62__Possess me

62__Possess me
Erin knocked on Braden’s door and crossed her arms, waiting.

She didn’t wait long before the door was slightly opened and a head of perfectly combed blond hair poked out.
Blue eyes looked her up and down and his mouth curved in satisfaction. “Can I help you?”

She stuck her hand out. “Give it back.”

He puckered his lips and faked a pensive frown. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“Braden, my hair’s wet and I have things to do, give back my flash drive.”

“First, you ignore me for nearly a week and then you accuse me of theft?” he questioned, the debauched part of his mind spiking up at the mention of her wet hair. She’d come out of the shower then, had she? He eyed her robe.

“Just give back the drive. The one you took from my hotel room.”

“Ohhh. That?” He gave her a wolfish grin of sharp teeth and pulled the door open like a poorly disguised trap. “You could come in and look for it?”

Her eyes took him in the moment he opened the door, momentarily resting on the way his white dress shirt hugged his chest before lowering to her favourite part of his body. His muscled thighs in those black pants. Erin gulped. It couldn’t be normal to like someone else’s thighs this much, she needed to seek help.

“Take your time,” he murmured. “Want me to pose?”

She blinked, her face, already warm from the shower, growing twice as hot. “Y-you did it first.” What the hell was wrong with her? This was not what she came here for!

“Yes, because my control is non-existent when you’re in nothing but a robe, I admit it. I did imagine a few filthy things in the minute we’ve been standing here, I admit that too.”

She gaped at him, forever stunned by his boldness. Her courage only made shy appearances before abandoning her, but Braden was always ready to say and do the most outrageous things with no shame at all.

Clearing her throat, she turned away and awkwardly fanned her face. “Forget it! Just give me my drive.”

“I told you.” He cocked his head back at the room behind him. “Come and find it.”

With an exasperated huff, Erin marched past him, sharp eyes darting all about his lavish room. She dug into his bags, yanked open a few drawers, threw up every cushion on every couch, searching for her drive.

“Braden!” she yelled. “Where is it?!”

“I don’t know!” he yelled back, hardly trying to hide his smile as he poured himself a drink. “Find it, Erin! You can do it!”

A flying cushion hit him in the head and he choked on whiskey, shutting his eyes at the resulting burn.

“Give it to me right now,” she demanded through clenched teeth.

Braden coughed. “Jesus, I might have whiskey in my nose.”

“Give me the flash drive before I shove that whiskey in other places.”

He looked at her, holding his nose. “Oh, my. Is that what you’re into? Kinky.”

She sighed. “Braden.”

“I have your flash drive."

“I know that, now give it back.”

“I’ll give it back on several conditions. First, I want an apology for being kept at arm’s length for nearly seven days.”

“That was your fault.”

“How so?”

She crossed her arms, tilting her head. “Really? Need I explain?”

He pursed his lips. “I didn’t think you’d get that mad about the thing with Chris, Erin. I’m sorry.”

“Ah? Really? Why? What part of me gives you the impression that I like to be used for everyone’s little personal missions?”

He sobered a little. “Wait, I wasn’t trying to use you—”

“I’m used to it with your grandfather because we made a deal. But then Chris used me to control you, and then you used me to expose his lies, and then Chris again! I…” She shook her head. “I’m sick of it.”

“Hey.” Braden put down his drink, walking over to her. “Don’t lump me together with Chris, that’s offensive. I apologize and I recognize my fault, we’re not the same.”

“No, you’re not.” She agreed. “Because you should’ve known better.”

“Erin—”

“I realize that I was quite gullible, dumb even, to have believed him and to have wanted to help him, but I don’t think that was reason enough for you to let him do that to me.”

“I know,” he said, taking her hand. “I know, I was just uselessly caught up with being mad you weren’t seeing through his bullshit.”

“But I don’t know Chris as well as you, Braden. It wasn’t as possible for me as it was for you to see through his lies. Especially because Chris was like never an ass to me in high school. If it had been Jace, I definitely wouldn’t have believed him. Still, if you were me and he was my friend, I would have stopped him. I would’ve protected you.”

