Deceit

“Oliver,” I gasp, my orgasm threatening.

“Edie, love, let me watch. Open those beautiful blue eyes.”

I open them at the same time my climax hits, throwing me over the edge as he continues the same tantalizing rhythm. “Oliver…”

He slams home one last time, throwing me into delicious aftershocks. “Oh, shit.” He lets out a low groan, thrusting inside me again with a tortured look. Finally, I feel his cock twitch, and he lets out a breath before his chest rumbles. “That felt so good it hurt,” he confesses.

He collapses, his hot breath hitting the pillow behind me. A few moments go by before he picks himself up and stands from the bed. I reach out to grab his ass when he walks away, narrowly missing him. He disappears into the bathroom, then comes back out again with two wet washcloths. One, he uses on himself before throwing it back into the bathroom and stepping forward to sit on the edge of the bed.

He nudges my legs open and cleans me with the other, meticulously drawing the washcloth over my sensitive core.

“I’ll call room service for new sheets, and then I’ll get us a new pizza.”

“It’s probably fine,” I tell him.

He silences me with a look. “We’re not eating cold pizza like poor, American college students.”

I press my lips together to keep from laughing. “Of course. Never. Wouldn’t dream of it.”

When he walks away, I can almost trick myself into thinking life could go on like this and I would be happy. I could remember the fond moments of my life with Dee. I could distance myself from the Knights for good. Surely, they don’t want me as part of their group anyway, so what if I just gave up?

Would it really be that bad?

6

Oliver

Part of me says you should never want to change a person. You love them for who they are, not because you want to mold them into someone else. Otherwise, that isn’t love.

But I swear on my grandmother’s crown, I’d bleed this notion of revenge from her body if I could. I’d savor every last drop as it left her because then…then I’d finally know she’d be safe.

She dresses quietly, and I know we’re going to have to discuss it again, which will just bring another fight, but as I told her, I’ll fight for her no matter what. Even if she won’t fight for herself.

I tug my shirt over my head, pulling at the hem until it falls correctly. What we just did is the only kind of reckless behavior I want from her. Anything else is too much for my heart to take.

“Oliver,” she starts, swinging her boot-clad foot over the bed.

I’m already bracing myself. She’s been this way since we were kids. Didn’t care that she was the only American girl at the polo camp. She tamed her horse and every kid there who was smitten with her, including me. The lessons were a gift from my grandmother when I turned eight. She was always doing things like that for me, even if she couldn’t invite me over like all her other grandkids. At the time, I barely even knew her as the queen. I thought she just lived in a really big house and gave me ridiculous presents. I loved it.

If it weren’t for Eden, I may have even stayed that way, eating up their scraps like some sort of sewer rat. She made me come alive. She had enough attitude for both of us, and I fed off her like she was gourmet food for the soul. Best of all, I willed her into liking me, not taking no for an answer. I was in her face all the time because there was no other place I’d rather be. Strong-arming her into calling and writing me letters, I was relentless. Always have been.

There’s nothing I’ve ever wanted more than this girl in front of me.

I close my eyes, swallowing. “I don’t think you realize this, but you’re the one who taught me to be stubborn.”

She presses her lips together, eyeballing me like she wishes there was something sharp or heavy to throw.

“You can’t—”

“I don’t think you realize how much I hate it when you say things like ‘you can’t.’ Stop acting like you know what’s best for me, Ollie. I understand the risks. I am telling you that the girl you love, the one here, right now, will not be the same if I don’t go back to Carnegie and figure out what happened to Dee.”

My heart fissures down the center. I collapse into the faux leather office chair. “You just can’t.” I know I’m sinking myself further and further into her ire. I can see it with every tiny quirk on her face and the way her blue-eyed stare hardens on me. “You don’t realize what it does to me to watch you do this. You want to see me become only pieces of myself? You want to see me break, Edie? If anything happens to you like it did last night, you’ll see it.”

“Oliver.” Her shoulders slump, voice cracking. “What am I supposed to do? Give in? Let you whisk me away to some beach so we can tan on the sand, get drunk, and pretend nothing’s wrong.” I shake my head. “It wouldn’t be like that.”

I know she’s right. She’d be distant and detached. She’d be wondering what the Knights were up to—were they hurting someone else? And I also think she’d be thinking about Leo and Alaric. Fucking Napoleons. They’ve rooted themselves under her skin, and there’s nothing I can do about it. No matter how badly I wish it was a passing fling, I know it isn’t. I shouldn’t ask. It’s just me being a glutton for punishment, but I need to know. “What about them?”

She doesn’t need to ask who I mean. Glowering, her lips pull back into a sneer. “You mean the asshole who left me hanging while he just stood there, arms crossed?”

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