Defiance (New Adult Romance) (Isaac & Maya) (18 page)

Isaac catches me, whispering how much he loves me and how beautiful I am into my ear while I come for him. When my senses return, I’m lying on his chest as he strokes my hair and kisses the top of my head. I must have bounced around too much and wiggled off him because I’m empty, which means he still needs me.

“Can I suck on you now?” I beg, trailing kisses across his chest.

“Well, since you’re so fucking adorable and we don’t play by the rules…”

Sitting up, I bite my lip and crinkle my nose at him, putting a huge grin on his face that I have to dip back down to kiss. My mouth starts on his neck, suckling until he gasps and starts breathing raggedly. I wrap my fingers around him, stroking him as I kiss my way lower, lingering to tongue the scar by his hipbone.

He groans when I envelop him suddenly, going down as deep as I can. My stomach flutters when his hand starts feeling around for mine until I give it to him. His fingers slip between mine and squeeze so hard it almost hurts. He’s so fucking cute. Isaac wants my other hand too, but I’m too busy using it to jack him off so I can focus on pleasuring the tip of him. Our eyes meet when his needy fingers tenderly graze my hairline and I latch on harder while he watches me, breathing faster. He’s almost there.

“I’m gonna come,” he exhales.
I know.
“Stop. I want to fuck you.”

“Please,” I moan, reluctantly pulling my mouth off him. “I have a taste for you.”

“Maya…”

“I keep thinking about that time you opened my mouth and did it yourself,” I say, sinking back down to convince him to let me keep going.

“You do?”

“Yeah,” I breathe, pulling away. “It was so fucking hot. If I ever get a chance to masturbate again, that’s what I’ll be thinking about.”

“The only time you’ll get another chance to masturbate is when I feel like watching you,” he tells me, grabbing a handful of my hair and gently pushing my head down until he’s in my mouth again. I squirt all over my ankles even though I know he did that for my benefit. He isn’t being greedy, his hand is so tender in my hair as the other one caresses my fingertips.

As much as I love it when he takes his pleasure, there’s just something about giving it to him. I crave seeing him this relaxed and carefree, not worrying about performing or pleasing me. It’s all for him. When I feel his thighs tense up, I let go of him to hold his other hand, sucking as hard as I can while he explodes in my mouth. Our eyes stay locked together until his roll back as he breathes in grunts and groans though his clenched jaw, crushing my hands in his.

“You’re going to pay for that,” he says as I finish swallowing him and scoot upwards on the bed.

“I know, but can we cuddle for a little bit first?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Isaac keeps his arm around me when he flips on his side. His stubble tickles my face as he kisses me all over, making me giggle until I need to curl up and disappear into his solid chest. I feel so small when he holds me like this. “This game is hard to play when we both need to give each other what we want,” he murmurs.

“That just makes it more fun. And you frigging hold out on me
all
the time when you get in a teasing mood.”

“Yeah, but I make it up to you at the end,” he reminds me, flashing me that cocky smile.

“Can we put that off until the morning? I’m sleepy.”

“Me too. And I probably won’t make you pay for it at all because that was an awesome blow job.”

“Thanks,” I squeak, pulling the blankets over us and snuggling up closer.

“I still need to hold you down and fuck you really hard, though. Set the alarm early.”

“Tomorrow is Friday, Isaac,” I tell him, grinning against his flexed pec.

“We get to sleep in first,” he yawns, pinching my ass. “How fucking perfect is that?”

24

Isaac

Just as I’m expecting, she gives her personal security the slip by exiting the back of the restaurant while they’re waiting for her in front. Smug smile on her face, Piper sips her drink as she walks briskly down the alley. What the hell is she thinking? I’m sure the secret service bullshit it getting old at this point, but Luke just got out of the fucking hospital, not that he can walk. Though, I suppose I should cut her a little slack. I know she’s still reeling from the gross violation of her privacy.

I could give her the well-deserved alone time that she’s obviously craving, but then I’ll have to follow her around in the shadows like the creepy stalker that I pretty much am at this point. It’s freezing outside, so I doubt she’s taking a walk. She’s probably headed for another building, where I’ll probably lose her like I did last time. It’s now or never.

“Hello, Piper.”

She whips around. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“That was a nice move back there,” I commend her, keeping my distance.

“Fuck off, Isaac.”

“I’ll fuck off in a second. I just wanted to apologize in person.”

“Look, I know they say forgiveness is good for the soul, but I’m just not there yet.”

“I’m not asking you to forgive me. I just wanted to tell you that I
am
sorry.”

“Message received. You can commence fucking off now,” she spits, turning to walk away.

“I didn’t tell Jace to get close to you. I honestly didn’t.”

