Trusting Stone (10 page)

Chapter Eleven

Eden lay in bed on Sunday morning, replaying the events of the previous day with Sebastian. Part of her still couldn’t believe that it had happened. After he’d calmed down, he helped straighten her dress and insisted on a tour of her
apartment
. He asked about her decorating plans and he seemed intrigued with the photos and prints she had lying around, waiting to be hung. She had mentioned she was going to frame some of them and it had obviously piqued his interest for some reason.

They had gone out for lunch in a small bistro down the
street
from her
apartment
and they had discussed their mutual love of
art
. He was impressed with how well she knew the Edinburgh Gallery and he mentioned that he had a small growing collection that he intended to show in his offices. He wanted to know if she’d ever thought about curating, and Eden was flattered that he was so fascinated with her knowledge of
art
history. He had walked her home and gently kissed her outside her door, behaving like a perfect gentleman—no
dirty
talk, no ass grabbing, no making her shiver with his lips on her neck. Nothing.

Eden knew he was processing the huge amount of information she had told him over dinner and then after. She had thought the latter was sure to turn him off, but it hadn’t, or so he claimed. But it had put a damper on the passion. After she had told him she’d never had
sex
, he put on his white gloves and started treating her like a porcelain doll.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she felt. That was not her intention behind telling him. In fact, she was regretting the whole thing now. Maybe she should have looked at Sebastian as nothing more than a
one-night
-stand. Why did she insist on thinking that losing her virginity had to be with someone she connected with on an emotional level? She assumed that
sex
with Sebastian would be amazing, if their previous physical
contact
was anything to go on. Why couldn’t that be enough? And now she had ruined that chance by telling him about her past and her total lack of sexual experience.

Part of the appeal of Sebastian, until that moment, had been the intense electricity that passed between them whenever they touched—for that matter, whenever they even looked at each other. Something wild and uncontrollable. Now he was turning it into something demure and chaste. She was sick of being chaste. Who was he to turn the dial down on them? She wanted to be the girl in the town car who he’d launched himself at, who had pressed his mouth so hard against her that she thought he would draw blood.

Eden looked at the clock, 11 a.m.—where would Sebastian Stone be on a late Sunday morning? Presumably at home, but Eden got the impression that Sebastian worked a different schedule. True to his word, he had emailed her a copy of his recent bloodwork that morning, but it gave no clue as to whether he was at home or not. She couldn’t imagine a man with that much intensity simply lounging around in his
pajamas
.

Eden grabbed her phone and texted him, feeling odd about the familiarity of texting a man she still barely knew. He had given her his number the day before, taking her phone out of her bag without asking her and adding his number. “
Contact
me whenever you want, Eden.”

Well, she was taking him up on his offer now.

Where are you? I need to speak to you about tonight. Xx

She waited and, in less than a minute, the reply came.

At work—something wrong? Seb

She put her phone down and quickly started dressing. She did not intend to answer him. For the first time since she had literally fallen into Sebastian Stone’s life, she had the upper hand. She wasn’t about to give it away.

Trying to fill herself with the confidence that she felt around Sebastian, instead of opting for her usual drab uniform of jeans and top, she grabbed some items that she hadn’t worn in a while but she knew she looked good in—high wedge-cork heels with brown leather straps, perfect for the summer heat, and a short-sleeved lightweight dark blue dress that hung just above her knee. It had a gentle v-neck and Eden had to remind herself that pushing against her comfort levels was important. More importantly, the lining of the dress was silk, and it fell around her curves beautifully. She wanted to impress him. Eden dabbed on dark pink lip-gloss and mascara and grabbed her bag, throwing in a brush to deal with her hair in the cab ride to his office. If she didn’t go now, she would lose her confidence.

Standing outside the office building, she checked her phone. He had texted her on the cab ride over—
Are you ok? Where are you?
—and again she had forced herself not to respond or
pick up
when he called her twice after that. With her goal in mind, she entered the revolving doors and approached the large front desk, which was manned with several staff members, all seemingly busy, despite it being Sunday.

“Hi, could you please let Mr. Stone, Stone
Security
, know that Miss Maxwell would like to see him?” Her voice shook slightly with nerves.

The receptionist politely smiled. “Do you have an appointment?”

“No. He’ll know what it’s about.”

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Stone is a very busy man. We don’t interrupt him unless you have a scheduled appointment.”

Eden
realized
this was going to be harder than she thought. She quickly texted,
I’m downstairs. Front staff won’t let me up.
She waited a minute, smiling in return to the receptionist who
suddenly
bolted to life and grabbed the earpiece she was wearing.

“I’m sorry, Miss Maxwell, please—take elevator twelve, it gives direct access to his office. I’m so sorry to keep you waiting.” The poor woman was obviously distressed thinking she had made some serious mistake.

