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Chapter Nine

“You sure you’re okay?” Daphne asked Audrey for the millionth time that day. “You seem kind of moody.”

“I’m fine,” Audrey repeated. She stuffed her hands in her coat pockets and watched her breath puff into the chilly forest air. “I just had to get out of the cabin for a bit, you know. It was . . . stifling.”

“You mean because of the bimbo?” Daphne pulled out a cigarette as they paused on their walk. They were circling the edge of the lake, enjoying the afternoon sunshine and the crisp cold front that had settled in. There was no snow yet but they were assured it was on its way, and they decided to take a walk before things got too chilly.

Mostly, Audrey just wanted to get out of the house. With the addition of another person—a loud, gossipy person—it made the cozy house miserable. Camilla chewed gum as if it were trying to get away from her and texted on her phone constantly. She sucked up to Daphne as though she’d never met a star before, and then spent the rest of her time trying to sit in Reese’s lap and cuddle with him.

To be fair to Reese, he seemed a bit . . . pained by Camilla’s attentions. It looked as if he tolerated them, but just barely, and that made Audrey feel a little better.

But only a little.

“I can’t believe he fucked you and then he’s just going to let her crawl all over him like it’s no big deal,” Daphne said in a bitter voice, then lit her cigarette. She took a long drag, then pulled it from her lips and flicked the ashes to the ground. “And you’re just sitting there and taking it. Aren’t you mad?”

Oh, she was mad. But what could she do? “It’s complicated,” Audrey found herself saying in a calm voice. “I knew Reese was a fling when I met him, though.”

“But you just slept with him last night—”

“Okay,” Audrey exploded at her twin. “I’m fucking hurt, all right? Is that what you want to hear?”

“It beats that insipid, ‘It’s complicated’,” she mimicked, making a face. “I mean hell, Audrey, it’s all right to get mad sometimes, you know.” When Audrey sent a nasty look her way, she shrugged. “I just wish I could help, that’s all.”

“Well, you can’t,” Audrey said, staring out at the lake glumly. “It’ll either work itself out, or it won’t.”

“What about the thing with Cade?”

Audrey shot a look at her sister. “What do you mean?”

“Do you still have feelings for him? Maybe you should turn to him.”

For some reason, that made Audrey feel weird. Turn to Cade after sleeping with his best friend? Confess that she’d been hurt by Reese and fall into Cade’s arms? “No,” she said after a moment. “I wouldn’t feel right about it.”

It wouldn’t feel right on several levels—it’d be unfair to Reese, and for all that he was letting Camilla fling herself all over him, she didn’t feel like he was a bad guy. Too caught in his own web, maybe, but not a bad guy. And it wouldn’t be fair to Cade, either. He’d pull his white knight act, determined to fix things somehow. And she hated to think how he could possibly fix a broken heart.

She stopped herself, then shook her head. Her heart wasn’t broken. Her heart wasn’t even involved.



“Cade’s a good guy, you know,” Daphne said quietly. “You two would be perfect together.”

Audrey gave a faint smile. “I always thought the same thing.” But for some reason, that didn’t sound nearly as interesting to her anymore. She thought of Reese’s roguish smile and the way he constantly strove to drive her absolutely up a wall. Maybe that was what she needed—someone to push her out of her neat, orderly life and make her spit a bit of fire. She had to admit that she felt more alive around him.

“Oh, well,” Daphne said after a moment. She flicked her cigarette into the lake and pulled out her pack, frowning. “Damn it, that was the last one. I’m heading back to the house to get more. You want to come?”

“No thanks. I think I’ll stay out here a bit longer,” Audrey said, turning back to the lake. “Clear my head a bit more before returning. Camilla’s perfume is killing me.”

“Ha.” Daphne snorted. “Someone should tell her it’s gauche to bathe in her own line of perfume.”

“Yeah, but someone won’t, because she’s rich and powerful.” Audrey shared a smile with her twin, then waved her back toward the lodge. “Go. I’ll be in in a few.”

