My legs shook just from his proximity. From the way he watched me like a hunter bracing to catch its prey.

I was the one who'd gotten out of the shower, yet he radiated all the heat, all the fire.

"Do you remember," his voice was smooth, hypnotic, "that time when I went down on you to ease your stress?" His fingertip grazed my arm, and I shuddered.

"How," I gulped, "could I forget?"

My breaths hitched as I let my mind travel back to that day, that place. St. Tropez, my hotel room, my skirt pushed up and my dripping pussy bare for him to devour.

We'd been minutes away from a wedding—his sister's wedding—and I was freaking out over all the details and everything I'd failed to deliver. He'd showed up at my door, rolled his sleeves up, and licked my slit until I climaxed and relaxed.

It was glorious. A few strokes of his tongue and I'd lost all my fears, temporarily.

Standing here, naked, with all manners of deja-vu going through my mind, I didn't know what to do. If I admitted to remembering too much, what did that mean?

Giving any further details of my recollections would turn him on. And from the sight of his growing bulge under those tight, tight slacks, he was already pretty far gone.

"And," his fingers reached my shoulder, inching towards my neck, "did it work?"

I gulped again. Goosebumps popped up along my skin, in the wake of his touch. It was still so steamy in the bathroom, I couldn't tell if the sweat gathering above my brow was from that, or from the intensity of him towering over me, touching me.

"Because you're stressed right now," he said, taking a tiny step forward. His socks met with my bare feet, and electricity shot through me as his fingers took hold of my chin, cupping it, holding it up. "I can tell."

"Yeah," I let out a shy giggle, "and in part because of you."

What I wouldn't add was that his presence was like a sweet poison, tasting like passion but then exploding painfully inside at the reminder that we were beyond the line of forbidden. And that when he wasn't doing this to me, my ex was. My ex, who was the make-up artist for this event. My ex, who caused all sorts of desire build-up in my center and drove me mad.

I wouldn't add that I wanted her, but I wanted him more. I was craving their touch, their tongues, and now here he was, offering himself up again, and I couldn't do it.

Accepting meant caving, caving meant breaking the rules.

But we'd already broken every single rule yesterday by fucking on his couch.

"Because of me?" He pouted his lips, and I resisted the urge to get onto my tiptoes and smash my mouth to his. He was so cute, so sweet, so thoughtful, so powerfully sexy that I was burning up on the inside. And on the outside. My skin was aflame, my center hot with need. "I'm stressing you out?"

"You are, because..." I started, my voice lower than I'd anticipated. "Whenever you're near I remember you using that," I motioned at his mouth, "and that," I waved towards his crotch, "to tempt me. Because they get me every time, and I need you to stop. I want you so badly, I do, but I need you to—"

He grabbed my bare ass-cheeks, using them to pull me against him. Tingles shot up my spine at the contact.

His mouth was against mine, blocking me from moaning. But he didn't kiss me. "Need me to help you destress?"

He massaged my ass, the tugging motion by default massaging my pussy, which worsened my moisture problem in that area. "Axel..."

"I'm not pushing anymore." He let go of me and backed away, hands up. "Look, it's fun to torment you a little, because you're so sexy when you squirm. But if you legitimately don't want me, Vivienne...you need to say so. As in bluntly tell me to fuck off; don't imply it."

I chewed on my lower lip. "Axel, you...you know I want you." My eyebrows furrowed as my body launched forward, but my spirit tried to hold me back. "God, I want you so fucking bad, but it's impossible, okay? You and me, it's against the rules, more or less against the law, and it's putting my career at risk."

He lowered his arms. "Is it a risk if no one knows? If no one can know?" He reached out and touched under my chin with his index finger. "I swear to you, there's no way we'll be discovered. We're safe here. We can fuck each other's brains out, and no one would have any clue."

"I want to believe you, but..." I resisted his finger and lowered my chin. "I'm scared. Because I fought so hard to get here, and Brent is such an asshole, I wouldn't put it past him to...spy on me."

Axel scoffed. "Having seen his attitude in person, yeah, I confirm that. But here?" He waved his arms through the foggy room. "He can't see us here. No one can see us here."

He was right, I knew he was right. But still, I was defying the rules, and I felt like everyone could perceive it, could read it on my face. Every person I came across, I worried they'd see through me.

I'm sleeping with the man paying me to organize this event, and I'm not allowed to.

"You're stressed. You're tired." He caressed my cheek, gently tilting my face towards him. "I'm not forcing you into anything your body isn't asking for, Vivienne. But I will quit this instant if you ask me to."

"I know." The desire culminated, becoming too agonizing to ignore. If I didn't let him fuck me now, I'd spend the entire night regretting it. I'd have nightmares wondering what it'd have been like to be this sneaky, knowing there were a ton of people outside the room who might spot us.

And I'd berate myself for passing up that opportunity. Deep down, that peril of being caught...it was hot.

"So..." He tipped my chin up, his minty breath blowing over my lips, tickling them. "Will you let me help you this time, too? I want to be there for you, Vivienne. I want to support you with this job.

"You are." I didn't writhe away despite the chills crawling down my arms. "You let me borrow your car service, and you bought me a fucking dress for tonight, for crying out loud. You hired me, regardless of the fiasco for your other sister—"

"—it wasn't a fiasco. You deserve all the praise for it." He kissed me, and I allowed it; gentle, slow, a tiny graze of soft lips that made me tremble. "But I want to give you more. Comfort. Relief. A break, you know?"

"And fucking me would be a break?" I kissed him back, trying to match his soothing cadence, though in truth I wanted to eat his damn lips, take his tongue as hostage. "I've been a ball of nerves since yesterday because of sex with you."

