CHASED (A Standalone Billionaire Romance Novel) Page 23

  “Yikes,” Sasha said.

  Then she spotted something else on the screen that caught her attention. An article by Alicia. She clicked on it and the words, ‘My Night of Passion with Hollywood’s Bad Boy’ flashed up on the screen.

  She exited the page immediately, but the damage was done. Remembering Alicia made her stomach drop. They’d just been about to talk about Thomas’s fling with the rival Atomic journalist in the restaurant before the paparazzi interrupted them. Thomas had got as far as saying Alicia was nothing compared to Sasha, but there’d been no elaboration. Why should she believe him? How did she know he hadn’t said exactly the same thing to Alicia about some other journalist he’d bedded? Just because he didn’t sleep with prostitutes didn’t mean she could suddenly trust everything he said. His little-boy-lost routine could easily be another weapon to render her defenseless. He could still be driven to bed as many women as possible. She could still just be another notch on the bedpost.

  Thomas approached her and slid his hand up the inside of her dress. Her body responded by quivering.

  “What happened to delaying gratification?” she whispered a little wryly.

  He pulled his hand away. “I just love the feel of you.” He turned away. “I’m sorry.”

  The absence of him created a physical yearning inside of her. Did she really care about just being a notch in his bedpost? She’d already concluded that casual sex was something she wanted to explore. She didn’t think that there was anything shameful about it at all. She just had to make sure she didn’t get sucked into anything emotional. Thomas was a professional actor and a master manipulator, with a devastating ability to make her believe whatever he wanted her to believe. She reminded herself not to get attached. She was here for sex. For another one of those mind blowing orgasms she’d had that morning. Nothing more.

  “I wasn’t telling you to stop,” she said in a sultry manner. “I was just teasing.”

  He shook his head. “No, you’re right. I was being an arse.”

  Sasha frowned and decided against making the arse-ass joke again. Was this a part of Thomas’s kinky needs? Did he put himself down so women like her would be compelled build up his ego again? Or did he play vulnerable in order to persuade her into bed with him? The latter was certainly unnecessary since she was already more than willing. That meant it was the former. Well, she could certainly see the appeal of a little role play.

  “Come back here,” she said. “I want you, Thomas.”

  He looked over his shoulder at her. His expression wasn’t playful or mischievous. It was downcast.

  “Why? You were pointing out a home truth. A painful home truth. I turn every meaningful experience into sex. I rush straight to it. I….”

  Sasha walked up to him and reached for his hand. She maneuvered it to her left breast. “And what’s wrong with that?”

  She kissed him, and he yielded to her advances. But something wasn’t right. He pulled away.

  “I shouldn’t have bought you here. You don’t belong in this world.”

  “I came here of my own free will,” Sasah replied. “I know what I’m getting myself into. I can do casual sex. I already told you I can handle the media. Hell, I am the media. I don’t need you protecting me from my own industry.”

  Thomas looked at her with that same hurt expression. “That’s all this is to you? Casual sex?”

  Sasha was taken aback by his statement. She’d been under no illusions that there was anything going on here beyond sex. Thomas knew how to get a naïve woman like her into bed, and he’d used every tool in his arsenal. Yet, something about what he said now seemed so genuine. It was like she was glimpsing the real Thomas, the one behind the façade, the vulnerable part of him that the rest of the world never got to see.

  “It isn’t for you?”

  “I was hoping it could be more….” He swirled the wine in his glass.

  “We barely know each other,” she contested.

  “I was trying to change that back in the restaurant. I want to get to know you, Sasha.”

  There it was again, her name. The most intimate thing that Thomas Lloyd could say to her.

  “Thomas, what are you asking me?”

  “I’m asking you to give me a chance to show you who I really am. I want to tell you about me in my own words, have you make your own impression of me. I want to see you again. Over and over again.”

  “Like…date? But how am I supposed to trust you? I know all about Alicia.”

