Unlawful Escort (Unlawful Series book 1) (9 page)

She inhaled sharply as Sebastian’s arms wound around
her waist suddenly; pulling her into the warm cocoon of his arms and her misery immediately abated. He held her awkwardly at first, as if the notion of giving comfort was foreign to him. Warmth blossomed in the pit of her stomach and travelled to every inch of her body at the gesture and she melted into him; inhaling the intoxicating scent that was simply Sebastian.

He stroked her hair lightly and desire
surged through her veins; hot and demanding and as he eased away from her to stare into her eyes, she knew she was lost. She welcomed the enticing pressure of his luscious lips; devouring even as she was being devoured. She went willingly as his muscular torso propelled hers towards the couch; his large body partially covering hers.

His lips left hers to nip gently
along her cheekbones and neck and she moaned in pleasure. He caressed her legs beneath her nightshirt with featherlike strokes as his mouth found hers again for a searing kiss. He traced his forefinger along the interior of the waistband of her skimpy underwear and her heart hammered against her ribcage in tormented anticipation. She should stop this, a sane voice in the back of her head sanctioned but the hunger inside her demanded to be fed. He cupped the swollen flesh between her thighs and she shivered as she pulsed against his palm.

His kisses grew urgent as his hands drifted to her abdomen; stroking the silken flesh of her flat stomach and he growled low in his throat as his hand met her firm bare breast. He flicked her hardened nipples between his forefinger and thumb
and she writhed with pleasure as the heat inside her body intensified tenfold. She was barely aware of Sebastian hauling the nightshirt over her head until he trailed hot wet kisses from her neck to her chest.

His mouth closed over one
hardened nipple, his hand caressing the other and she felt as if he had broken the pleasure gauge of her body; releasing millions of delightful sensory nerve cells inside her. She whimpered with need; threading her fingers through the glossy strands of his hair in a desperate bid to hold his mouth in place. It was as if he was in synchronization with her body as he seemed to know exactly what to do to stroke the fire inside her. His mouth tugged greedily at her breast and the pleasure expanded within her until it exploded into earth-shattering waves of ecstasy. Sebastian swallowed her loud moans as her body trembled with blissful aftershocks; his lips rekindling the embers of passion within her.

The incessant buzz of a cell phone in the distance penetrated the cloud of desire shrouding her brain and she tore her lips from his. She screeched in horror at the sight of her partially nude state; her hands flying to her bare breast in a feeble a
ttempt to conceal her nakedness.

“Fuck!” Sebastian
swore; groping for the offensive object as the shrill sound echoed, incessantly, in the quiet room.

“This better be damn good”, he said roughly into the phone and she spurred into action.

How could she have allowed things to get this far? She questioned herself as she located her night
shirt and hauled it over her head, virtually tripping over her feet as she ran from the room. Increasing her pace as Sebastian bellowed after her.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

PAIGE GLANCED AT THE ENTRANCE
for what felt like the millionth time since she had arrived a few hours ago. She had been purely a bunch of nerves since her heated foreplay session with Sebastian a week ago; endeavoring to avoid him and knowing such a thing wasn’t possible. Thank goodness they only saw each other during their nightly outings. Yet when he stared at her with blatant lust in his brown eyes, her body hummed with need. She sighed in distress. The memory of his expert caresses haunted her constantly and her body yearned for the bliss of being in his arms.

“Row-Row!” she froze at the use of the nickname she hadn’t heard in as long as she hadn’t seen the sole person who referred to her by it.
It was the shortened version of her middle name which was Rowena.

She spun
reluctantly to face him, “Sean…”

He
was wearing a navy blue dinner suit that fitted perfectly to his lean frame, his boyish good looks unchanged.

“You look great”, he scanned the length of her tube top velvet peach dress, “I love your hair… I always have…”

She had expected to feel the familiar heartbreak that had accompanied his memory ever since that horrible day he’d left her standing at her door and never looked back, six years ago. Instead there was only a faint twinge inside her chest. He hadn’t been able to handle the conformities of having a girlfriend who had to parent her little brother.

“Thank you. You look great yourself”

“So how have you been…?” his beautiful grey eyes twinkled and she remembered how much she had adored his eyes.

“I’m fine…”

“Do you live around here? Incase I’m in the area and need a coffee partner”, he finished conspiratorially.

She was
groping for a remark to his impertinent statement when Sebastian appeared.

“There you are darling”, he said silkily,
curling  a possessive arm around her waist and her pulse began to race, “I’ve been looking all over for you”.

“Sebas
tian…” she said, mirroring his action, “Sean this is my… boyfriend Sebastian Bradley, Sebastian, Sean Montgomery”.

Sean’s face paled a bit as
he nodded in acknowledgment, “Mr. Bradley, It was nice seeing you again Paige”, with that he made a hasty retreat.

“
Consorting on the job”, Sebastian said sarcastically, “or has your infamous reputation preceded you?”

“You’re such a jerk”, she spat with disgust; disentangling herself from him and trotting brusquely through the French doors, into the garden.

The early November night air stung with the promise of a cold winter as she made her way to a wooden garden chair and sat. She closed her eyes for a moment, willing the fury from her body; opening them just in time to see Sebastian striding towards her, her coat in hand.

“Put this on”, he extended the coat to her, “it’s freezing out here”.

She hesitated a moment before grabbing the coat from his grasp and shrugging into its warm layers.

“I shouldn’t have said that…” he said grudgingly
, joining her on the bench.