Piper stops and clenches her fist, taking a few deep breaths before turning to face me. “Bullshit. Let me guess, you probably made a huge fucking deal about him keeping it in his pants and leaving me alone.

“I did.”

“Yeah, to make sure he’d do it anyway because he doesn’t like taking fucking orders,” she says. Shit. That’s exactly how it went.

“Some things just have to happen, Piper.”

“Oh my God, you’re such an asshole. You knew that particular thing would happen and you knew it would ensure I didn’t tell my parents when it all came crashing down on you.” Fuck! She’s right about that too. “I’ve noticed how slick and manipulative you are,” she tells me. “Maya only falls for smart guys, so you’ve been on my radar this entire time.”

“Don’t turn this into one of your conspiracy theories,” I say. Her eyes bug out and I realize that borderline insulting her wasn’t the best idea. “What are the odds that my best friend and her best friend would be perfect for each other? I couldn’t
manipulate
that into happening.”

“No, you just exploited it and didn’t care who got hurt in the process as long as you got what you wanted.”

She’s only half right there. “I care very much about this fallout, Piper. He’s completely miserable. It’s been two months. Don’t you think it’s time to move past this?”

“Cut the innocent, Mr. Nice Guy routine. I’m not fucking buying it.”

“I think you’re reading way too much into this.”

“No, you want to confuse me so I drop it. I’ve been thinking about what you did a lot, I can’t stop myself. You made me dislike the coolest club that was conveniently close to our house by never stocking
Pimm’s No. 6 Cup.”

Well, aren’t you observant?
“That’s extremely hard to get for a new place,” I answer. “We didn’t have the connections with the distributor.”

“You are so full of shit it’s oozing out of your ears. Fuck. You.” She starts walking away and I call her name a few times, but she just flips me off over her shoulder.

“Actually, I knew Jace would keep you out of there because you wouldn’t want to look desperate. Pimm’s No. 6 Cup really is difficult to get for a new place, but I could have made it happen. I can make a lot of things happen.”

“I am going to kick you in the nuts and throw this hot chocolate in your fucking face if you don’t drop this cocky shit. I am not Maya. It is not cute,” she snaps.

I suppress my laughter for her benefit. “Fair enough, but I’m just being honest. Would you rather have me patronize you and switch to the you’re-giving-me-too-much-credit act?”

Piper shakes her head and for a moment I wonder just how hot that beverage is. “Maya always did get turned on by sleazy con artists.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Well, that took the wind out of your sails,” she laughs. “I’m not giving you any details about her past hookups. She has to think about that shit all the time with you.”

“She really doesn’t care as much as I do.”

“Whatever makes you feel better, man.”

“No, seriously. She’s told me about all her ‘hookups’ and none of them fit that description.” Right?

“Maya is sneaky, too. You probably asked about one night stands and she told you about sex and left out make out sessions.”

“Make out sessions? That’s not so bad.”

“You’ve made out with Maya before, right?”

“Shit…”

“Yeah. Let’s just say you’re not the first con to make her scream into your shoulder once you slip your fingers into her panties,” Piper taunts me.

My stomach turns. I love feeling Maya scream into my shoulder when I finger her. I’ll never get over the idea of her with other guys, never. “Wow,” I murmur.

“That actually hurt you, didn’t it?”

“Yeah. Feel better?”

“Not really.” Piper doesn’t seem happy about it at all.  “I’m trying to like you, I really fucking am, but it’s like you went out of your way to make sure that could never really happen. I got over all that sex master bullshit because you and Maya were so perfect for each other. She was so happy back when you were around all the time.
Then you started canceling more and—”

“I didn’t have a choice about that.”

“Whatever. It still took its toll. And now you’re back, but for how long? What if this doesn’t work out and you get killed or end up in prison? What happens to her then?”

“I still don’t have much of a choice. What am I supposed to do? Walk away from her?”

“You should have walked away when Maya started to fall for you.”

“I know. And I want to say that I tried to do that, but I didn’t. It’s too late now anyway.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely too fucking late now, Isaac.”

“You never would have met him,” I remind her. “I know you hate him now, but what do they say? ‘Tis better to have loved and lost?”

“
Fuck. You,
” she growls. “And that’s a big fat lie, by the way. ‘Tis not fucking better. At all.”

“Well, that sucks because that’s what I’m counting on if this all goes to shit, not that I’ll let that happen.”

“You can’t control everything, Isaac.”

“Thanks for the reminder. That is a weakness of mine.”

“Well aren’t you self-reflective…”

“I’m counting on you, too.”

“To pick up the pieces? To take care of her?”