  “Alicia sold me out,” he said bitterly. “She went to the press to cash in on me.”

  Sasha frowned. “But you still would have slept with her if she’d gone to that interview instead of me.”

  Thomas’s gaze darted up with shock. “What gave you that impression?”

  “You said you were looking forward to seeing her.”

  “To give her a piece of my mind!” he cried incredulously. “Look,” his voice softened, “I know I’ve given you no reason to trust me, but can you just take a leap of faith? Can you just take a chance on me?”

  Sasha turned away. She could hardly believe this was happening. If she saw Thomas—if they dated, whatever that meant—she’d open herself up to heartache. She’d make herself vulnerable. She’d inevitably end up in a situation where she had to choose between her job and her heart.

  “It’s not just that,” Sasha said, thinking of the scathing article she’d written at work. “Why should you trust me? I’m a journalist, too. I’m just like Alicia.”

  He took her hand. “I’ve already taken the leap of faith. I trust you, Sasha. I trust that when I wake up tomorrow morning, you’ll still be here, that you won’t have sold my story to the press.” He looked into her eyes with a powerful intensity. “So? What do you say? Stay with me? Take a chance on me?”

  Sasha stared back, her mind a swirl of confusion. Thomas couldn’t be playing her. He just couldn’t.

  Suddenly, she heard her own voice flowing from her lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Thomas took it as invitation to take her face between his hands and kiss her. She reciprocated, and they kissed deeply, passionately. The sensation was all-consuming, more than just desire, something stronger, something beyond lust. Sasha had scratched the surface of that emotion once before with Chris, but it hadn’t felt like this. She’d never lost sight of where his body ended and hers began. She’d never felt so perfectly in tune with him that every touch of his tongue or movement of his lips was exactly what she needed in that moment.

  Thomas swiped his arm across the work surface to clear a space and edged Sasha back onto it. He hitched her dress up to her hips.

  “Promise you won’t leave,” he said, burying his face into his neck.

  “I won’t leave,” she gasped.

  “Tell me there’s nowhere else you want to be.”

  “There’s nowhere else I want to be. Nowhere.”

  “Tell me there’s no one else for you.”

  “There’s no one else for me.” She whispered the words automatically, her body filling to the brim with desire.

  Thomas dropped to his knees. “I’ve been wanting to taste you again all day.”

  A thrill of anticipation ran through Sasha’s body, as he pulled her panties down to her ankles. Then she felt his tongue on her clit and let out a moan. He licked her with such gentle precision she couldn’t help but cry out and shudder. She ran her fingers through his hair, feeling the sensation of his head moving as he licked and sucked her.

  Thomas picked up the pace, licking faster, harder. His tongue moved to the rhythm of her body, as though dictated by her noises and movements. He was amazingly intuitive.

  She panted hard and felt a head rush come over her. She closed her eyes to stop her vision from swimming and allowed herself to immerse in pure sensation. There was nothing in the world but the feel of his lips. Then she felt his fingers circle her entrance and gasped. She’d never felt anything so amazing.

  Her skin w
as on fire with pleasure. She could feel the moisture trickling from between her legs, and the wetness of his tongue as he lapped at her.

  His fingers slid into her, and she gasped, tightening her grip on his hair, pulling her knees up so that her feet were hooked over the edge of the worktop. She flopped backwards, her back resting on the cold surface. Thomas shifted his position, raising himself up so that now he could glance over her pubic mound and along the length of her body. The look in his eyes was one of such intensity that it pushed her even closer to the edge.

  She leaned up on her elbows and curled her toes. Thomas kept his serious gaze locked on her, and she couldn’t help but move her hips in rhythm. She groaned with desire. She’d never seen a man as gorgeous as Thomas Lloyd, and seeing his face between her thighs was beyond amazing. She felt herself racing towards climax.

