Her collateral bride a l.., p.9
Her Collateral Bride: A Lesbian Age Gap Romance, page 9
You’re going to kill me.” Haley barely made a sound. She
stayed quiet, the words tiny little whispers that no one would
hear. No one but Claire, and it drove her crazy.
Claire wrenched away, her lips sparkling with Haley’s
arousal. She let Haley peel her eyes open, and watched as fury
descended, twisting her face when she realized that the
pleasure had stopped and wasn’t going to continue.
“What the fuck?” Haley panted. “Is this some kind of game?
Something you can do to me just because you can? Was it
really just to prove a point? Well, you’ve proved it.”
Claire stood up. She gave Haley a hard stare. “I’m not going
to continue. I don’t think you could handle the things I want to
do to you. You’re too sweet. Too innocent.”
“I’m not.”
Claire wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and
licked off the juices. “You’re very, very sweet.”
Haley moaned. “Please,” she begged. “Please. Let me come,
Claire. Make me come. Do things to me. I want you to.”
She had no idea what she was asking.
“No.” The rage was back, biting and clawing. Haley had
spirit and she had fight. Far too much of it. It was sexy as hell,
and it took all of Claire’s willpower not to fall under her spell.
“I want to watch you get yourself off.”
“What? I’m not going to do that in front of you!”
“If you can’t even pleasure yourself, how do you think you
could hold up to the things I want to do to you? If you want
me to continue, right now or at any other time, you’ll make
yourself come. I’m going to kiss you. I’m going to touch you.
I don’t have to watch. But I want you to do it.”
“I-I can’t.” It was dismal, the failure in Haley’s voice.
Claire’s chest ached. That defeat reminded her of a time in her
life, a particularly shitty, dark time that had almost swallowed
her whole. She’d used that time, the worst experience of her
life, and she’d made it a start of something else. A start of
reclaiming her own power. Of learning how to please her own
body. Some people might call her sexual desires dark. Okay,
lots of people would call them dark, but that was what felt
right for her, and fucked up or not, she refused to be ashamed
of it. Once she’d gone to the clubs, she’d found out just how
many people liked different things. How many people needed
or wanted the co-mingling, delicious bite of pain with the
pleasure.
“What do you mean you can’t?” she asked patiently. With
infinite gentleness. She was robbed of the need for control, for
dominance, for power. She was left empty, hollowed out.
“I can’t. Not without something. I can’t just do it with my
fingers,” Haley hissed. Claire could tell what the honesty was
costing her. She wouldn’t let Haley put her head down. She
wouldn’t let her feel that shame.
She tipped her chin up gently, holding it between her fingers
so Haley had to look at her. “I’ll help you.”
“What?”
“If I can make you come with my fingers, you can make
yourself come with yours. I’ll show you and I’ll help you.”
“You’re not going to make some caustic comment about me
being innocent and so naïve that I can’t even get myself off,
and blah, blah, blah?”
Claire allowed a rare, genuine smile to break free. “No. Not
right now. If you’re willing to learn, then I’m willing to teach
you. It’s an agreement of our own. Between us. Innocence is a
precious, amazing thing.” Hang onto it, she wanted to scream.
Fucking hang onto it, Haley. “It’s certainly not a bad thing.”
“You mocked me for it.”
“No. No, that wasn’t what I meant to do. I’m sorry.”
Haley startled at the word. Claire startled at the word. That
wasn’t what she was going to say. Fuck. One taste of her sweet
as sin pussy and I’m already getting soft.
“I thought you weren’t a lesbian,” Haley said accusingly.
“My dear, I am definitely a lesbian.”
Claire leaned in and claimed Haley’s lips. She moaned at
the taste of herself there. She licked off the spice of herself and
cried out, but Claire trapped the sound from escaping. She
angled in and cupped Haley’s breast, suckling her through the
dark black satin of her blouse. She wore a camisole and a lacy
bralette beneath, and Claire punished it all with her teeth, her
tongue, until Haley’s hips were bucking into the air again.
She took Haley’s hand and guided it between her legs.
Haley thrashed against her own touch, but Claire took her
mouth again, kissing her brutally, stroking her tongue with
hers until she relaxed again. She never moved her hand away.
She guided Haley’s fingers through the slick folds, soaking
them before she brought them up to her clit. She used one
finger to massage a slow, gentle circle that made Haley moan
and go liquid. Her hips bucked back up a second later and she
let out a small sound of astonishment against Claire’s lips.
“It’s only because I’m so far gone already,” Haley moaned.
“Only that.”
“Yes. You want to come. You want to come all over your
fingers and my fingers.”