His expression became heavily weighed down by guilt. “Damn… I feel like a total piece of shit.”

She looked unpleasantly surprised. “Oh. I wasn’t trying to make you feel that way, I just... wanted to get it all out. I mean, I don’t totally blame you!”

He scoffed. “You don’t?”

“I don’t, I know how stubborn I am. I’m sorry I let myself assume you were hell-bent on making him pay because you believed he’d sent his father, instead of realizing… you were telling me the truth. I’m partly to blame because of how rock-headed I was being.”

He nodded. “All true.”

“Love how you’re so quick to agree.”

He smiled. “Are we good now?”

Ignoring the butterflies that smile conjured, she nodded. “Mm-hm.”

“Good.” He puckered his lips. “Kiss.”

“Nope.” Turning away, she walked off to continue her search.

“Oh? Why not?”

“Because,” she said, tossing aside random cushions. “I’m still mad you stole my flash drive. Secondly… didn’t we agree we’d stop doing stuff like that?”

He scoffed. “Who agreed? Not me. I told you I’m nuts about you, Erin. I’m not stopping.”

She spun around to look at him. “But you should!”

“I told you, it isn’t possible!”

She huffed. “Sure, it is! Just look at Jackson and Phoebe! They got drunk and accidentally slept together but they got over it! Just like that, dust under the carpet!”

“First off,” he muttered. “I hate dust under my carpet, it makes me sneeze.” She opened her mouth, but he raised a finger and silenced her. “Secondly… I’ll bet you a million bucks those two weren’t as cool about it as they pretended. I bet you Jackson was screaming all the way home and Phoebe probably had a full mental breakdown in the shower.”

She frowned puzzledly. “What? No way. I don’t… I don’t think so!”

“Just trust me, darling, I know these things far better than you.”

She gave him a stubborn look before huffing. “Whatever, forget it. Point is, we can move on. No one says it’ll be easy.”

“Should I show you why we can’t just move on like nothing happened?”

“What you should do is give me back my flash drive.”

One side of his mouth moved up as Braden dug into his back pocket and retrieved the hidden drive.
She gasped, her narrowed eyes zeroed in on the drive between his fingers. “You’re literally…” Gritting her teeth, she marched over. “So annoying.”

She tried to snatch it away, but he pulled it to the side, making Erin follow.
Repeatedly, she tried to snatch it, but Braden suddenly held his arm up over her head so she couldn’t reach.

Focused on the drive, Erin made the mistake of coming closer to reach for it and was captured. With an arm around her waist, he jerked her against him and lowered his head to capture her lips in a deep, badly needed kiss.

She jolted but failed to break the kiss, further entrapped when he wrapped his other arm around her, hugging her against him.

It was a kiss against which Erin deeply protested, but it quickly became a kiss she had no power to resist.
The seduction of his mouth kicked out every single one of her logical little thoughts until her mouth was clinging to his, her hands gripping his shoulders for balance.

She parted her lips and he nearly groaned, tasting her with the hunger of a man ignored for seven days.

Granted, they’d both been extremely busy planning for the conference, but Braden had been tormented by thoughts of Erin the entire time. Thoughts of her company, her voice, her scent, her lips.
He kissed her for every day he’d missed these lips, making up for lost time.

By the time he came up to let her breath, Braden’s body temperature had doubled and so had hers, if the heated look in her heavy-lidded eyes was anything to go by.

“That’s it,” he whispered, dropping kisses on her tempting lips. “That’s why we can’t move on. All it takes is one spark, Erin… and our fire reignites.”

She bit her bottom lip, finding no points to counter his argument. “We just… we’ll just have to hold back and resist the urges…”

For some ridiculous reason, her words heightened his arousal and he stroked one hand down her back, cupping one round buttcheek in his palm. “I don’t want to, Erin. If I want to kiss you, I’ll do it. If I wanna hold your hand, I’ll do it. I wanna do that in public, I don’t want to hide from the world.”

