SWNOVELS The Front Runner: Chapter 24
I feel lighter walking back to my loft apartment above the barn. Actually, I feel almost giddy. Part of that is the wine, and part of that is just the general feeling of relief at ditching one of the secrets that’s been weighing on me. I didn’t like lying to my friends, and I didn’t like treating a man who’s been nothing but incredible to me like I was ashamed of him.
The fact of the matter is, I’m not ashamed of Stefan Dalca. At all.
Luckily, Billie sort of let it go after I dropped that atomic bomb on girls’ night.
She tossed out a joking, ‘Well, you know what they say: love is blind!’ and then dropped the topic altogether. She probably needs to sleep on it. The conversation moved on easily after that, though I didn’t miss the curious smiles Violet was shooting my way or the way Nadia chuckled and shook her head when she hugged me goodbye.
Everyone had something to say, but no one said a thing.
And now I’m back in my apartment. Alone and all amped up. Positively fixated on how badly I want to see Stefan.
Before I talk myself out of it, I pull my phone out and fire off a text to him. I’m tired of holding myself back.
MIRA
What are you doing?
Text dots roll across the screen almost instantly.
STEFAN
Plotting evil ways to ruin your friends’ lives. You?
I snort.
MIRA
Dork. Come visit me.
STEFAN
At your place?
I scan the small space. Cat’s out of the bag where my friends are concerned, so why the hell not?
MIRA
Yes.
STEFAN
Why?
Why? That’s not exactly the response I was going for. Now I feel uncertain. Out of my depth.
MIRA
Okay, don’t. I’ll be there to check on Loki tomorrow.
I toss my phone down on my bed, feeling a tad huffy. I’m terrible at asserting myself with Stefan. I’m too inexperienced. I take things too personally. I want him to pick up on all my innuendo so I don’t have to admit out loud I want him more than I care to admit. Like a total sucker, I pick up my phone to check if he’s said anything.
STEFAN
Do you miss me, Dr. Thorne?
Groaning, I scrub a hand across my face. Do I miss him? It’s been about twelve hours since I saw him. Missing him already would be so fucking lame.
My eyes spring open.
I am so fucking lame.
I reel with the realization. I’ve spent so much time at his farm, working with him, going on fake dates with him, he’s become a staple in my day without me even realizing it. A nervous breath shudders through me as I type back my response.
MIRA
Yes.
And then I sit and stare at the screen. The blank screen. No dots roll. No messages come through. My throat burns, and I squeeze my hand on it to stem the flow of embarrassment. I shouldn’t have been so straight with him. He must think I’m fucking nuts.
I get up and walk across the hall to the small bathroom where I aggressively brush my teeth.
Yes. Why did I have to say yes? I’m officially that girl who had sex with a guy once and is acting like a clingy psycho. No wonder he didn’t respond.
As I wash my face, I realize I wouldn’t respond to me either. If a guy told me that after one night, I would run in the opposite direction with my career and independence clutched in my fists. So, I can’t blame him.
A loud banging on the door startles me, and I instantly dread the thought that Billie is here to tell me off for hooking up with the enemy. I’ll have to tell her she was right. That I’m nuts and he was a bad idea.
But when I swing the door open, the person standing there is Stefan.
“Hi—”
The crash of his lips against mine cuts off anything I was about to say. He steals my breath and commands my body. His muscular arms wrap around me the exact way I wanted them to, his day-old stubble scratching against my face as he devours me.
His hands palm my ass, and he lifts me up, hiking my legs around him as he takes a few steps into the space before kicking the door shut behind us, and then turns to press me against it. My arms close around his neck as I kiss him back, all the worry from mere moments before disappearing with the way he’s holding me—owning me.
I moan when he pulls his sinful lips away and presses his forehead to mine. “Hi.” His breath tickles my damp lips, and I wish he’d just shut up and keep kissing me.
“Hi,” I say back, again, letting my fingers trace the soft hair at the nape of his neck.
“You missed me?” His eyes are soft, wide—uncertain almost. A look I don’t see on him often. And something about that look undoes me a little.
“Yeah,” I breathe back quietly, feeling like we’re in our private universe again.
