She's Too Young (She's Too Young 1)

Come on, angel, I beg the skyline. Look up and see me. See your name on my tallest building in blood red. See that I didn’t mean to be such a heartless prick. I just didn’t know another way.

As if I’m being mocked by God, a crack of thunder goes off somewhere in the distance and it begins to rain, reminding me of the time Veda sought refuge from the storm in my bedroom. Since my mind insists on torturing me by replaying the entire scene, word for word, I assume it’s my imagination that conjures her voice, light and musical behind me. I squeeze my eyes shut, rain coursing down my face, ordering myself not to turn around, because I know when she’s not standing there, the disappointment will finally kill me and my life will end one hundred and twenty stories below, my body flattened on a city sidewalk.

When I feel a soft touch on my shoulder, I’m so unprepared for it, my legs almost forget to support me. I turn around slowly, carefully, scared as hell if I move too fast, she’ll fade away into the rain. But she doesn’t. She’s there in vivid color, her blue eyes like beacons in the darkness. Until this moment, with her standing right in front of me, I haven’t allowed myself to speculate too deeply on where she’s been, or more importantly, with whom. Right now, however, with her coveted beauty staring me in the face, jealousy tries to reach into my chest and rip out my internal organs.

As if Veda senses this, she reaches down and threads our fingers together. “I stayed with one of my girlfriends from school.” There’s more I need to know and she’s aware of it. I know this by the way she peeks up at me from under long eyelashes. “She lives with her mom. Just her mom.”

Combined with the fact that I had Talvert removed from his position over a week ago, Veda’s explanation sends the burning in my chest fizzling down to a dull flame and I release a rush of breath. “Veda, I’ve gone completely mad.”

“I know,” she whispers, looking up at the gigantic, red, neon sign, the glow of it painting her face. “I saw it all the way from Brooklyn.”

Needing to reacquaint myself with every part of her, I unzip her raincoat with my free hand and push both sides apart, finding her in a short, white summer dress. My favorite among the ones I bought her, although she wouldn’t have known that, since she never got around to trying them on for me. She sways a little under my perusal, more of her body becoming visible as the rain dampens the material.

I’m assaulted by so much hunger, my head feels like it’s floating while my gut is filled with lead. “Why have you returned to a mad man, angel?”

After a few seconds, she lifts my hand to her mouth, running her tongue across my knuckles. Christ. And there’s that flash of mischief in her demeanor I remember so well, the proof she’s a touch dangerous. “I think maybe I’m a little mad, too.”

No more waiting. I grab Veda and reverse our positions, pushing her body up against the high ledge, slipping my hands inside the jacket so I can cradle her hips. “Why do you say that?”

She lays her head back on the concrete wall, sticking her tongue out to catch a few raindrops. “Because I missed you. Even though you are sort of evil.” Her eyelids flutter down, so she can’t see my astonishment, my utter relief that she actually missed me. Has anyone ever noticed and disliked my absence before? No. I don’t think so. “Every night, I lay in bed and think about…how much you must have wanted me. To buy me. A-and…”

“And what?” I demand.

“I remember you at the party and how lonely you looked.” She rolls her head side to side. “Maybe I was sent onto this roof after you for a reason. Because the thought of you lonely makes me hurt. So much. And I think I need you just as bad.” While I reel under the power of those words, she leans up to whisper in my ear. “When I think of you buying me now…it makes me angry and…wet…at the same time. And then I remember that’s exactly how I felt whenever you were inside of me.” Her shy explanation turns my cock to steel, robs me of reason, of breath. “I needed to feel that way again—the way I feel when you’re pushing into me the hardest—and I couldn’t do it myself. But Ramsey?”

My hands slip around to her backside and grip those taut cheeks. “Yes?”

Her eyes are serious as they find mine. Rain hangs on her eyelashes. “I needed you for even more than touching.”

This is what I’ve been afraid to hope for. No way have I been forgiven. Impossible. Isn’t it? “What other ways do you need me?”

The rain is growing louder, so I drop my head down near her beautiful, forgiving mouth, trying to hear her better. “Even though I get annoyed at you for being protective of my body, you make me feel safe. I know you won’t let anything happen to me.” She coasts her damp lips over mine. “And I know you won’t hurt me again. Will you, Ramsey?”

“Never.”

Her smile is so radiant, I’m shocked when the sun doesn’t emerge in outrage over someone trying to make it obsolete. She slides her fingers through my hair and lets me use my tongue on her mouth, allows me to lift her sexy, young body against mine. “Have you fired the pretty ones yet?” She breathes the question while cinching her legs around my waist.

Pleasure curls in my stomach at her jealousy, at my ability to make her happy with the coming news. “They’ve all been transferred elsewhere.” My laughter is low as she lays enthusiastic kisses on my face. “I told you, angel. Any goddamn thing you want in the world. It’s yours.”

She starts to respond, but her words are drowned out by a boom of thunder…and her breath catches, face paling. “Ramsey…”

“Shh.” I tuck her face into my neck. “Nothing and no one touches you when you’re with me.”

“Only Ramsey,” she whispers.

“That’s right.”

My blinding relief that she’s come back to me is fast being overrun by animal need. She’s pliant against me, her soft lips resting on my neck, breath fanning the ends of my hair. So trusting, despite what I put her through. I should bring her inside and fuck her on my desk while the lightning brightens my office in flashes, then bring her home. Get her something to eat, dress her in silk, and massage her back until she falls asleep. God yes, I want that every night.

But I have a need to prove to her that she’s made the right decision, so I let her perfect curves slide down my muscle. As soon as her feet touch the ground, I turn her toward the ledge and place her hands on the concrete.

“See everything out there, Veda? All the buildings and stores and restaurants?” I lift the back of her raincoat, followed by the hem of her dress. Shit. Those two tight buns are waiting for me, round and sweet. No panties, but I’m in the mood to be lenient, since I’m about to take her from behind, and I never knew if I’d be given the privilege.

Unzipping my pants, I speak into her hair, feeling her shiver. “I’m going to put your name on every last one of those places. We’re going to own this city together. You like that idea?”

I use my foot to slide her legs apart and she gasps. Hesitates. “Y-yes.”

Something in her tone draws my eyebrows together. “What is it?”

She turns to look at me over her shoulder. I can’t read what’s going on in her mind, but that doesn’t stop me from trying. “I need to know I’ll still be free, once I turn eighteen. The deal…it’s still on?”

Out of lust, out of anger, I thrust home inside her still-virginal cunt, shouting up at the night sky. “It’s still on.” I jerk her hips back into my lap, grinding my cock into her unique tightness. “But know this, Veda. I’m going to make sure you never want to leave.”

Both of us panting, we descend into a frantic kiss over her shoulder and when Veda pulls back, she whispers, sounding shaken, “I know.”