Daphne headed back up the path and Audrey circled the lake again, lost in her thoughts. She really didn’t know what to make of the situation. Was she the other woman? Just a bit of a fling? What was Reese other than the best friend of the man she was supposed to be in love with but hadn’t really thought about much since arriving? She didn’t have answers.

After about a half hour of walking alone, she arrived back at the dock and turned to head back to the lodge. As she headed back up the path, she heard voices and paused.

It was a male and a female voice. Curious, Audrey sneaked along the side of the cabin, listening in. The two were standing by the woodpile, and as she got closer, she could hear Reese and Camilla talking.

A stab of jealousy gutted her, and Audrey stopped short, surprised at herself. Why was she jealous? Reese wasn’t hers. Not really. There was nothing for her to be possessive about, but when she heard Camilla’s voice, she couldn’t stop her hands from clenching into fists. Unable to help herself, she slid forward along the lodge so she could listen in a bit more. After all, that wouldn’t hurt things, would it?

“Camilla,” Reese sighed. “Please. Don’t make this harder for me than it already is. I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m just trying to make you understand. That’s all.”

“How am I supposed to understand? How did you change your mind so quickly?” There was a pause and a crunch of grass, as if someone was stepping. “A few days ago, we were in the hot tub, enjoying ourselves.” Camilla’s voice turned seductive, and Audrey pictured her leaning into Reese, her hands on his chest. “I don’t see how things have changed that much in that little time,” the heiress continued.

“Well, for starters, you left me behind,” Reese replied. “No clothes, no phone, no nothing. I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of that.”

“I was nervous,” Camilla said in a soft voice. “She was taking pictures with her phone. You know my father wouldn’t be happy if I got caught in a hot tub with a strange man.”

“Topless,” Reese added.

“Topless,” Camilla agreed in that slinky voice. “So you understand?”

“Oh, I understand. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t annoy me.”

“So is that why you’re turning me down?” Her voice became petulant.

Turning her . . . down? Audrey cocked her head and took another step forward, suddenly intensely curious as to what the two were saying. The knot in her throat became dry as a bone.

“Don’t make this more difficult than it is, Camilla.” Reese’s voice was calm and easy, but it sounded a little dead to Audrey’s ears. As if he was saying the words but truly didn’t care how Camilla felt. Was this how he was with other women? How did they not notice his utter boredom with them?

Was he ever like that with her? She made a mental note to pay attention the next time she talked to him in private.

“I don’t see why this has to be difficult at all, Reese. You told me you wanted me.” She gave another huffy sigh, and then asked, “Is there someone else?”

Audrey held her breath.

“I’m sleeping with someone, yeah.”

“Do you love her?”

Audrey nearly swallowed her tongue.

Reese laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. This is me you’re talking to.”

And just like that, her heart plummeted back to reality. For a moment, Audrey felt weirdly crushed. She mentally shook herself. Why did that bother her? Wasn’t she just using the man for a mindless fling, too? Who cared if he was in love?

Certainly not her. She was supposed to be in love with someone else.

Camilla gasped. “Is it Daphne Petty? Ohmigod. You’re sleeping with Daphne Petty? Reese!” For a moment there, Camilla sounded excited, and then she quieted. “Is it true that she’s hooked on the hard stuff? She looks like a mess in there. Yuck.”

“Camilla,” Reese said in a warning tone.

“I won’t tell anyone. But you have to get me backstage at her next concert. She has this really hot drummer and I—”

“Camilla, I’m not sleeping with Daphne Petty.”

There was a long pause, and Audrey could practically hear the gears grinding to a halt in Camilla’s pretty blonde head. Then, she snorted. “There’s no one else here but the fat chick. Don’t tell me you’re riding that moped?”

Audrey bristled. That little bitch.

“Shut up, Camilla,” Reese said in that same bored, dismissive voice. “I trust this won’t affect business?”

“What are you talking about? Of course it affects business. You think I won’t tell Daddy about this?”

“I rather hoped you wouldn’t.”