Somehow, when his arms close around me, the world melts away. Everything that mattered two minutes ago ceases to exist now because he looks at me like I’m the only thing he sees.
His lips tug up at one side as he stares at me with so much warmth. “I missed you, too.”
My heart jumps in my chest, rattling against my ribs. The man with the shiny veneer, the mysterious past, and the impenetrable smirk misses me. Hearing him, of all people, say that to me feels like so much more.
I kiss his cheek, appreciating the feel of his stubble. I kiss his nose, right on the bump I’ve come to love so much. His eyebrow, the one that quirks up just after he says something inappropriate.
I rake my hands through the sides of his dark gold locks, knowing exactly what I want from him at this moment. “Take me to bed, Stefan.”
He hits me with a cocky smirk, and my core jumps in response. “Whatever you want, Kitten.”
Within moments, I’m tossed on the bed and feel the crush of his body on top of me, caging me in. The only light is what filters in from the hallway. His arms frame my face as he pauses, watching me as I watch him. Our eyes connect, and I don’t even try to look away.
This man. This look. It makes me want to dive deeper. I want to get lost in this connection, disappear into it, and never come back out.
I have never felt so desired.
And Stefan doesn’t ruin it with words. Instead, his thumb traces the lobe of my ear, and his stern features soften. I love the way he’s always touching me. A hand pressed here, a thumb grazing there. It’s like he can’t help himself where I’m concerned. Like he can’t keep his hands off me even if he wanted to.
His lips find mine, searing my soul with their reverence. I’m not sure what’s changed between us tonight. But where last night felt like fucking, like two people working out some tension and having some fun, tonight feels almost thoughtful. More profound. There’s a shift in the air, in his eyes, in the way sparks dance across my skin when he touches me.
Kneeling above me, he strips me bare, working every piece of clothing off my body, gentle hands moving over every square inch of my body. We don’t speak, the dirty talk doesn’t come, we just watch, lost in each other’s eyes. The gold flecks, the mossy hues, the dark forest greens. There are just as many facets to his irises as there are to him, and I want every one. I want to explore them all. I want to see them all, even the darkest ones—the questionable ones. Stefan doesn’t scare me. I don’t see him as a threat. He’s not my enemy. And he looks at me the same way. He looks at me like I’m a dream come true.
Words aren’t even necessary when a man looks at you like that.
His clothes fall in a pile around him. T-shirt, soft gray joggers… no underwear. My neediness obviously pulled him straight out of some downtime. But watching his cock bob before me, fully erect already, the lines that cut down from his toned abs, right over his hip bones—like arrows for where I want to go—I don’t feel an ounce bad about pulling him away.
“You are so beautiful.” My voice is breathy, almost desperate sounding. “Inside and out. Every last piece of you.”
He crawls back on top of me, skin sliding against skin, and I can’t keep the tips of my fingers from tracing the shapes of his defined muscles. Every curve, every sharp corner, they’re almost like a map.
The winding road that brought us together.
Because who the hell would have guessed.
“No one has ever told me that before,” he replies as he strokes my hair, eyes devouring my every feature.
My heart squeezes, and I rear up to taste his lips. He kisses me senseless while our hands roam each other’s nude bodies. We learn each other, each hollow and dip. I want to memorize it all. There’s something so innocent about it, something exploratory rather than rushed.
It’s also stoking my inner fire, driving me absolutely insane.
“Condom. Bedside table,” I breathe out between kisses.
Needing no further urging, Stefan pushes up and reaches beyond my head, into the drawer. But rather than grabbing for a condom right away, he pauses. I watch his lips take on a mischievous curl before a hand darts out. When his focus switches back to me, he smirks, looking suddenly playful.
And then he holds up…
“Look who I found.”
Mr. Purple.
“Oh.” The sight of him holding the big purple vibrator sets my heart to racing.
“I wonder who can make you come harder?” Stefan muses. “He is my top competition, is he not?” His head quirks in challenge.
I can’t help but smile. “He is.”
“Challenge accepted, Dr. Thorne.” And with a cocky smile he clicks the bedside lamp on and slides down my body until he’s braced between my spread thighs. “This is something I want to watch.”
My top teeth bite down on my bottom lip to stifle a moan.
I fail miserably.
