Untamed Read Free

”
    “You and I both know we’re not talking about here here.”
    “If not here here, then where here?”
    But he just looks at me, those supremely kissable lips pried to the side, those azure eyes on mine.
    “Seriously, Dad’s got a big stick up his ass today. Meeting the other bosses always makes him nervous.”
    He ignores my warning, and says in a low voice, “I’ve been thinking about you all day.” His eyes travel up and down my body, linger on my every curve in hungry adulation. They settle on the skin of my neck, and his breathing quickens, and his pupils widen.
    Despite my earlier protestation, I indulge him: “What kind of thoughts, exactly?”
    “Oh, don’t worry, nothing pure.”
    I shake my head and laugh.
    “I haven’t seen you in twelve hours. I counted.”
    “You can count that high?”
    That pulls a deep and quiet chuckle from him.
    “Why so long today, Dee?”
    I sigh. “Classes ran late. And actually it’s pretty normal for people to not see each other for twelve hours.”
    “Even couples?”
    “Even couples.”
    “Even secret couples?”
    I roll my eyes. “ Especially secret couples.”
    “But not you and me,” he says.
    “No,” I say after a pause. He’s right. “Not you and me. But when I don’t see you, it can be for months at a time. Or in one case, two years, though I guess that doesn’t really count.”
    “But you left me with something in Thailand.”
    “What’s that?”
    “A reason to work my ass off.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “Did I ever tell you this before?”
    “No.”
    He hesitates for a moment, licks his lips. “Because I knew it’d be the only way to see you again.”
    “So I made you a better fighter, huh?” I ask through a smile.
    He pauses.
    “What?”
    “No, Dee. You made me a better person.”
    Now I pause.
    “Come on,” he says, getting up.
    “I haven’t finished my drink yet.”
    “Finish it, then.”
    “Hold on,” I say, freely indignant. Nobody, not even Duncan, is going to rush me. “I’ll drink at my own pace, and where exactly are we going?”
    “The fuck out of here.”
    “We can’t just leave. Dad will go crazy.”
    “Fuck your dad.”
    Normally, I would agree. I had enough of Dad’s shit a long time ago, but tonight of all nights is not the night to test him.
    “Fuck him,” Duncan says, and that defiant smile and gorgeous, commanding eyes are an inch away from winning me over.
    “You should be mingling with his friends.”
    “I don’t give a fuck about his friends. I want to mingle with you.” He leans forward, whispers, “Inside you.”
    I suppress my groan. “They’re the ones who keep you fighting, you know.”
    “Exactly,” he growls. “If you don’t come with me right now, I’m going to pick you up and carry you out. Not like a newlywed bride, but over my shoulder.”
    “You can’t!” I hiss. “Everybody will see and then everybody will know.”
    He smirks. “Then let’s go.”
    We walk together, shoulder to shoulder, through the crowd. I want to reach out and take his hand, and it’s a battle not to do so. I realize, with a kind of distant horror, how easy it would be to slip up, to hold onto his arm, or run my arm around his waist before dipping lower to grab his tight ass.
    I do these things all the time, but in public, with people watching, with Dad watching, I have to constantly remember not to.
    What if, one time, I forget? Or he does? How quickly everything would break apart!
    People murmur things at us as we wade through the sea of bodies, and we reply politely, but we’re bee-lining straight for the door.
    I’m considering this entire hotel, booked out, empty, and Duncan says to me, as if reading my mind, “Time to go exploring.”
    Once we’re out of the doors of the main function room, which doubles as a ballroom or banquet hall, we grin at each other.
    He takes my hand then, leads me quickly through the winding, empty hallways until I’m sure we’re totally lost, and then he