Set In Stone Read online

  Tressa

  “Killian, you seem to be taking New York by storm. A new team, a new city, and now a new girlfriend. What do you want your fans to know?”

  I instinctively stepped away from the blond woman and her photographer, leaving Killian to deal with them. It felt like they’d been lying in wait for us while we enjoyed our dinner inside the National Club. We’d had such a good time during the last hour that I’d forgotten who he was, but no sooner had this woman approached us and her cameraman began taking pictures, he morphed into the same old person I’d suspected he was all along.

  An attention whore.

  He answered her questions with a flirtatiousness that made me wish I was anywhere else in the world than there at that moment. His cute way made her ask more questions, and all the while I wondered if he even remembered I was standing next to him.

  It was like he couldn’t get enough attention from this stranger he’d just met when we walked out the door. As the seconds ticked by, I found myself turned off by him once again. I didn’t know why it disappointed me because he was exactly what I thought he was from the moment I laid eyes on him strutting around on that catwalk, but it bothered me.

  I’d let myself think he wasn’t this preening fool so eager to pose for pictures and talk about himself incessantly, and I felt stupid.

  When the blond woman turned to ask me a question, I pushed past her with barely a smile. “Excuse me.”

  Thankfully, she didn’t care enough to ask any follow up questions or chase after me. When I reached the car, the valet kindly opened the door for me so I didn’t have to stand there waiting for Killian. He finally joined me after I sat waiting for a few minutes, and as we drove away, I simply stared out the window watching the cars we passed by.

  “I have to admit I was a little surprised when that reporter approached us.”

  Without bothering to look at him, I said, “I don’t know why. Wasn’t the whole point of the date to get press for the charity? I guess I should be thankful you didn’t invite them to the table to have dinner with us.”

  “I made sure to tell the maître de that we weren’t to be interrupted. I knew you didn’t want to deal with that. I slipped him some money to make sure he took care of business,” Killian answered, sounding quite pleased with himself.

  What may have been a nice gesture before now felt like another manipulative ploy. As much as I liked the Killian I’d spent the last hour talking to, I didn’t like the version of him I’d seen outside the restaurant and nothing he could do would change that.

  I’d gone on the date I paid for. Now I just wanted to go home.

  By the time the car pulled up to the Richmont, I couldn’t wait to get away from him. When he asked if I wanted to go for a drink, I shook my head and opened the door to leave.

  “Thank you for a nice dinner. Goodbye, Killian.”

  I heard him say something, but I didn’t stick around to find out what. The disappointment I felt nearly overwhelmed me. I’d been foolish to question my gut feeling about him, and as I hurried into the hotel, all I wanted to do was be alone.

  As I rode up in the elevator, tears welled in my eyes. I didn’t know why because I’d never wanted to like him in the first place. But for a little while there, I’d let myself think he was the kind of man who I could be with and who would want to be with me.

  We were too different, though.

  The doors opened and I walked out into the private hallway outside the penthouse. Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly, hoping all my likes and dislikes concerning Killian Brenton left with it.

  From behind me, I heard a sound and turned to see him walk out of the elevator. Stunned he’d followed me, I was even more surprised when he asked, “What’s the problem? We had a great dinner, and I know you enjoyed the conversation. Why are you all icy again?”

  My disappointment and sadness evaporated, replaced by anger. How dare he fucking call me icy simply because I didn’t want to smile for the camera or give some cute answer to that reporter’s idiotic questions?

  I spun around to face him. “I bet you think every woman who isn’t draped all over you like a bitch in heat is icy. Well, let me help you out, Mr. Brenton. You aren’t that wonderful that I should warm up at all for you.”

  Opening the door to go inside, I couldn’t believe when he walked in behind me. Stunned at how presumptuous he was, I said, “What…that wasn’t an invitation.”

  He didn’t answer and stepped forward toward me so there was no space between us. “You know you were having a good time. Why are you in such a hurry to get me to leave?”