Audrey bit her lip. She was still annoyed about the fat comment, and now Camilla was going to hold the business deal over Reese’s head? She supposed Reese deserved it for trying to use the heiress for his own means, but it bothered her to have him more or less held hostage by the spoiled blonde’s whims.

“You know what they say,” Reese said flatly. “Never mix business with pleasure.”

“But Reese—” Camilla’s voice took on that whining tone. “You’re not being fair to me. Sleep with the fat chick or Daphne Petty. I don’t care. She can be your gimme.” Her voice turned seductive in a flash, surprising Audrey. “But I don’t see why that has to spoil our fun.”

“Doesn’t it?”

Audrey ducked behind the stairs when she heard footsteps. Sure enough, Camilla came stomping past in her adorable outfit, a pout on her pink, glossy lips. She paused at the steps, oblivious to Audrey hovering in the shadows behind them, and turned to give Reese one last look. “If you want that business deal, you know where I’ll be.” Her shoulders gave a slight shrug. “I think we can still have fun together, but that’s up to you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Reese told her.

“So . . .” Camilla asked.

He sighed. “My answer is still no.”

Audrey ducked further back into the shadows as Camilla went up the stairs of the cabin and Reese turned to walk down to the lake. She watched his broad back as he left. Their little fling had come close to ruining Reese’s business deal. It sounded like Camilla still wanted Reese, even though he didn’t want her, and that was confusing to Audrey.

Why was he turning down the heiress? It didn’t make sense. Because of their bet? Did he really want to be Audrey’s slave for a day?

She almost snorted aloud. She doubted he wanted that more than the anal sex she’d agreed to.

It had been shocking to Audrey to hear him suggest such a thing as part of their dare. She’d guessed from the challenging, almost playful look on Reese’s face that he’d expected her to freeze up or flip out on him. He’d been trying to get a rise out of her.

Instead, she’d agreed to it. God only knew why. She’d never had anal sex, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to sleep with a man—no matter how sexy he was—right after he rolled out of another woman’s bed. But somehow, she’d found herself agreeing to it, knowing it was pretty much a sure thing that she was going to lose.

Reese coaxed her wild streak to the forefront, and she liked it. Just the thought of doing wild, dirty, forbidden sex with him sent a whole fleet of butterflies through her stomach.

Of course, his turning down Camilla had never really even been a consideration. It was downright strange. Not only was he losing guaranteed sex from two women—and according to Reese’s reputation with ladies, he never turned down no-strings attached sex—but he was in danger of losing his precious business deal.

And that made her feel weird.

She should have never dared him to seal the deal with Camilla. Maybe he hadn’t liked that Audrey was trying to force him in one direction or another and that was why he’d gotten cold feet. Maybe he was just denying Camilla at the moment so she’d only want him more when he returned.

Or maybe there was a bit more there with the “fat chick” he was nailing? Audrey felt a heated blush creeping over her cheeks at the thought, and she pressed her palms to her face.

What a silly thought. She couldn’t hold on to someone like Reese any more than she could hold on to a handful of lake water. He was witty, sexy, urbane, and had women falling all over him. She was calm, efficient, and boring. Well, most of the time. When she was with him, she was . . . different.

She should confront Reese, she decided. Make him tell her what was going on behind his thought process so she could quit wondering about it. They were friends, after all. He’d tell her.

But for some reason, Audrey found herself slinking away so Reese wouldn’t see her, wouldn’t know she’d been listening in to their conversation. She’d give him the afternoon. That would allow him plenty of time to change his mind and see where he landed with this thing.

And maybe give her stomach time to calm down and quit acting all excited, like he’d just chosen her to take to the prom or something.

***

 

Audrey lurked in the house for the rest of the day, determined to act like nothing was wrong.

Like Camilla hadn’t gotten into her car and driven away, tires screeching down the gravel road.

Like Reese hadn’t gone upstairs and slammed his door as if he were annoyed at the world, and then spent the afternoon up there, avoiding the rest of them.

