She offers me a full, megawatt smile that lights up her face, and I’m slammed back in time to a memory that assaults my very fucking soul.
Glancing down at the blonde girl peering up at me with her large, azure eyes, I know I’m fucked. I was in trouble the moment her gaze landed on me years ago. She was sixteen when I first noticed her, the girl who is, and will always be, off limits.
She smiles when I reach for the stray, curly lock of hair that flits in the wind. Placing it behind her ear, I lean in, allowing my lips to trail the shell, which causes her to shiver.
“I should know better than to be here, Lia,” I tell her. And it’s true. I’m far too old and far too wrong for her, but I can’t stop. She’s given me a taste, and I need so much more.
“Kiss me, Lance.” She smiles, her face lighting up at the thought, and I have to admit, so is mine. “Just one kiss.”
“I can never say no to you, baby girl.” My lips meet hers, molding to her soft, plump flesh, and her whimper is enough to have my dick standing at attention. I strain against my zipper, wanting her to touch me, to suck me, to open her legs and give me her innocence. But I don’t ask for it, and I don’t take her, because I’m meant to be the responsible one.
Her whimper when I pull her lower lip into my mouth is enough to have me losing all sense of control. Her fingers tangle in my hair. They tug and pull at the strands, causing me to growl in response.
“Please?” she begs once more. She’s done it every time we’ve snuck out and devoured each other. I have tasted her sweet pussy, but I’ve never given her the one thing she’s wanted. The one thing I know I can’t do. Not right now.
“You know we can’t.”
“What in God’s name is going on here?” The rumble, deep and foreboding, comes from behind us, and I know I’m fucked. He’s going to kill me, and I don’t fucking blame him.
Spinning on my heel, I glance up at a face filled with thunder. He’s not happy. To be fair, I can’t fault him. I’d be angry too.
The sweet tone of Giuliana comes from behind me. “Father, I—”
“Get into the house now.” His order is enough to shake the walls of the home he lives in with his daughter. In one way, I can’t believe he’s angry, because he fucks anything with a set of tits and a hole to shove his dick into. And they don’t have to be a certain age. He loves the twenty-year-olds that flaunt their asses around the city.
Her eyes are wide with shock and humiliation as she skitters by me. She’s so scared of Arthur, but I promised I would protect her. Only, he’s conniving, and I can’t allow him to think he’s got a hold over me. I can’t let him see how much she means to me.
“Look, boss . . .” I start, but my words falter away. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not scared of this asshole. I can take him. But it’s Lia I’m worried about. I can’t have her in danger or trouble because I couldn’t keep my hands to myself.
“If you come near my daughter again—”
I should know better. I should have a good head on my shoulders. But when it comes to Giuliana Calthorpe, I’m a teenage boy with far too many hormones.
“I love her.”
His dark laugh is enough to send anyone running, but he knows I won’t. Arthur Calthorpe knows I don’t cower, not for anyone. His gaze meets mine. It’s penetrating as if he’s trying to chip away at me.
“Love? My daughter has only just turned eighteen. She knows nothing about love. And you . . . I trusted you with my life, with my home.” His retort is cold, calm. Far too calm for this situation. “Actually, I’ll ensure your so-called love is done, for good.”
“What?”
“She’s leaving. I’m sending her away. I hope you enjoyed your little tryst because Giuliana will be gone come morning.” He spins on his heel, leaving me glaring at his back. He wouldn’t send his daughter away. He can’t.
A stark, cold reminder wasn’t something I wanted or needed right now, but it came anyway. A soft fragrance of roses hits me square in the gut, and I know it’s not real, merely a fucking memory. That was, in fact, the last day I saw her. Two years ago, a young woman was torn from me, and I had no way of stopping it.
Granted, Arthur was right. I was thirty-six, old enough to know better. But with a single glance at her, I knew I’d never be the same again. They say you can’t choose who you love, and it’s true. I didn’t choose her. It happened — a whirlwind of desire, emotion, and need rocked me to my core.
She was forbidden, far too young, but I didn’t care. She begged, and I fucking kneeled at her feet. Even though my life was filled with far too much darkness, she saw right through my cold exterior.
I knew the moment I touched her pretty face I’d fucked up. When I tilted it up to mine, I saw her innocence and realized I should walk away. But I’m an asshole, so I stayed.
I kept going back.
She was my drug of choice.
And like a junkie, I shot up with my high every day.
I didn’t want to be her first kiss at seventeen, but I was. I certainly didn’t plan on tasting her on my tongue on her eighteenth birthday, but I did. And I was a man addicted.