Chapter 38: The Nine O’Clock Trap
"I debuted in France, and back on the runway circuit I got to know plenty of European and American supermodels. Heidi, Wengna, a few others. The editor at American Royal Magazine actually mentored me for half a month once." I kept my voice even. "They might not remember me now. Back then nobody knew my Chinese name. They knew me as Kira."
Nicole and Quinn both blinked at me like I’d started speaking a different language.
"I know exactly what Iris is doing," I went on. "She wants to squeeze whatever use she can out of me and toss me aside the second I’ve served my purpose, all to lift Amara up. She thinks being here in the States puts me at a disadvantage. She thinks I’ve got nowhere to turn."
"Shameless," Nicole muttered under her breath.
Caspian, who’d been listening quietly, finally spoke. "I’m also acquainted with the editor at American Royal. Would you like to catch up with your mentor?"
"Caspian, I’ve told you before. I don’t want you fixing this for me."
"Think of it as a private catch up, nothing more." The corner of his mouth curved into a smile that caught the light in a way that felt almost unfair.
I held out for a moment, then gave in. "Fine."
I had no idea then that this one casual meetup would end up deciding everything between me and Amara.
Caspian owned a manor in the States, so a hotel was never in the picture. The rooms ran warm and distinctly American, more comfortable than any suite I’d ever stayed in. Since the manor sat a fair distance from Secret’s headquarters, Caspian had already had Theo pull the full schedule, right down to dinner service. I was genuinely impressed. Nicole and Quinn looked a little humbled by the whole operation.
After a quick shower, I stood by the window taking in the unfamiliar landscape. I heard Caspian come up behind me and turned to find him in a black robe, dark hair still dripping. Without thinking, I took the towel out of his hands, rose onto my toes, and started patting the water out of his hair. He stood completely still, watching me with an expression I couldn’t quite place.
"What? Why are you staring like that?"
"I was thinking," he said slowly, "since it’s still daylight, whether I should do something I probably shouldn’t." He tilted my chin up, kissed me soft, then deep, then moved his mouth to my ear. "On the plane, I wanted to keep kissing you."
I glanced at the window, vaguely aware someone outside might see us. But his hands were already pulling me back in, and whatever resistance I had dissolved completely. My body stopped listening to reason.
Robes fell to the floor and afternoon light filled the room as we came together on the bed.
In that light I could see him clearly. Caspian’s build was nothing like the lean frame people expected from an Asian man. He was firm, sculpted, warm bronze skin, built like something out of an editorial spread. Looking at him made it hard to think straight about anything else.
He seemed just as pleased with what he found. Five foot ten, perfectly proportioned, long pale legs, measurements that needed no help from a stylist. I’d been told more than once my body was built for international runways, and in that bright room the two of us together felt like something designed to match.
Caspian laughed afterward, low and easy. "If we hold onto these bodies for the rest of our lives, our odds of divorce are exactly zero."
I laughed too and reached up to touch the small black mole on his right ear. "I love this thing the most. Looks like you were born wearing an earring."
That was all it took. He leaned in and kissed me again, and whatever control he’d been holding onto let go completely. I met him with the same warmth, my mouth finding his ear in return.
"Mmph," I moaned into his mouth. He moved his hands up to my breasts and cupped my left breast as he kissed me passionately, his cock still stuffed in my to the hilt. When I could take it no longer, I started to pull myself round his cock..
It was heaven. We moaned and kissed in each other’s mouths as our bodies slid together. He alternated between my breasts and my pussy, being sure to grant each the attention of his large hands. ... He started ramming into me harder, feeling my body grab and squeeze his cock.
"Oh yeah, baby," I said. I could feel the explosion approaching, and I didn’t know how I was going to curb it, so I just started to go with it. The mounting pleasure before the peak was like nothing I’d ever felt. I focused his cock sliding in and out, pushing in, pulling out Oh yeah, oh yeah here it comes, fuck it’s going to be a big one, oh yeah, FUCK-
He came , spraying hot liquid splashed my insides, again and again.
As my moans subsided, his cock softened and slipped out of me
We stayed tangled together for a long time after that, whispering and drifting until exhaustion finally pulled us under. When we woke we leaned into each other and talked quietly, then lost ourselves again. We stopped short of the final step, same as always, but even so I found myself wishing time would just freeze right there. It felt too good to rush past.
While I was a tangled mess, Caspian already had the real schedule sitting in his hands. When Quinn got the notification for nine in the morning, I looked at the two times side by side and understood exactly what was happening.
"Valerie, it’s obvious Xova wants you gone. What do we do?" Quinn asked over the phone..
"If Iris wants me late, I’ll be early instead," I said simply. "But both of you need to prepare yourselves. I might still get replaced."
"I’ve been prepared for that a long time," Quinn said, and there was something steady in her voice that caught me off guard. "And I’ve already got a way to get it back if it happens."