She laughed coldly, “you think you have it all figured out don’t you..?
Well you know nothing about me”.

“What is there to know”, he scuffed, “you’re an escort from Mount Vernon that I hired to pose as my girlfriend”.

Her eyes stung at his retort but she, furiously, blinked away the tears.

“And that gives you the right to walk all over me… insult me at every turn without reason”, she fairly vibrated with rage
as she flew up out of her seat.

“Calm yourself, there is really nothing for you to get worked up
about”, he said calmly, standing.

“…You sit on your high horse
judging me when you know nothing. Nothing!” she was so angry she wanted to tell him to take his money and shove it but she thought of Joshua and bit her lip.

Besides, he didn’t care.

Her eyes pooled with tears at the thought. He didn’t care that his insults hurt her, that her brother was somewhere in a hospital struggling for his life or that her pitiful life was falling apart. She collected herself quickly, dashing the tears from her cheeks and strode past him.

“Paige…” his voice was almost soft as he gripped her arm as she breezed past him.

She glanced at him scathingly and he released her arm quickly.

“Come with me”, she eyed his proffered hand suspiciously before preceding him to his waiting car and settling into the farthest corner; resolving that she had no other alternative to be transported home.

“Where are we going?” she asked when the vehicle went in the opposite direction of his penthouse.

“Somewhere that will take that frown from your brows.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

FIVE
MINUTES LATER THEY ARRIVED AT
what Sebastian informed her was a penthouse party. She had been self-conscious about her attire until she discovered that almost everyone was dressed similarly. The venue had much resemblance to the gala they had left earlier except the plush cushions adorning the marble tiled floors and the loud music bouncing off the walls.

It was refreshing to hear music of her own generation and as much as she didn’t want to admit it, have Sebastian smiling at her constantly.
She drank champagne as he spun her on the dance floor and as the intoxicating brew began to work its magic; her cares seemed to slip away. She had lost count of how many glasses of champagne she had consumed when Sebastian plucked the last from her grasp.

“That’s enough for one night. Let’s take you home”
, she mewled in protest but he firmly led her from the dance floor to the door on legs that felt like mush.

Although her limbs were as heavy as lead, she felt as if she was floating on air and she couldn’t resist the laughter that tickled her throat. She laughed gaily as she pulled away from Sebastian’s grasp suddenly and twirled on the cobbled sidewalk, savoring the brisk night air on her cheek.

“Paige! Stop!” he had barely said the words before she tripped and fell on her rump and she laughed even harder.

“Damn
!” he swore as he ran towards her and scoped her into his arms, “are you trying to break your neck?”

He carried her to his waiting car and s
he hung onto his neck as he tried to deposit her unto the seat. “I don’t want you to put me down”, she pouted childishly.

He sighed in exaspera
tion, struggling to seat them into the car in their awkward position. Once inside, she settled unto his lap and gripped both his cheeks between her forefingers and thumbs.

“You should smile more” she sanctioned with feigned sternness as he attempted to free himself from her grasp.

She wriggled on his lap and he inhaled sharply as his body throbbed to life. She was drunk for Christ sake; he sanctioned himself, suppressing his desire. He should be annoyed at her behavior, instead he was slightly amused, captivated even.

“You have such beautiful eyes”, she was serious for the first time since they had left the party
, “and the thought of your lips keeps me awake at nights…” her mouth found his, soft and persuasive, and for a moment he lost himself in her sweetness.

He came to his senses and quickly hoisted her from his lap and unto the seat beside him, against her protestations. So she did want him and he hadn’t misinterpreted her reaction the other night, he thought. Then why didn’t she just give in to what they both wanted?

She resorted to fiddling with his collar and humming for the remainder of the journey. He sighed in relief as they arrived at his penthouse and wasted no time in carrying her inside.

“You smell so good
. I think I want to steal your cologne”, she said between laughs as he mounted the stairs.

He prayed to the saints for strength
and hastened his steps when she smothered her face into his shirt.

“Will you be okay
?” he asked as he placed her on her feet in the center of her bedroom.

She laughed raucously, “I’m fine, dance with me”, she grabbed both his hands and began a clumsy waltz.

He stood his ground, “Paige…Paige, you need to go to bed”, he propelled her towards the bed.

“But I don’t want to sleep
, I want to dance. Don’t you want to dance too Sebastian?” she turned big gullible green eyes on him and his heart shifted inside his chest.

He glanced away quickly, urging her to sit and stooping to remove her shoes as he contemplated whether to allow her to sleep as she was or help her change into her pajamas. But the latter would invo
lve him removing her clothes. He sighed in distress. What the hell had he gotten himself into? He gritted his teeth,

“Don’t move. I’ll go find a nightshirt."

“Ok”, she said chirpily as he disappeared into her closet, cursing as he searched several drawers and shelves before he finally found a two piece, skimpy, silk pajamas.

He was skirting through the shelves of clothing when he heard the sound of a glass shattering in the direction of the bathroom and he ran in the direction.

“I’m sorry… I wanted to use the bathroom and then I was brushing my teeth because…”

“It’s alright…”
she was standing in front of the bathroom sink, droplets of water clinging to her face.

He sidestepped the shards of glass a short distance from her feet,
releasing a long breath as he realized she had not hurt herself, retrieved a towel and carried her back to bed.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked softly.

“No."

He was confounded as her entire face began to tremble and huge droplets of tears fell from her eyes.