  For the second time that day, white light burst across Sasha’s vision. She threw her head back, cried out, and basked in the powerful orgasm. This one was even more intense than the one earlier. It felt like he’d primed her body for it, like the first orgasm was just preparation for this one. And it was going on and on and on....

  She tipped her head back, shaking her hair.

  Her orgasm began petering out, but Thomas wasn’t stopping. He slowed as she did then rose to his feet, his fingers still inside of her, still moving to the rhythm of her pulsating pelvic floor muscles. He slipped another finger inside, widening her, creating more pressure. She gasped at the sensation. With his thumb, he began massaging her clit.

  Sasha’s arousal inflamed again. She had no idea her body could do this. She’d only ever had one orgasm at a time. Chris always came as soon as she did and that was the end of sex. She’d had no idea that she could keep going, that she could feel something even more powerful and intense than she already had.

  She clutched him by the shoulders and stared intently into his eyes. He never took his attention away from her. Everything was focused on her face, on her emotions, on how he was making her feel, as though his only goal in the world was to make her come harder than she ever had before.

  “Fuck me,” she said.

  “Take your clothes off.”

  Without missing a beat, she hitched her dress up and over her head. She unfastened her bra quickly and threw it to the ground. The kitchen was cool, and she had goose pimples over her bare breasts. Her nipples were fully erect.

  Once again, she was displayed naked in front of him, exposed and vulnerable, whilst he was fully clothed.

  “You’re so beautiful,” Thomas said.

  His hands were moving faster, making another orgasm imminent. Sasha couldn’t believe how close she was already. The noises coming from her throat were beyond her control. She felt like she’d lost all ability to steer her own behavior, and that she was now at the mercy of Thomas.

  He leaned down slowly and ran his tongue across her nipple. It was enough to push her over the edge again.

  Sasha screamed out this time. Her third orgasm of the day took her to a place she’d never been before, a place of complete abandon.

  “Fuck!” she gasped, as her body spasmed with pleasure.

  She slumped forward into him, unable to hold herself up any longer. He moved his fingers in time with her throbbing orgasm, making sure it lasted as long as possible, making sure he made use of every spasm of desire.

  She sighed as it began to disappear. She was completely exhausted, spent. She felt him slide his fingers out from inside her. He pressed his lips against her neck, where the hair clung with sweat.

  “Let me take you upstairs,” he said.

  She nodded, unable to speak, feeling almost drugged with pleasure.

  Thomas slung his arms around her ass and pulled her into him. Her legs clung on, and her head nuzzled into his neck, as he carried her up the staircase and into the master bedroom.

  He lay her gently on the silky sheets of his bed. She was dazed from her orgasms, but aware of how dark it was.

  “I’m going to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before,” Thomas said.

  Sasha reached up. “I want to see you naked.”

  He paused. Sasha noticed a shift in his mood.

  “Let’s finish what we started earlier,” he replied. “Turn over.”

  Sasha sat up, her orgasm-induced confusion melting away. “I don’t want to do it from behind,” she said. “I want to see your face when you come.”

  “Fine,” Thomas said, unzipping his fly. He reached for a condom, but Sasha stopped him before he got there.

  “Something’s wrong,” she said.

  “Nothing’s wrong. We’re doing it your way; you should be happy.”

  “But you’re leaving your suit on?”

  He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m kinky. It’s what I like.”

  Sasha searched his eyes. “No. It’s not what you like. It’s something else.” She could read something in his expression, something minute but enormously telling.

  Thomas sighed and let his hand drop. He sat back on his haunches and wiped a hand through his hair. “Why are you demanding this? I’ve given you two amazing orgasms and now you won’t do it how I want to?”

  “Because I can tell it’s not really how you want to do it.”

  “How? How are you an expert on my needs already?”

  “Call it woman’s intuition,” she said. Then she added with a shrug, “Or take a leap of faith.”

  On hearing his own words echoed back at him, Thomas slumped onto the bed beside her. There was a deeply troubled look in his eyes.