Like both Cade and Daphne weren’t giving her curious looks and whispering to each other, trying to figure out what was going on.

Nope. Audrey acted as if nothing was going on. She popped a bowl of popcorn and settled down in front of the fire with her book and read, acting as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

In all reality, she’d already finished the book. Twice. She was simply staring at the pages, lost in her own thoughts. Well, except for when it came to the love scenes. She read those at least twice more with great attention to detail. She might have also pictured herself in the place of the heroine, and Reese in the place of the hero. At least once. And then she felt weird about it and went back to staring at the page, turning over the conversation with Camilla in her mind.

She couldn’t figure out Reese’s motives as to why he’d turned down the heiress. The way she could see it, there were only a few possibilities as to why he’d refuse Camilla’s blatant invitation: that he was truly interested in Audrey, that he was determined to make Camilla suffer for abandoning him, or that Camilla had some horrible sort of sexually transmitted disease and this was an easy out.

Oddly enough, the latter two were the most probable. Especially the STD, she thought, then chided herself for being unfair. Camilla’s greatest crime was being interested in the same man who Audrey was.

Then again, the bitch did call her fat.

Feet thumped on the stairs and Audrey looked up from her book. Cade and Daphne had gone for a walk around the lake—they all usually took at least one turn around the lake with a partner daily since there wasn’t a TV in the lodge and not much to do in the way of entertainment otherwise—so Audrey knew it must have been Reese heading down the stairs.

She resisted the urge to smooth a hand over her bun.

Sure enough, it was Reese, dressed in a dark burgundy open-collared shirt that actually fit him and a pair of jeans. She guessed Camilla must have returned with his clothing. He looked sexy as hell in it, too. Audrey eyed his tight ass in his jeans appreciatively.

He gave her a black look as he passed by the couch, his foul mood clearly lingering, then headed into the kitchen. She put aside her romance novel and her empty popcorn bowl and sat up. That look he’d given her was a warning one. A “not right now” look. A “don’t fuck with me today, I’m not in the mood” look. Too bad for him that he was alone in the cabin with the one woman immune to Reese Durham’s black glare. He didn’t scare her. Hell, he didn’t even intimidate her, really. She just wanted to know why he was so cranky, and why he’d turned the heiress down.

She headed into the kitchen after him.

Reese was bent over, pulling somethingout of the fridge. When he straightened, he gave her a foul look and tossed the package of ground beef on the counter. “Go away, Audrey. I’m not in the mood.”

“That’s not like you,” Audrey said in a deliberately light voice, moving a bit closer to him anyhow. “Rumor has it that you’re always in the mood.”

He ignored her, pulling a sauté pan out of the cabinet and thumping it on the stove with a bit of force. When she didn’t move back, he glared at her again, reached past her, and grabbed a knife, then slit open the meat and dumped it in the pan.

“So you’re not talking to me?” she asked.

“I thought I told you to go away.”

“Are you mad that you chased your heiress away?”

That time, the glare he gave her was icy. Reese gestured at the pan. “Do you mind? I’m trying to make dinner so you can keep romancing Cade into thinking you’re the perfect woman.”

“Mmm,” she said, eyeing him. For some reason, it was adorable seeing Reese all moody and blustery. Maybe it was because she was normally the one on the defensive and Reese the one on the offensive. Turning the tables? Kind of fun. “So what am I cooking?”

“Spaghetti.” As if to prove the point, he grabbed a large pot and turned, thumping it into the sink with a crash and then began to fill it with water.

“Wonderful. Cade loves spaghetti. That’s rather thoughtful of me.” She crossed her arms under her breasts and leaned up against the counter. “I don’t suppose I thought of garlic bread, too?”

He glared at her hatefully, then turned a knob on the oven, pre-heating it. “You did. Happy now? Can you go?”

Audrey tilted her head, studying him. “I will after you tell me what’s going through your head.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Really? You think it’s none of my business?”

He ignored her, turning off the tap and then moving the pot of water to the stove top, as if she weren’t speaking. That was fine. She’d break through that icy facade at some point, and then he’d snap. Kind of like she always did.