“God. Yes,” Haley sobbed. “I want to come.”
“Touch your clit,” Claire instructed. “You’re so wet, Haley.
You taste so good. My whole-body aches for you.”
“Fuck,” Haley mewled. She kept massaging herself in slow
circles. Her hips were wild, thrashing against her hand. She
was clumsy and uncoordinated, almost like she’d never
touched herself before, and it was hot as hell. Claire wasn’t
lying when she said that her whole body ached. Another
admission, spoken before she could capture it and keep it in.
“What do you need?” Claire whispered in Haley’s ear.
“Keep touching yourself. What else do you need?”
“You,” Haley pleaded. “I need you.”
Claire curled two fingers and butted up against Haley’s
entrance. “Here?”
Her hips bucked in answer. She whimpered, her head falling
back. Her hair was a mess against the books, mussed and dark.
Her cheeks were stained pink, her lips parted and swollen. She
was a panting mess as she circled her clit and Claire loved
every second of it.
Claire thrust her fingers inside Haley, hooking them
wickedly. Haley had more fortitude than she thought, because
she didn’t break apart immediately. “Remember,” Claire
hissed. “Don’t scream unless you want the entire household to
know how much I’m enjoying fucking your beautiful pussy.
Don’t scream unless you want them to know how much you
love to make yourself come.”
“Oh God,” Haley gasped. “Oh God.”
One more thrust, one more curl of her fingers, and Haley
shattered. She panted and whimpered, but she bit down on the
noises. The tiny sounds that escaped nearly sent Claire over
the edge. She was throbbing. Soaked. She was probably
soaked straight through her skirt. She let Haley ride out the
waves, her walls clenching on her fingers again and again.
She still hadn’t come down. Reality hadn’t set in for either
of them. Haley opened up her blown eyes and she stared
Claire down. “Please, Claire. Let me make you come too.”
Claire had the dirtiest vision of Haley under her desk, her
skirt rucked up around her hips, touching herself, fucking her
fingers up into her tight pussy as she licked her between her
legs.
She shook her head slowly. “Go put your skirt back on.”
She walked over and found Haley’s underwear, her eyes
tracking her the whole time. She folded them into a tight wad
in her hand, making it clear she wasn’t going to give them
back. Haley’s eyes burned as she snatched up her skirt and
slipped it back on. She adjusted her blouse, but it was ruined
in the front, gaping open to reveal the camisole underneath.
She didn’t ask Claire why she couldn’t touch her. Why she
couldn’t give her pleasure like Claire had given. She probably
knew. It was non-negotiable at the moment, maybe forever.
Claire worked hard at keeping her emotions in line, but right
now, she was a mess. She was a mess without it showing, but
that was still a dangerous undercurrent. She still felt like she
was breathing fire, like her lungs were getting bigger and
bigger without actually taking any oxygen in.
The memories weren’t the ones coming for her this time.
No, this time it was that box she’d locked up inside of herself
so carefully that threatened to burst open. What was wrong
with her that she was feeling all those things, feeling emotions
that she hadn’t in years, for the twenty-one-year-old daughter
of her enemy?
She couldn’t answer that question, and it needed to be
answered, which was why she couldn’t let this continue. She
needed time to think. To get herself back under control. Right
now, if Haley touched her, Claire was afraid that the shattering
wouldn’t be the right kind, and she wasn’t sure that if she
broke apart, she would be able to put herself back together the
way she needed to be put together.
Haley adjusted her clothing one last time. She walked to the
other side of the desk. She looked well and truly fucked. Her
pupils were still blown, her cheeks were pink, and her hair was
a messy, wild riot around her face and shoulders, not to
mention the state of her blouse and her skirt, which was
slightly crooked despite her best efforts.
Claire had never been so captivated by anyone before.
“Are you okay?” Haley asked, and she meant it. She was a
nice person. It wasn’t just an act.
Did okay encompass what they’d just done in her office, or
did it mean everything up to that point?
“You said Snake was sick,” Claire murmured, changing the
subject. “I’ll go check on him. I was serious about taking you
tomorrow and Friday if he’s not better.”
“That’s really unnecessary.”
Claire gave her a look that silenced her further protests. It
wasn’t scathing, but more a comical look at the bookcase
Haley had just been pressed up against, writhing in the throes
of a climax she’d never forget. You’ll let me fuck you, but you
won’t let me drive you to college? The unspoken question
hung in the air between them.
“I really didn’t give him anything,” Haley whispered,
lowering her eyes so she didn’t have to meet Claire’s piercing
gaze anymore. “I would never do that. I would never hurt
another person.”