By the time she got to elevator, the doors were already open and she stepped in. There was only one button, 57, which lit up as the doors closed, and she didn’t even press it before the elevator shifted into motion. 57 floors, plenty of time to get herself composed, she thought. Eden knew if she focused too much about what she was planning on saying, she would lose her courage. Instead, she settled on the feeling she had felt the first time he touched her, when he pulled her close to him in the Acer
Club
, his hand wrapped around her wrist, trapping her with his other arm around her waist. His voice, with that English accent most women drool over, had calmed her down, stopped her from having a panic attack. She focused on that feeling, of how much she had wanted him to kiss her then and there, and then to how it had felt when his lips were against hers later in the car. By the time the elevator stopped and the doors opened, she was ready. She knew what she wanted.

What she was not ready for was what she saw as she stepped out of the elevator. When the receptionist had said the elevator gave direct access to his office, Eden had assumed that it went to straight to his office
floor
, but in fact it opened directly into his private office. She stepped out and found herself in a large room that ran what felt like one entire side of the building. Sebastian was leaning against his desk, arms crossed over his chest, wearing faded jeans and t-shirt that stretched across his upper body. Eden had never seen him out of a suit yet and his relaxed outfit took her breath away. She didn’t know what she expected him to say or do, but she was surprised to see he was smiling, as if trying to suppress a laugh.

“Why, Miss Maxwell, what a lovely surprise.”

She
had
surprised him, and this was something she
realized
didn’t happen very often to a man like Sebastian. Eden remembered her mission and ignored his warm eyes, trying to hold on to the irritation she had felt just less than an hour ago when lying in her bed. Still, she hesitated until he spoke.

 
“You said you needed to speak to me about tonight. But I suspect this is more important than simply a scheduling issue. Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”

“What’s bothering me, Mr. Stone, is your presumption that I’m not capable of making my own decisions.”

            
He frowned slightly, clearly unsure of where Eden was going with the conversation. “I do think you can make your own decisions. You make very good decisions, in fact. Such as coming here.” He smiled at her now, turning her anger into a joke. “Although, you do seem rather annoyed about something.”

“It’s about what I told you. In my bedroom.” Eden blushed now, remembering how disappointed she had been when he had stopped touching her. “You said you wanted me still, even knowing what you now know, and yet you assumed you were taking advantage of me. I gave you that advantage. You weren’t taking it away from me.” By now, she had crossed the distance between them and she stood a foot away from him,
suddenly
nervous to get any closer. “I’m not a child. I may not be as…experienced…as the great Sebastian Stone, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what I want. And I want you.” Finally, she looked up at him, expecting to find the same warm smile as when she had started her speech, but instead, she was met with a cold stare, his mouth hardened into a line.

“What you
want
? You don’t know what you’re asking, Eden. Think very carefully before you agree to something until you fully understand the ramifications.”

She felt that he was threatening her, but with what she wasn’t sure. “I do,” she answered with the last bit of courage she had left.

Sebastian stood up from the edge of desk and approached her, running his finger down the side of her face, along her neck, and brushing her clavicle. She shivered under his touch. “I like you in dresses. Whenever I see you in a dress, it does something to me, Eden. You do something to me. Are you prepared for what that means?”

As he spoke, he slowly drew her toward him, one hand holding her against him by the small of her back while the other ran down her hip, slowly gathering the material of the soft blue dress until his fingers grazed the skin on her thigh, his fingertips like feathers.

“Silk…” he murmured, and she wasn’t sure if he was referring to her dress or the feel of her skin under his touch. His fingers slid higher until they reached the waist of her panties and he followed the edge of lace around to her back. She bit her lip as she felt his hand slide in and he gently squeezed her bare ass. She could feel her breathing becoming shakier. What if someone came in and saw them like this?

She felt his cock hardening and he moved his hips forwards, ensuring she could feel his reaction to her, hard against her core. His eyes never left her gaze as his hand moved further down and his fingers reached between her legs and gently probed into her folds, already wet and waiting.

“You’re so wet, Eden, so ready for me, aren’t you?” he whispered.

She could barely nod, blushing from her physical reaction.

“Maybe you do know what you want. Your pussy clearly does.” He moved his fingers further, never pushing in, but simply moving back and forth, brushing her lips. “I want you to say it, Eden, before this goes any further. Tell me what you want.”

She didn’t know what to say. She could barely
verbalize
what she was feeling to herself, let alone to him. She stammered
finally
. “I...I want…you.”

“More, Eden, you need to tell me more.” He was pulling her so tightly against his hips she was amazed he wasn’t hurting himself. His erection dug into her, but he made no effort to adjust himself.

“I want you inside me, Sebastian… Please.”

He broke his gaze
finally
, groaning as he thrust his hips against her hard and breathed in the scent of her hair. “Do you trust me, Eden?”

“Yes, I do.”

           
Suddenly, he stepped away, removing his hands from her so abruptly Eden had to step forward to
catch
herself from stumbling. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the elevator. The doors opened immediately and he pulled her in,
keeping
her close to him with his hand gripping her wrist. With his other hand, he took out his phone and called his secretary.

“I’m leaving for the day. Unless it’s an emergency, don’t put any calls through.”