And for some reason, that started to turn her on.

Audrey tugged at her T-shirt, hoping her hardening nipples weren’t visible through the fabric. She continued to watch him, then commented, “So why’d you turn Camilla away?”

“I didn’t.” The two syllables sounded gritted, as if spoken through clenched teeth.

“Really?” She pretended to pick a piece of lint off his sleeve, oh so casual. “That wasn’t what I heard.” And she waited for the inevitable blow up.

Reese slowly turned, looking at her long and hard. “What did you hear?”

She gave a small shrug, but felt her panties get a little damp with arousal. “I overheard you talking to Camilla back by the woodpile. You’re riding the moped, remember?” At his unmoving face, she continued on. “You know the joke. Fat chicks are like mopeds. Fun to ride but you never let your buddies see it—”

“I know what she meant, Audrey. And I never said you were fat.”

“No, you didn’t. Camilla did. You told her you were sleeping with me, though, and it torpedoed your big business deal. And I don’t understand why you did that.”

He gave her a scathing look, then grabbed a spatula and began to stir the ground beef that sizzled in the skillet. “I said we weren’t talking about it.”

“Did you decide that you didn’t want the business deal?” she asked, knowing she was goading him. “Or maybe Camilla wasn’t your type after all? She told you that she didn’t care if you slept with me as long as you had fun with her. Was that the problem? You weren’t having fun? Or maybe—”

He set the spatula down, his hands clenching. “Let it go, Audrey.”

“Maybe you’re chicken,” she continued. “Maybe you felt like you couldn’t back up your bet, so it was safer to lose to me. Not every guy’s in the right sort of mindset for anal sex, after all—”

Reese turned away before she could finish. Audrey let her words trail off, curious and a little disappointed. All that ammo she’d been throwing at him and he wasn’t even going to say anything to her? As she watched, he moved to the oven and turned off the knob. Then he did the same to the stove and gave her another glare. “You want to be in the kitchen so bad, you can cook dinner.”

And he began to stalk away.

She reached out and grabbed his arm. “You want to know what I think?”

“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me.” He tried to pull away.

Audrey ignored his attempts to lose her. He was well versed in pushing her out of her own comfort zone, and it was time someone turned the tables on him. “I think you’re pouting.”

That got his attention. His gaze snapped back to her and he gave her a black scowl. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You’re pouting. You’re sulking because you turned down a woman who holds the purse strings to a lucrative business deal and you’re mad at yourself for doing it, because you don’t understand why you did so. And you want to know something? I don’t understand it, either.”

The look in his eyes got darker. “Audrey . . .”

“I’m serious. If it’s because you’re sleeping with me, well then, that was a bit ridiculous, don’t you think? I told you that we don’t have anything going on between the two of us. You should have taken her deal.” Her fingers might have stroked his arm through that dark sleeve, feeling the cords of his muscles. “That was a stupid move.”

“I don’t need a lecture from you,” he said, his mood still black. But he wasn’t pulling away any longer.

“We both know it was stupid, though,” Audrey continued, her voice getting husky. “Stupid and very un-Reese Durham of you. Playboy Reese Durham would have slept with her and demanded the business deal, and then kicked her out of bed once you had it.”

“That’s right,” he said with a bitter laugh. “The male gigolo.”

That hadn’t been what she’d meant. At least, not at the moment. So she simply stroked her hands up his arm, unable to stop herself from touching him. God, he was cute in Cade’s awkwardly tight clothing, but in his own? He had this savage, predatory grace—a businessman out to break hearts and drop panties. And it was doing wicked, wicked things to her.

“Nothing but sex,” she said lightly. And she meant for it to come out as some sort of rebuttal or clarification, but instead it sounded breathless and incredibly, wildly turned on.

One hard hand moved to her waist, and then in a flash, Reese was grabbing her and jerking her against him. Audrey’s breath stole out of her lungs as his head bent to hers and then he gave her a crushing kiss, full of pent-up frustration and longing and laced with eroticism.