Claire knew she should apologize, but the words came hard
for her. “Of course,” she said, as close as she would get to
saying that she was sorry.
Haley nodded. She was so damn bright, like the sun caged
in a small space. She was sweet and hopeful, and even if she
was still young, she’d somehow clung to her innocence so
much longer than most people did.
One last adjustment to her skirt and she was out the door,
leaving a vacuum of silence and confusion that bled into
Claire’s so carefully ordered world.
Claire stood over her desk, bracing herself with her palms
flat on the surface. She’d been giving grand speeches about
being reckless and silly, about being selfish and foolish. She’d
been giving herself speeches about so many other things for so
long. Cautioning herself. She did not normally finger fuck
women who were fourteen years younger and as naïve as they
came. Not against bookshelves. Not in her office. Not
anywhere.
It was a momentary lapse, a crack in otherwise perfect
armor, and now that she was back in control, back to being
rational, she’d ensure that the world would remain orderly and
that it would never happen again.
Chapter 10
Haley
“What do you like? I mean, you sat in those classrooms
all day looking bored out of your mind, so let’s talk about you.
You know that I’m a music major and that I play piano. You
know my dad, and you had someone look into me. You know
everything about how I was raised and where and with who.
Tell me something about you.”
Claire’s hands tightened on the wheel, her knuckles going
white, as Haley expected. She’d also expected that after their
tryst in the office the day before, Claire would be shut down,
her walls up, her armor back in place. She was exactly right.
Snake slept in the bathroom next to their rooms during the
night. He was really sick but refused to go to the hospital.
Claire didn’t force him. She gave him however many days off
he needed to recover. When Haley had tried to say it was kind
of her, she’d snapped that it was practical. You couldn’t expect
a bodyguard who was yakking and crapping his pants to keep
anyone safe. Claire was back to her regular ice queen ways for
sure, but Haley knew all about the crackers and electrolyte
drinks that Claire told Jean to go out and get.
“Claire?”
Claire’s lips thinned out. She stayed focused on the road
even though they were out of the worst of the highly congested
traffic. Haley opted to work on her paper at home instead of
having Claire shadow her in the library. She wouldn’t be able
to think there with her so close.
“Oh. I see. You think it’s better to say nothing at all because
that’s the safer bet. Because you think that telling anyone
anything about yourself lets them in and that’s a weakness and
you don’t do that because you’re all strong and independent.”
Claire rolled her eyes, and Haley was pleased with herself
for getting at least that much out of her. “I like water,” she
grumbled. She changed lanes aggressively, cutting off the
vehicle behind them, and horns blared.
Haley held her breath and grabbed for the handle on the
door beside her to brace for crunching metal, but Claire drove
confidently, pressing down on the gas and shooting forward to
a stretch of open lane. Snake’s driving paled in comparison. It
must be those six-inch heels that Claire always wore. Those
had to be murder on the feet and hell to drive in.
“Like, you like to drink water?”
“I like the water. The sound.”
Oh. That made sense, given that Claire’s house was front
and center to the sound. “Do you like how it looks or how it’s
always changing?”
Claire looked over her shoulder and changed lanes again,
surging forward into yet another open space left by a car that
had just turned left. They zoomed forward and Haley nearly
gasped. What did her grandma always say? That they weren’t
on a racetrack, so slow the hell down, that was it. Clearly, no
one had ever given Claire that advice. Maybe they had and she
just ignored them. She seemed content to do that in every
other situation.
“I’m not sentimental about it,” Claire said grudgingly. “I
just like living by it. It makes it easy to take the boat out, or
swim in the very small window where it’s not frigid.”
“Do you play piano?”
“No. I do not.”
“Do you like it?”
A muscle in her jaw ticked. “Not particularly.”
“Are you just saying that because I love it and it’s my
instrument of choice and I would die to be able to play
whatever piano you have hidden away, and by the way, can we
please talk about that, because if I could practice at the house,
that would be incredibly helpful. I’ve been wondering what
I’m going to do about it for days now.”
Claire was silent as she took the exit on the right. The car
surged forward even faster now with the raised speed limit, but
Claire was still likely going at least fifteen to twenty miles
above that. “If it’s for school, then I’ll have someone come in
and tune it. If it’s beyond redemption, can’t you get a keyboard
or something?”
Haley gaped at her. “A keyboard? That’s sacrilege.”
That earned her another eyeroll and another press to the gas
pedal. Her grandma also used to say that if she wanted a
facelift, she’d go for one, no need to take their lives into their
hands to move at light speed.
Claire kept her eyes forward and Haley tried to tell what she
was thinking while the scenery flashed by them at astonishing