“To help remind her that she can take care of herself,” I clarify. “She’s really struggling right now with school. She wants to run away and hide. I can’t resist giving that to her, but I know it’s going to backfire in the long run. She told me about grad school. Thank you for that.”

Piper sighs and runs her hand through her hair. “She needed a year off anyway, even before you came around. She likes to run and hide in math, too, or anything all-consuming and repetitive that she can get lost in.”

“I noticed that.”
Especially when she was polishing the giant window at the apartment
.

“Maya doesn’t look at the big picture enough. It’s too scary for her.”

“I don’t want her to end up hating me in ten years because she got overwhelmed and never did anything with her life. So maybe you’ll help me manipulate the situation a little bit to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Is this how you justify what you do? It’s okay because it’s for the greater good?”

“Essentially, yes. I’d be perfectly fucking happy if she became some recluse and I got all her attention. I could stand here and let that happen, but I love her too much.”

“Jesus…” Piper says, rolling her eyes. “What do I say to that shit?”

“I convinced her to start tutoring again. I got a job, so now she has some extra time. If for some reason I couldn’t come around at all, say, Tuesday night, maybe—”

“Tuesday night, huh?” she scoffs. “My least busy day of the week?”

“You don’t have to be to class until 11:00 on Wednesday, either.”

“Seriously? You know my fucking schedule that well?”

“Does that honestly surprise you?”

“You are a real piece of work.”

At least she didn’t call me a piece of shit like I was expecting. “So if I wasn’t around Tuesday night, you girls could have the place to yourself. There’s an extra bedroom and I know AJ misses you.”

“Holy shit, are you actually tossing the fact that I can’t see my cat anymore out there? Really?”

“What? It’s true, isn’t it?”

“This is so fucking frustrating! You’re being totally honest yet conning me right to my face and I’m still about to fall for it!”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not technically a con if it’s for someone else’s benefit, Piper.”

“How convenient…”

“I’ll make sure there’s food in the house,” I tempt her as her eyes narrow. “But I’m kind of hoping that you’ll take her out sometimes. I can’t do that yet. She’s cooped up all the time and she’s getting used to it.”

“You are unreal. This is so fucked up.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to get a break from the other Barneys and see your best friend instead?”

Piper huffs and keeps glaring at me, but I’m wearing her down. “Yeah, it would,” she admits.

“So think about it. I bet if you asked her to do that, she would.”

“I am not turning into you. This isn’t a shared custody agreement. We will be having an adult, upfront conversation about this, I’m not planting any seeds in her head.”

“If we have an adult, upfront conversation, she’ll know that we’re worried and she’ll feel defective. You know it’s true.”

“
You
should be the one thinking about going to law school, you know that?”

“Then people would be more likely to suspect me,” I laugh.

“Like I said, you’re already on my radar. Where will
you
be on Tuesday night? With Gloria? Are you getting me to help you do something shady that you don’t want Maya to find out about?”

I hesitate, because this might be a deal breaker. “Honesty is the best policy right?”

“That’s what they say and that one isn’t a big fat lie. Usually.”

“Then you can’t hold it against me.”

“Great,” she laughs.

“I’ll be crashing with Jace. He could use some best friend time, too.” Wincing as the words leave my mouth, I wait for her to explode, but she doesn’t. If anything that might have helped my case.

“Fuck,” she mutters, looking down. Piper still cares about him. She must not be able to shake it. “Fine. I guess I
won’t
see you next Tuesday. Tell Jace I said… fuck you.”

I think i
n Piper’s case, a ‘fuck you’ message counts as progress. “If you go see him—”

“I am not going to see him,” she snaps.

“Hypothetical situation.
If
you go see him, be careful. Don’t let your security follow you there and it’s probably not a good idea to go to his apartment. It would be better to call him and meet somewhere, not in public.”

“Why?”

“Because if for some reason my father is having you followed and you show up at my best friend’s place… Let’s just say A could lead to B could lead to C and everything will get… messy.”

“If you think you can push me into going over there by telling me I can’t...”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” I say firmly. “I’m dead fucking serious. I hope you stay mad for a little longer and don’t go over there. I’ve been counting on it, really. If my dad finds out about you two, he will find out about me and Maya. And I won’t be the only one paying for it.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m still fucking livid and there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that I’ll be dropping by for a friendly visit.”

I almost ask her to let me know if she needs help sneaking into a safe hotel, but I tell her to enjoy the rest of her day instead. She tells me to fuck off again and that I owe her another cup of hot chocolate because this one got cold. I watch from my car until her bodyguards catch up with her and laugh while she rants at them. Piper has got to be the toughest job in the world. I’m amazed we were able to keep track of them for as long as we did.