"Then no fucking." He took my hands and guided me away from the corner I'd put myself in. There was a cozy chair near the door, where I'd deposited my makeup bag and change of panties; he moved them out of the way and set me down, kneeling in front of me. "I want to take care of you."

"Axel," I gasped as he yanked my legs apart, revealing my center to him. "We—"

"—we can't, I know." He eyed my slit and licked his lips. "But do you want me to, anyway?"

As much as I knew better than to agree, I nodded. And I did so little too fervently for someone who was supposed to be thwarting him.

"Good." His hands were warm on my thigh, holding me down, but not forcefully. "In that case, you sit back and enjoy this. I'm doing all the work. Let me make you come, okay? Let me soothe you."

I side-glanced at the door, one last protest to voice before I caved completely. "But someone...they had to have seen you come in here, right?"

He gripped my thigh with one hand, the other beginning its tedious trek to the junction of my legs. "Whether or not they saw me, this is my house, Vivienne. No one is going to walk in. First, they'd have to dare entering the guest room, which they wouldn't. And," he jutted his chin at the door, "it's locked."

The words melted into my brain, and I absorbed them.

"Stop talking, then," I said, preparing for the onrush of satisfaction. "And do it."

Seconds later, his fingers were exploring my wet depths, getting reacquainted with the spots I knew he'd never forget. He always found my most pleasurable ones, so fast I barely had time to register where he was, what he was doing to me.

My legs shook as he twirled his finger around my clit, sending shockwaves up my middle, blooming in my breasts, cascading into my neurons.

"Axel," I whispered, unwilling to let out the moans I kept inside, the proof of the sensations he provoked in me. Who knew if anyone was nearby, hovering? Who knew if anyone had seen him come in here and was suspicious?

"Fuck," he said, sliding my legs even farther apart, pulling me to the edge of the chair. His mouth was on my pussy moments later, his tongue roaming up and down between my lower lips. "Fuck, Vivienne, you taste so good."

I squirmed at the contact of his hardened tongue, at the skill he showed as he flicked its tip into my center.

I couldn't be loud, so I covered my mouth with one hand, and used the other to cup one of my breasts, to toy with my nipple.

He looked up and smiled at my playfulness. "Hmm," he moaned, "naughty girl likes to touch herself?"

My teeth dug into my lips. "Fuck, yes," I said as he slipped a finger into my moisture. My spine arched, bringing me closer to him, giving him more access.

"Have you," he licked, "touched yourself," another long, luscious lick, "while thinking of me?"

"Hmmm," I moved forward, pushing his finger deeper into me, "yes. Yes, I have."

"Yeah?" His eyes lit up as he re-plunged into me, his tongue inflamed, each flick more wicked than the next. "And did you come? Did you explode for me?"

"Yeah." I could hardly speak out. "Yes, I always explode for you."

He gripped the sides of my thighs and thrust his tongue deeper, then added another finger into me. I drenched him with my pleasure, rubbing myself against him, demanding all the friction I could get.

My climax was nearing, I could tell. I swelled with that final need, my legs cramping around his head, locking him in place.

"Explode for me again, baby," he said, pausing his delirious rhythm long enough to talk to me, to encourage me. "Explode, show me how badly you wanted this."

Axel's dirty talking, on top of everything else he was doing, sent me soaring over the edge. I flew, my head surrounded by clouds, my legs and vagina so numb I thought I might have passed out.

"Fuck," I said, muffled by my hand. One last jitter of my thighs, and I climaxed, my clit pulsating with satisfaction as I came down from my ultimate high.

My eyes were blurry, my arms and legs tense as I regained feeling.

Axel was still between my lower limbs, wiping his mouth, his glazed eyes fixed on me. "Good?"

"Good?" I rolled my eyes. "Fucking perfect. Your tongue, Axel, it's..." I growled. "Fuck, why do you have to be so goddamn perfect?"

He straightened up and offered his hand to help me to my feet. I expected him to move aside, head to the door, and leave; but instead, he brought my damp body to him, holding me.

"If you think," he said, his hot breath against my still damp scalp, "for one second that all this isn't difficult for me, too, then you're sorely mistaken."

"Huh?" I squinted up at him. "You're struggling with this? With us not being able to do this, you mean?"

I felt him trembling. "And not just physically." He dipped his chin and set his lips to mine.

I'd anticipated that he'd kiss me, but not like this; not immersing his tongue into my mouth, giving me a daunting taste of myself. He kissed me like he wanted to indulge in every inch of me, committing every flavor to memory.

"These rules that you're making me abide by? I hate them. We were so close, Vivienne. So damn close to being...free. Doing what we wanted without restrictions. And then my sister..."

I scrunched my eyebrows, taking this new information in. "I wasn't expecting that."

Somehow I'd convinced myself this was all physical, even when we were thinking about dating. And now, with our extreme allure towards one another, I worried that was all we'd ever be. We weren't allowed to be together, even if we wanted the more emotional aspects.

And now he was telling me he did want those aspects?

"Expect it." He kissed me one last time before releasing me. "This is more than you think it is, Vivienne. I know we jump each other's bones against the rules and all, but that's not all there is to this. And that's why all this is so much harder."

He couldn't resist one more kiss, then he left me to change, promising me he'd have an excuse handy in case anyone caught him exiting the room.

The instant I heard the bedroom door shut, I crumbled. I was a mess of sentiments both physical and emotional, a puddle of confused arousal and feelings.

What the fuck did I get myself into?

☼☼☼