  “What on earth could you possibly want from me now, Killian? There are no cameras here to memorialize this moment.”

  Suddenly, he appeared to understand and smiled. “Ah, the press bothered you. It couldn’t be avoided. You know that.”

  Hating how obtuse he was acting, I shook my head as I prepared to set him straight. “No. The press doesn’t bother me. They have a job to do, and they do it. I admire that, in fact. It’s how you crave attention that bothers me. I don’t like men who are attention whores, and you’re the biggest one I’ve ever met. I’m sure there are women who don’t find that to be a character flaw, so why don’t you go find one of them?”

  “I guess I could lie and tell you that dealing with the press is just part of my job, but the truth is I like being me. I like that the press follows me around because of who I am.”

  “Good for you. I suggest you go find them and leave me alone,” I said before I turned to walk away toward my room.

  “What is it with you? So I like being famous. What’s so wrong with that?”

  Fine. He wanted my opinion. Now he was going to get it. I spun around and stared into those gorgeous green eyes so he’d know I meant every word that was about to come out of my mouth.

  “What’s wrong with it is someday you won’t be. The press and the cameras will be gone, and then what will you be? A man is only worth what he inherently is. What are you on the inside, Killian? What are you when the cameras and the press and the throngs of adoring fans are nowhere to be found?”

  He looked like I smacked him across the face. He didn’t seem to know how to answer my questions. That didn’t surprise me. Sadly, though, I already knew the answers.

  But then he walked over to where I stood and shook his head. “I saw the way you looked into my eyes the other night. I saw the way you reacted when I told you the truth at dinner tonight. You love the idea of a powerful man finally being able to handle you. I’m guessing no man ever has. Whatever I am to the rest of the world, I’m exactly what you want when it’s just the two of us.”

  “Fuck you, Killian. Fuck you and your superficial bullshit celebrity nonsense. Go find yourself a woman who thinks you’re something because I don’t.”

  For a moment, it felt like time stopped. We stared each other down like two opposing fighters each refusing to give up, and then he slid his arm around my waist to pull me to him, holding me tightly with his hand firmly against the small of my back. Before I could protest, he leaned down and pressed his mouth to mine in a kiss that made my head swim and took my breath away.

  I should have pushed him away. He’d barged into my home and into my space. I’d never said I wanted him to kiss me like that. Men needed to get my permission to get something as intimate as a kiss from me.

  But I didn’t want to push him away. I wanted to inhale how incredible he smelled so my mind would forever remember this moment. I wanted to feel his lips on mine as he kissed me like no man had ever kissed me before. I wanted him to take me in his arms and give me what I’d wanted from the first moment I saw him.

  Even more, I wanted exactly what he said. A man who wasn’t too weak to handle me. Every man I’d ever dated had been too weak. When I opened my mouth, they grew small. I wanted someone who could meet me eye to eye and not flinch when I was strong.

  But even more, I wanted someone who would be strong when I couldn’t be. T
he way Killian made me feel made me think he could be that kind of man.

  His tongue teased mine with the promise of future delights, making my pussy run wet with desire, and a tiny mew of need escaped my throat. He slid his hand down over my ass and pulled me into him, tilting his hips forward so his cock pressed against my abdomen. So much bigger than me, he threatened to overwhelm my body with his if we continued standing there in the middle of my living room.

  Breaking our kiss, I tried to form a coherent sentence as my mind reeled from how much I wanted him. Motioning toward my bedroom, I mumbled, “Let’s go in there.”

  He had other ideas, though, and in one swift movement he pushed my dress up around my waist and lifted me up to straddle his hips. I tried to slip off my panties, but his hand holding me to him made it impossible. Never had I hated wearing the damn things so much as at that moment.

  Killian’s gaze drifted down my body, and he smiled. “Little red silk bows? Do they untie, or am I going to have to rip these beautiful underwear off you.”