  Sasha touched his chest lightly with her fingers. “You can talk to me.”

  He breathed slowly for a long time. Then at last he spoke. “I don’t like to…be naked.”

  “Why?”

  “Please, Sasha,” he said, abruptly. “Don’t force this issue. I’ve already told you more than I’ve ever told anyone.”

  Sasha maneuvered his face so that he was looking at her. “Don’t you remember telling me you wanted me to know about you, the real you, in your own words? Well, here’s your chance.”

  “I don’t want to lose you.”

  “You won’t. I already promised you I wasn’t going anywhere.”

  Thomas regarded her a moment more. “I was in an accident,” he said, finally. “Many years ago.”

  Sasha rested a hand on his arm. “What kind of accident?”

  “A fire. Me and Olivia…sorry, Crystal. She got the emotional scars; I got the physical ones.” He turned grief-stricken eyes to her. “We lost our parents in that fire.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Sasha said. “I had no idea. How old were you?”

  “Seventeen.”

  “You mean…no one’s seen you naked since you were seventeen?”

  “No one’s seen me naked full stop. I hadn’t been with anyone before it happened.” He looked down into his lap. “Then I got famous, and I could do whatever weird shit I wanted. Sex in cupboards—no one’s taking their clothes off in that situation. An eager crew member giving me head on set—no need to strip. There were a few liaisons, like the one we had, where I fucked a woman with my suit on.”

  “What about girlfriends?”

  “I never bothered with them. It was easier to have casual sex with different women. That way they didn’t ask too many questions. And no one seemed to want to go beyond that anyway, so it never came up.”

  Sasha pressed her palm against his chest, her fingers splayed. “I do. I want to go beyond that.”

  He looked into her eyes. They were etched with anguish.

  “Please, Thomas,” she implored. “I want you. All of you. I want to touch every part of you, kiss every part of you. I want the real you.”

  She slid her hands up to the collar of his shirt then undid the top button. He winced and closed his eyes.

  “Is that okay?” she said.

  Slowly, he nodded.

  She opened his shirt up. The exposed flesh was scarred and marked, wrinkled like the s
kin of an elephant. She pressed her lips against it then unfastened the next button and did the same. She could tell Thomas was anxious because his breath had become rapid and his eyes were squeezed shut.

  She worked her way down each button, then slid his shirt entirely from his body. The scars from the fire covered his entire torso, making a marbled pattern in his skin. She was careful not to show any reaction on her face. Instead, she bent low and took his nipple in her mouth. He gasped, and she realized that she must be the first woman to ever lick his nipples. This was a brand new sensation for him, one that she got to introduce him to. The thought made her feel even more powerful. It was up to her to control this, to make him feel safe with her, to make this the best sex he’d ever had.

  “Lie back,” she said.

  He did as she instructed.

  She ran her tongue over his flesh. His muscles were tight beneath the skin. Her hands stroked his chest then wound their way down to his belt. She undid it slowly, biting her bottom lip with anticipation.

  “Close your eyes,” she said, as she unzipped his fly.

  She guided his pants off of him. There were more scars on his legs, a dark purple color. But she couldn’t care less about them. All she cared about was Thomas’s huge erection. She rolled a condom over it.

  He opened his eyes and drank in the sight of her gazing in adoration at his naked body. They were both naked, both in the same state of vulnerability, finally on a par with no power dynamic between them.

  “I want you inside of me,” Sasha said. “It’s what I’ve always wanted.”

  She mounted him. She was so wet from her earlier orgasms, he slid in quickly and deeply. His erection was rock hard. It filled the entire length of her.

  Sasha began moving her hips slowly in a figure of eight. Thomas held onto her ass, guiding the motion. She could feel the echoes of her earlier orgasms as she rode him, demanding her to move faster, to push harder. She fought them back, wanting to savor this moment with Thomas, not wanting to rush anything, to delay gratification, to make sure that he experienced the most pleasure he ever had.