Mag-log inJoella’s POVIt was like the temperature in the room changed. The back of my neck prickled. My skin went tight. I didn’t turn around, but I knew. I just knew. His eyes were on me. On my bare shoulders in my black dress. On my red lipstick. On my hand on the table, inches from Bryan’s.On Bryan, leaning toward me, smiling.My phone buzzed in my clutch.I didn’t take it out.It buzzed again.Brie was in the middle of a story about a French photographer who cried during a shoot because the model’s shoes were the wrong shade of beige. Bryan was laughing. I slid my phone out of my clutch and looked at it under the table.Cavern: Who is he?My heart slammed against my ribs.I stared at the message. I could feel him staring at me from across the room. Waiting.I didn’t turn around.I typed with shaking fingers.Me: Who is she?I hit send.I put the phone face down on my lap.It buzzed almost immediately.I didn’t look.It buzzed again.And again.I picked up my fork and twirled my pasta like
Joella’s POVShe was beautiful.Not pretty. Beautiful.Tall, almost as tall as him in her heels, with dark hair pulled back in an elegant low bun and a fitted emerald dress that looked like it had been made only for her. Gold earrings that caught the candlelight. Red lips. Maybe late thirties. She carried herself like a queen. Like she belonged in rooms like this, with men like him. Like she had been born in a room like this and never once had to check her bank account before ordering dessert.She laughed at something he said. Head tipped back. Throat bare.Then she put her hand on his arm.And he let her.He didn’t pull away. He didn’t shift his body. He didn’t give her that cold, blank, Mr. Kingston look he gave everyone who got too close. He just let her hand rest there on the sleeve of his charcoal suit, like it was normal. Like it belonged there.Something cold dropped into my stomach and kept dropping.The host smiled and picked up two menus and led them toward a table. A table
Joella’s POVBryan Collins. Football captain. The guy from the frat party. The guy from my dorm room junior year.Except he didn’t look like a college boy anymore.He was standing up from the table, and he kept standing up, because he was so tall. Broad shoulders. A black button-down with the sleeves rolled up to show big, tanned forearms. Short blond hair, a little darker than Brie’s. A sharp jaw with light stubble. Blue eyes. The same blue eyes as his sister, except his were looking at me like I was the only thing in the room.College Bryan had been cute.Grown-up Bryan was something else entirely.“Bryan,” I said. My voice came out a little weird. “Hi.”“Hi.” He smiled. The same easy smile from college, but slower now. More confident. He came around the table and hugged me. A real hug. His arms wrapped all the way around me, and I was pressed against a chest that was very, very solid. He smelled like cedar and soap. He held me a second too long.When he pulled back, he didn’t let g
Joella’s POV He didn’t let go. He kept his mouth sealed over me and licked me through all of it, groaning, drinking down every drop like it was the best thing he’d ever tasted. Wave after wave. It went on and on. Longer than anything I had ever felt. Like every time he stopped had been piling it up higher and higher until it all crashed down at once. When it finally started to fade, he slowed. Softer licks. Gentle. Lazy. Until I was twitching and gasping and too sensitive to take any more. “Cavern,” I whimpered. “Too much. Too much—” He pressed one last soft kiss right on my clit. I jerked. He smiled against me. Then he slowly lowered my legs from his shoulders, one at a time, and set my heels back down. I fell back on my elbows on his desk, completely boneless. My chest was heaving. Tears were drying on my cheeks. My skirt was around my waist. My legs were still spread. I couldn’t move. I wasn’t sure I ever would again. He looked up at me. His mouth and chin were shining. His h
Joella’s POVSlower this time. Torturous. He licked me in long, lazy strokes, like he had all afternoon. His fingers moved in and out, deep and steady. He let the pleasure build again, inch by inch, until my legs were shaking and my breath was coming in short little gasps behind my hand.“That’s it,” he murmured between licks. “Feel that? That’s me deciding when you get to come. Not you. Me.”“Yes—yes—Cavern—”“You love being used like this, don’t you? Spread out on my desk like a filthy little snack. Skirt around your waist. No panties. Dripping all over my contracts.”“Yes—”“Say it.”“I love it,” I whimpered. “I love it, please—”He curled his fingers and sucked my clit hard, and I was right there again, right at the edge, my whole body pulled tight like a string about to snap—He stopped.“NO,” I cried out. Too loud. Way too loud.His hand came up and covered my mouth. Firm. His palm pressed over my lips. His fingers were still buried inside me, perfectly still.“Quiet,” he said.
Joella’s POVMy face burned. My thighs pressed together.He folded them carefully and slipped them into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.Right over his heart.Then he looked back up at me.“Go sit on my desk,” he said. “And spread your thighs for me.”My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.I turned and walked around the side of his desk. Slowly. My fingertips trailed along the dark wood as I went. All the way around to his side, where his big leather chair sat facing the window. I pushed his papers to one side. Then I turned around and sat on the edge of the desk, right in front of his chair. The wood was cool under my bare ass.I put my hands flat on the desk behind me. Then, slowly, I let my knees fall open. My skirt slid up my thighs and bunched around my hips. That was when he came to me.He pushed off the door and walked across the room. Slowly. Unbuttoning his suit jacket as he came. His eyes never left me. Then he stopped in front of me.He didn’t tou
Lia’s POVA real smile, not the annoyed half-smile he usually gave me. His eyes lit up as he looked at her, traveling down her body slowly, taking his time."I don't need anything for now," he said, and his voice was different. Warmer. Friendlier. Flirty, even."Okay, sir," she purred, holding his
Lia’s POVHis words hit me hard. Like cold water thrown in my face. Like being slapped.I froze. My whole body went stiff. Those words kept repeating in my head. Like a little slut. Like a little slut. Like a little slut.The warm feelings I'd had—the wanting, the desire—all disappeared in a second
Lia's POVThe dream always started the same way.A man came into my bedroom. The door opened slowly with a creak. I heard his footsteps on the wooden floor. Heavy steps that made the floor groan. I never saw his face—it was always hidden in shadow, like the darkness covered him on purpose. But I co
I spun around with a sharp intake of breath, my hand flying to my chest.Victor stood just a few feet away, watching me with those piercing blue eyes. He was so quiet I hadn't heard him approach at all. He'd changed since earlier—now he wore a dark suit, perfectly fitted, the kind that probably cos







