Hoping I would be better equipped to handle the situation after a good night’s sleep, I retreated to my own room with a sigh of resignation.Though it was late enough to go to bed, my emotions were too frazzled for sleep. And I was cold. My evening walk had set a chill in my bones that lingered even in the warm house. While I wished it was Reeve warming me up, a hot shower would be just as effective at raising my body temperature and would also calm my nerves.I stripped, tossing my clothes onto the chair in the corner of my room, then went to start the shower. I turned the water on without getting in, sticking my hand under the stream until it was hot enough. Then I crossed to the linen closet at the other end of the bathroom and picked out a couple of towels. When I shut the door, I turned back toward the shower and nearly jumped out of my skin.“Reeve!” I patted my breastbone, trying to calm the thudding in my chest. “Goddammit, you scared the hell out of me.” Between his sneaky ar
The mirror ran the whole wall behind me then wrapped around the vanity so, facing this direction, I could see our reflections in the glass, half eclipsed by steam from the shower. He let go of me long enough to wipe the fog then resumed his grip on my jaw. I stared, transfixed by the sight of his cock driving into me over and over.With my focus where he wanted it, Reeve rearranged my legs, bringing one foot up to brace on the counter and propping the other in the sink. Now I was angled so that my cunt could better be seen in the mirror. It was naughty and erotic and I couldn’t stop staring.“Look at that,” he said again, his fingers jabbing into my skin. “The way you let me use you is so beautiful.”Beautiful. It was beautiful. The way he had me spread out awkwardly across the bathroom sink, naked while he was still clothed – it was vile and wicked and oh, so beautiful.“I can’t control myself when I’m inside you.” His voice was ragged and threadbare. “I want to tear you apart. I wan
“Right now you’re over there and I’m over here. But when you come over here and we get into bed then, yes, we’ll be together.”“Reeve!” Goddammit, this was hard enough. “I’m being serious, here. Please.”His grin faded. “What are you asking, Emily?”“I’m asking about Amber.” Amber, who was right on the other side of the wall. I could feel her presence in the room as if it were only a thin screen that divided us instead of a foot of drywall and insulation.“Seeing as how she’s not in the room, I’d say I’m even more not with Amber than I am not with you.”I let out an exasperated groan. “Why do you keep dancing around this? Do you not know what you want? If that’s the case, just tell me.” I’d never done this before – never had to feel my way around a relationship that wasn’t based on financial security. Strangely, this was so much more difficult than negotiating where I’d live and how much I had for living expenses and whether I’d allow double penetration or cum in my hair. This was my
He noticed, of course. With his cock buried in my cunt, he pressed his chest against my back and whispered at my ear. “Remember I’m the one who’s letting you be quiet. If I wanted you to be screaming right now, you would be, no matter what you wanted anyone else to hear.”Was it wrong that this was his way of making love?Was it wrong that it was mine too?Later, like new lovers who can’t get enough of each other’s touch, we fell asleep coiled, our legs and torsos intertwined, unwilling to be parted even while we dreamed.CHAPTER 10The last time I’d shared a man with Amber I’d been twenty-one.The last time I’d shared one willingly, anyway. Bridge had been after that, but I didn’t count him for obvious reasons.Bryan Crane had been nothing like Bridge. Amber had met him while we’d lived in Mexico. He’d been a guest at the resort we’d stayed at, but, though she’d been at his side the entire two weeks he’d been in the country, I’d been too wrapped up in my own affair to have a chance t
Bryan chuckled. “True, true.”They grew silent and my thoughts turned to the occasion Bryan had mentioned. We’d been in a variation of sixty-nine – Amber, sucking Bryan’s cock while he went down on her while, at the same time, he’d finger-banged me. And I’d tried – I’d tried so hard to be turned on, but I just couldn’t get there.Then Amber had let up on the blow job to turn to me. “Touch my tits, Em.”I reached over and cupped a breast in my palm.“Not like that,” she’d snapped. “My nipples. Roll them between your fingers. Do it now.” She’d even taken my hand and placed it exactly where she’d wanted it.Amber had always been good about asking for what she needed, but usually it had come in the form of pleading. This time, she’d made demands. She’d ordered me and used me for her own sexual pleasure. It was base and completely self-motivated on her part – she hadn’t been concerned whether I was getting off. She’d been so consumed with her own climax that I hadn’t even been sure she’d r
Amber had furrowed her brow, never bothering to look up from the drawer she was arranging. “He told you?” she asked eventually.“No. I heard you talking. I could hear every word you said when I was out on the balcony, by the way.”“Ah.” She’d nodded as if that were the end of the conversation.“Amber.” I had waited until she looked at me. “Why did you say no?”She’d sighed, but not so heavily that she’d actually relaxed her guard. “I didn’t say no. I just didn’t say yes either.”“Why not?” I’d stomped my foot, demanding for her to take me seriously. “Why the hell not? He’s the most decent guy we’ve ever been with. And I think he actually loves you. I mean, besides just for what you do in the bedroom.”Her expression had tightened. “I know. I think so too.” She’d shut the dresser drawer and pivoted toward me. “He wanted both of us.”It had been my turn to furrow my brow. “Is that why you left?” I’d been so perplexed by all of it, I hadn’t been able to come up with a theory. Had it real
CHAPTER 11Amber wasn’t in her room when I looked for her the next day. Nor was she downstairs. Reeve also wasn’t around. Despite the amazing breakthrough we’d had the night before, something inside nagged with suspicion and jealousy. Were they together somewhere? And if they were, did that mean anything?Around noon, the anxiety began to crescendo, and I paced the house like a mother worried about her lost child. I was seriously considering asking Tabor, the bodyguard Reeve had assigned to protect me, to help me search the ranch, but then, on my third trip to the back deck, I spotted her.She was standing about fifty feet away, by the shed that housed the ATVs and other large ranch equipment. Jenkins circled her feet as she chatted with a trim man in a button-down flannel shirt and jeans. He wore a cowboy hat so I couldn’t make out his face, and, even though his description matched nearly every one of the men on the ranch, I tensed and began searching for clues that would tell me if
And if she was back to herself then that meant I had no excuse not to tell her all the things I needed to tell her, once and for all.I took in a deep breath of mountain air and let it out slowly. “Can we talk a bit? Alone?” I almost hoped she’d say no. I almost hoped it so much that I gave her an easy opportunity to bow out. “If you’re feeling up to it, because if you’re not —”She cut me off. “I’d love to spend some time with you. Have you been up to the attic yet?”“No.” I hadn’t even known there was an attic.“Fabulous. I get to show you. Nobody ever goes up there, and it’s one of my favorite places on the ranch.”I followed her into the house and upstairs to the far bedrooms. I’d explored when I’d first arrived at the ranch, but I’d spent barely any time in this area after determining it was comprised of two rarely used guest suites. Between them was what, I’d assumed, was a linen closet. However, when Amber opened it, there was a hidden staircase.“I’m warning you,” she said bef