Page 115 of Ruled By Rivalry

“Elliot,” I hissed, just to get him out of his head. “Have me. I’m begging you.”

His breath hitched, his hands on me tightened, and he very nearly swallowed a groan. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” he admitted, laughing, still unzipping his pants anyway. “Maybe because I love you.”

It didn’t feel like news, but confirmation of something I already knew. I’d felt loved by him for a while, and had loved him for just as long.

“Hey!” My arms wrapped around his neck, eyes narrowing. “You said we’re not allowed to say that.”

“Stupid of me.” Another laugh shared between our lips before I felt them on mine again, and he somehow led us to the middle of the room. My legs hit leather, and he sat me down on one of the couches. “But I like that you listened.”

Then, the buckle of his belt finally hit the wooden floor. The metallic zing of it sent goose bumps down my entire body.

I was below him the next second, watched him produce a condom out of nowhere and put it on. You’d think I’d be nervous, but I was so sure that this was right, good, exactly where we should’ve ended up, all I could feel was excitement.

I felt him throb against me, and again, all I could think was Finally. I’d never had someone this close and wanted them closer.

When he first slipped inside, it couldn’t have been more than an inch. Still, the blue in his eyes darkened.

“Okay, fuck,” he said. Another inch, another groan. “This is going to be harder than I thought. I didn’t think you’d—I mean, I expected you to feel good. But this—” Deeper again, finally forcing a low moan out of the back of my throat.

My head was spinning, my vision blurred, and I think I had tears in my eyes. It seemed like the feel of his every twitch inside of me would linger for a lifetime. Unforgettable, surely, the way he’d whispered and moaned against my skin when he was finally fully inside of me. The way he felt, and how he’d tried, until his very last stroke, to keep himself together for as long as possible.

How he’d failed quicker than he would’ve liked, but had taken me right over the edge with him, thanks to his fingers and his kisses and the words “I love you.”

Chapter 45

The Ashwood Annual should’ve been monumental for many reasons. My first dress on one of the biggest carpets in the world. My debut as a designer. Every single celebrity crush I’d ever had casually walking past me.

Not because I’d lost my virginity there.

“What made you change your mind?” I asked, and Elliot’s head cocked in my direction as we weaved through the halls to get to our respective tables. We were as close to each other as we could physically allow ourselves to be. Without being obvious about the fact that I could still feel the stretch of him between my thighs, and he could probably still taste me on his tongue. I cleared my throat. “You said you didn’t want to”—I started whispering—“sleep with me in case you get the job. In case I’d hate you.”

An impossible thought now. The decision had already been made, and no matter how hard I’d tried, I couldn’t get myself to hate him.

It still made my insides clench and formed a lump in my throat, but . . . “You slept with me. You have the job.”

I was just way beyond the possibility of hating him again.

He must’ve known that.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Elliot hummed, hand in the small of my back, and the pressure of him so familiar I could burst into tears. Yep, my period was definitely coming up.

“Come on, Daphne’s dress is good, yes, but not good enough to convince your grandfather of the impossible.”

The sheepish smile on his lips should’ve been a dead giveaway, but I was too busy not marveling at the way my favorite actor greeted Elliot in passing. A back pat from one of Hollywood’s most valuable didn’t even seem like a big deal to him; instead, Elliot was looking at me. Shrugged. “No need to convince anyone. I quit.”

I stopped. Abruptly. In the middle of a busy corridor leading from the entrance hall to the main event. “You did what?” He tried to nudge me forward, but I was glued in place, blinking slowly down the hall.

“I told you.” His brows rose when I finally looked at him. “I had to convince myself you’re sorry because it was embarrassing how quickly I forgave you. The things I did were embarrassing.”

I couldn’t form a single thought and gave myself more time when I asked, “Such as?”

“Waking up every time I heard someone unlocking a door in our building. Wandering the halls of the office not sure if it’d be worse to run into you or go another day without seeing you.” Elliot grabbed my arm, gently pulled me to the side so we wouldn’t continue blocking half of the hallway. “Asking Amir whether you’d already left.”

With every word, I needed another second longer to form a coherent thought. So, another question. “What did Amir say?”

“He said he knew what I did and hasn’t opened a door for me since.” Elliot didn’t seem upset about the development. Meanwhile, if the circumstances were different, my smile would’ve been so big my cheeks would hurt. But there was one thing he hadn’t mentioned yet.

“And?” I prodded.