“Braden, I’m protecting you—”

“The danger’s in your head, darling. It doesn’t exist.”

She swallowed, struggling to think straight through the pink fog of arousal clouding her brain.

“Or will you insist?” he questioned softly. “If you really want us to go back to being platonic… I’ll do it. But will you be okay with it?”

She nodded hesitantly. “Y… yes…”

“Oh, really?” His smile was so dark and arrogant, her thighs clenched. “You’ll be okay with it all? You’ll be fine watching me date other women? Watching me kiss them? Will it be okay when I take them to my bed and fuck them?” She turned her head away, but he caught her jaw, turning her back to face him. “Answer me, Erin. Will you be fine… watching another woman walk down the aisle to me?”

Her eyes widened, a rush of pain filling her heart at the mere thoughts he was creating. What was wrong with her?

Being apart from him was what was best. Why would she feel this way about him moving on? Why did it hurt her to think of him marrying some other woman? Sexual attraction wasn’t supposed to come with possessiveness and jealousy! That was…

“Answer me!” he demanded. “If you dare let me go, Erin, I’ll do it all—”

She jerked him against her and shut him up with a kiss, a new wave of emotion and desire driving her as she moved her lips against his.

He groaned deep in his throat, driven mad by the way she kissed him with full possessiveness. Like he was hers and she’d destroy anyone who tried to take him.
Grabbing her waist, he hoisted her up against him, loving the feeling of her legs wrapping around him as he carried her away.

He shoved open the door of his bedroom and carried her to the bed, ripping off his shirt as he kissed her with uncontrolled hunger. He didn’t want Erin. He needed her.
She was a need and Braden was certain he would break apart without her.

The sunset poured through the open balcony curtains and bathed her in gold. From her chocolate hair to her liquid gold eyes and the seductive pink of her lips against her creamy skin…
Braden was completely bewitched.

He reached for the belt of her robe and pulled, watching the garment come apart until her body was revealed to him. Bathed in gold sunset, beautiful and perfect, she was.
His breathing hitched and his pupils dilated as he touched her, watching her shiver with desire where his fingers trailed.

“God, Erin…”

He flicked open his belt and she watched him strip out of his clothing, her fingers twitching with the lustful desire to wrap around his hardened cock.

Impulsively, she reached out and took him in her hand. It was so sudden he jerked and failed to stop his eyes from rolling back as his lids fell closed on the glorious burst of pleasure he felt. “Erin…”

She stroked him, getting high on his throaty groans and his breathless words.
Sliding closer to where he knelt, she audaciously raised her head and stroked her tongue over his bulbous tip.

He groaned, his hand gripping her shoulder. “Fuck… Erin, w… wait…”

She covered his tip with her lips and sucked.

Braden cursed, jerking away as he grabbed her hands away from him. “No, no… no… wait.”

He pinned her against the bed and glared down at her bold little smirk. “You’re driving me insane here…”

“That’s the plan,” she whispered.

He returned his mouth to hers and she welcomed him with open arms, taking the pleasure he offered like a pure sacrifice.
“It is the plan,” he said. “My plan.”

She only had enough time to blink in confusion before he’d slipped off her body and raised her knees to her chest.
Erin gasped at how exposed she was. “Braden—”

He stroked his tongue maddeningly against her sex and she jerked, moaning uncontrollably as she pressed one hand over her mouth.

Her other hand gripped his hair, but he wouldn’t stop, tormenting her until she was putty in his hands.

She didn’t even know where the flash drive was. She didn’t care.

Her body reached a brand-new level of pleasure when Braden finally entered her.
“Don’t let me go, Erin,” he told her, groaning at the molten heat rushing through their bodies. “Please, don’t…”

She wouldn’t, Erin thought.
Because she’d been right. Simple sexual attraction didn’t come with this type of possessiveness and jealousy.

That… would be love.