  His green eyes danced with delight, like he relished the idea of tearing off my clothes. I shook my head and reached for the bow on my left hip, but he covered my hand, stopping me.

  “No. Let me.”

  Tugging on the end of the silk bow, he unraveled it instantly. In seconds, my white silk panties with the adorable red bows I’d bought especially for tonight ended up on the floor beneath me.

  He lifted his head and looked into my eyes. “I like them. I’d like them even more in black.”

  I felt like I was melting there in his arms. “I don’t have them in black. I got them a while back and don’t think they even carry them anymore,” I lied.

  Why I lied about something so insignificant I didn’t know. At that moment, all I truly knew was I didn’t want to talk about my underwear. I didn’t want to talk about anything.

  Leaning in, he nuzzled my neck and whispered against my skin, “Even better would be if you wore nothing.”

  The feel of his lips brushing the shell of my ear made a rush of need race through me. I felt him moving his free hand beneath me, and I prayed to God he was unbuttoning his pants.

  He gently sunk his teeth into my earlobe, sending my body into overdrive. I dragged my nails across the nape of his neck and moaned, “Oh, God…” as I arched my back. What was taking him so fucking long to get his pants open and his cock out?

  “Someone’s eager,” he groaned as he finally unzipped his pants and I felt his cock press against my ass.

  I rolled my hips in an effort to speed up what Killian clearly wanted to drag out, but he stopped me by pulling my body to his and holding it there. I knew he wanted me as much as I wanted him—his rock hard cock was evidence of that—so why was he taking so long?

  “Look at me, Tressa,” he ordered in a low voice tinged with as much need as I felt.

  I did as he commanded and saw in his eyes the sparkle I’d seen a minute before when he asked about my panties. I stared into them and felt myself get lost in the pale green color I’d never seen in anyone else’s eyes before.

  “There’s that look I saw at the auction. I knew I wasn’t wrong,” he said low and deep, his voice resonating against my chest as he pulled me to him.

  He hadn’t been wrong. I wanted him like I’d never wanted any man that night, and I wanted him even more now. In those seconds as he held me to his body and we gazed into one another’s eyes, he saw the truth of how I felt about him.

  “No, you weren’t,” I admitted quietly in a voice barely above a whisper.

  “What do you want, baby?” he asked, grinning as I tried my hardest to fight against his strength and roll my hips to feel his cock against me.

  He knew exactly what I wanted. My wet pussy rubbing against his stomach told him. The look in my eyes told him.

  And yet still he asked what I wanted.

  “Is this some kind of triumphant conqueror thing for you? You knew I wanted you from the moment I saw you, so now that you have me in your arms, you want me to say what I want so you can feel like you won?” I asked playfully, not bothered at all to tell him exactly what I wanted from him tonight.

  The corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly, and he repeated his question. “What do you want, Tressa? Tell me.”

  I felt his hand stroke the full length of his cock beneath me, as if he needed to remind me what my reward would be for finally admitting the truth to him. Leaning forward, I ran my tongue along the outside of his ear and grazed my teeth against his earlobe.

  Dragging my fingernails lightly over the back of his neck, I whispered, “I want you to fuck me. I want to feel that cock of yours you’ve been teasing me with fill me. That’s what I want, Killian.”

  I didn’t care that my voice verged on pleading with him to fuck me. Never in my life had I sounded like that with anyone, but it didn’t matter. This man had something that made me want to lower my defenses, and I wasn’t even afraid of my vulnerability.

  The muscles in his neck and shoulders twisted, and a second later our foreplay ended. He stuffed his hand into my hair and tugged my head back so we once again faced once another. The look in his mesmerizing eyes was different now. Gone was the sparkle of delight, replaced by a stare of pure, unadulterated need. Now I’d see the truth of who Killian really was.

  He staggered over to the wall and lifted me a few inches higher before lowering me down onto the tip of his thick cock. I clung to his neck in anticipation of finally getting what I’d wanted since the moment I first saw Killian Brenton.