I arch my back as the low buzzing sound fills the quiet room. I feel the tip of the vibrator as he drags it through my folds with an appreciative grunt. I am soaked, something he has a perfectly clear view of.
The vibrator swirls around my clit and my eyes flutter shut, hips bucking desperately. I am going to come fast playing this game with Stefan.
“Are you always this wet for him? Or is it me?” His voice is low and gravelly as he plays with my body.
“It’s you.” The words tumble off my tongue, almost a plea.
“Fucking right, it is.” He pushes an inch of the length into me slowly, and my legs fall open wider. I love the way his crass side comes out to play in private. The rude words stoke my inner fire in a way I never knew they could.
“Oh God!” Another inch in and it feels so tight, the vibrations feel so intense. It’s an entirely different experience having someone else control the pace and the pressure.
“Sit up, Mira. I want you to see how pretty you look right now.”
I groan. How such a simple request can seem so filthy is beyond me, and it sends arousal coursing through my veins. Most of my sexual experience has happened in the dark, an added layer of protection, with me squeezing my eyes shut and imagining things that might make it more exciting.
But Stefan Dalca has laid me completely bare with the lights on and has turned my mind to mush. I push up on my elbows and gaze down the valley between my heaving breasts. Stefan stays focused on my pussy, pushing the vibrator into me slowly, and I almost combust on the spot. His disheveled hair, his flushed cheeks, his eyes devouring me. It’s too much.
“Jesus Christ,” I pant as he slides it home. The vibrations rattle through my core, and my legs shake. The visual of him between my legs, completely engrossed—entranced—is more than I can take.
“No, Mira. It’s just me.” He smirks, eyes flitting up to mine, as he slides the vibe all the way out before pushing the length back in.
“Stefan.” His name is a prayer on my lips. He’s my new religion. Heat prickles out over my skin, and I’m ready to combust.
“You are fucking incredible.” He pumps it in and out of me slowly, eyes getting hotter by the second. He looks like he might set me on fire with his gaze alone. “Do you have any idea how utterly irresistible you are?”
My entire body quakes under his ministrations. My fists clench in the sheets, holding on for dear life, and I can feel my wetness coating my lips. He’s making an absolute mess of me.
“I’m—”
The words die on my lips when he pulls the vibrator out and presses it to my clit. It’s instant fireworks. They crackle across my skin, shooting down my inner thighs all the way to my toes. The arches of my feet cramp. My vision blanks.
I have never come so hard in my life. But I get barely any time to consider it before he tosses the vibrator across the bed and the tearing sound of a condom wrapper filters in through my jumbled consciousness.
I’m flat on my back when Stefan edges up beside me, peppering kisses along my shoulder as he twists me over and lifts my leg. From behind me, he wedges his rock-hard length between my legs and pulls me flush against his firm body.
“I can see why you like him so much.” His voice is ragged against the shell of my ear as he lines us up, hand gripping my inner thigh possessively. “But I think you’ll like this even better.” He shoves his cock into me to the hilt, filling me so deliciously. “Or maybe we can work together more often?”
“Yes.”
“You like that?” he growls.
“I love it.”
That seems to be all the urging he needs as his hips piston into me, hitting a spot I’ve only ever been able to reach with a toy. The blunt head of his cock tantalizes the sensitive spot as he drives in. Our skin is slick, and I grind my ass back into him.
“More.”
He fucks me harder, his moans echoing my own.
“Harder,” I beg, feeling that telltale coiling sensation at the base of my spine. The one that swirls out around my hip bones and yanks on every nerve ending.
“Mira,” he pants. “How do we feel this good together?”
The tension crescendos under the weight of his words.
He turns my head back toward him to claim my mouth as he pounds into me. “Who fucks you better?”
I don’t even need to think about it. “You do. Always you.”
His hips slap hard against my ass as I push back at him, and I snap. I tumble. I fall hard. “Stefan!” I cry out.
I feel him twitch and throb, spilling his release inside me as my entire body shakes. Our lips clamp together, like an anchor holding us together as we set each other adrift on a stormy sea. We clutch at each other desperately, perspiration mixing, limbs tangling. Joined in every way imaginable.
And I am so far gone I barely recognize myself.