  Watching me intently, he slowly entered my body, inch by delicious inch, until there was no space between us. A tiny whimper escaped from between my lips when he finally filled me, and he stayed still, merely watching me for a moment.

  “I’m not hurting you, am I?” he asked sweetly and began to ease out of my body.

  “No. Don’t stop,” I answered, urging him with my words and my body to return to where he’d been so I could feel completely full once again.

  Our bodies joined, and once more, it felt like time stopped. But that ended quickly, and Killian groaned low and deep like some wild animal before kissing me hard as desire overtook him.

  And then he began to fuck me. His mouth devoured mine as he plunged his cock into me over and over. Each time he entered me, he touched a spot that sent my body to a place I’d never felt before. After just once, I craved that feeling more than my next breath. Each time his cock left me, I eagerly pushed down to have him back inside me. I didn’t care that I looked too enthusiastic or that I might want him more than he wanted me. I’d always worried about that when I had sex with men before, but with Killian, all those fears disappeared, replaced by the most incredible sensations my body had ever experienced.

  He fucked me like no man had ever fucked me. God, he fucked me better than I’d ever read in any magazine or book. I didn’t know if it was his size or that once he began in earnest, he fucked like a man with the singular goal of making me come, but whatever it was, he made my body surrender to his every thrust like it was made for him to do as he chose.

  It wasn’t just what he did with his cock, though. Everything about him focused entirely on me. With each moment, I wanted more of his attention. The feel of his hands on my body worshiping me as they held me so I didn’t fall. The sound of his voice when he murmured my name into my ear like the word held meaning for him. The taste of his lips as he feasted on my mouth like it held something necessary for him.

  No man had ever acted like this with me. I reveled in him and how he made me feel like the only person in the world who mattered. I hadn’t expected it and couldn’t really understand it considering how he usually acted, but I couldn’t get enough of it.

  I couldn’t get enough of him.

  And then just when I didn’t think I could feel any more incredible, my release raced through me and I tightened my legs around his waist to keep him from moving out of me again. I wanted to feel every wonderful inch of his cock
inside me when I came.

  My pussy milked his cock through my orgasm, and Killian moaned low in my ear, “Fuck, you feel so fucking good.”

  I didn’t know how long my body enjoyed what he’d given me, but finally, my thighs began to hurt from squeezing him between them. As I eased them open a tiny bit, he gently pressed me against the wall one final time and came, his body sagging against mine as he held me in his arms.

  We said nothing to one another while we stayed there in that place in the corner of my living room as the tremors from our lovemaking still rolled through us. Killian nuzzled my neck and let out a sigh of contentment against my skin. I gently ran my hand across his shoulders, feeling the thin sheen of dampness, and kissed next to his ear.

  “That was nice,” I whispered, knowing that was the understatement of the century.

  He lifted his head and flashed me a sexy smile that told me he knew how much nice undersold what we’d just done. “Definitely nice.”

  God, I was in trouble. Not only was he gorgeous and sexy, but he succeeded in the one thing no man ever had. I wanted more than just one night with this man.

  Chapter Nine

  Killian

  Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked around as my brain woke up and tried to figure out where the hell I was. Looking down my body, I saw Tressa’s dark hair spread out over my chest and stomach. Below that, her gorgeous long legs intertwined with my tanner legs, making us look like two parts to a single whole.

  Our date definitely had gone better than I thought it would, and I’d had pretty high hopes for it. As usual, we’d had sharp words for one another, but after that, holy fuck. I’d thought it would take to at least the second date to get her into bed.

  Not that I had a problem with us fucking on the first date. We were both grown adults, so why not? It was just that she fought me so much just to get her to go out to dinner that I thought she’d fight me more on getting her clothes off.

  As my memories of the night before began to filter through my brain, my cock got hard. That thing she’d done with her tongue. Fuck. I needed to experience that again for damn sure.