It seemed that she hadn’t been the only one feeling the sparks between the two of them. Good. If she was crazy, at least they were crazy together. Audrey moaned, her arms going around his neck, and his mouth drove against her own, his tongue sliding into her mouth with a fierce intensity that promised all kinds of things that made her core ache.

He groaned low in his throat and then he pushed her back up against the counter, the kiss taking on a hot, wild edge. With his hips pinning hers against the counter, he thrust against her in a suggestive motion, letting her know exactly just how into this he was. And he was hard as a rock.

Just the feel of him against her made Audrey breathless with need. She whimpered and her hands went to his shirt, frantically plucking at the buttons. She needed skin, wanted to feel him against her.

He followed her lead and began to drag at the waist of her jeans, then headed for her fly. The kisses he pressed to her mouth became quick and abrupt, as if he needed to pull away and couldn’t seem to do it, continually heading back to her mouth for one more round, one more kiss, one more slick of tongue against her own. “You want to do this here?” he breathed against her mouth. “Where are Daphne and Cade?”

“Out for a walk,” she told him, then leaned in and took his lower lip between her teeth, then sucked on it.

“To my room, then.” Reese grabbed her by the hips and pulled her into his arms. Audrey squeaked in surprise, her arms flinging around his neck in fright at being lifted off the counter.

“Put me down!”

“Hell no,” Reese said, and buried his face in her cleavage. “I like you just like this.”

For some reason, that made her feel playful . . . and he didn’t feel like he was straining to hold her. So Audrey relaxed a little and locked her legs around him, then rubbed her breasts against his chin as he carried her toward the stairs.

He gave a soft little groan when her hard nipples scraped against his jaw. “God, you have the most perfect breasts. I think I need them in my face more often.”

“Get me into your bed and you can have them in your face in about thirty seconds,” she said.

Reese carried her up the stairs and they headed down the hall to the last room, the one that Reese had been staying in. He flung open the door and strode inside, then tossed Audrey down on his bed with a bounce, his eyes watching her with avid interest.

She leaned up on her elbows, surveying his room. It was kind of a disaster area—no neat freak here. Dirty laundry was strewn all over the floor and the bed wasn’t made, which was a far cry from her own room. She liked seeing that. It only emphasized the differences between her and Reese, and she liked those differences a lot. They were what made him so much fun to be with, so different. So incredibly arousing.

He kicked the door shut and then strode over to the bed with a gleam in his eyes that made her breathless. She quivered when he loomed over her, and then he undid a few buttons on his shirt, then yanked the entire thing over his head, exposing his hard, delicious body and that fascinating tattoo on one arm. Her fingers itched to touch him, but she forced herself to continue laying in bed, propped up on her elbows, and simply enjoy the show.

As if for her benefit, Reese tugged at his belt with rapid jerks, zipping it through the belt loops and then flinging it against the wall. His jeans were down in a flash, and again he wasn’t wearing anything underneath, his thick cock springing free and erect. “Do you ever wear underwear?”

“Too confining,” Reese told her. “You should try it some time.”

“I don’t think so.”

For some reason, her distaste at the thought made him grin. “Damn, I love it when you talk all prim and proper to me.”

She flushed. It felt a bit like an insult, even though she knew he didn’t mean it that way. Time for her to change from prim and proper, then. She reached for her bun, intending to pull her hair down.

To her surprise, Reese stopped her. “Leave it up.”

Audrey looked up at him. “Leave it up?”

“Yeah.” He climbed over her on the bed, sliding between her legs as if he belonged there. “You must be getting to me, because seeing that tight little bun turns me on now.”

“Oh?” Her voice came out with a bit of a wobble, the heat pooling between her legs at the feel of him pressing there.

“Maybe it’s because I know that underneath that efficient, wholesome exterior, there’s a wild woman just waiting to get out. And I know that I can coax her to come out and play.” His hand stroked over the fullness of her breast, then plumped it, his gaze fascinated as he watched her.

She moaned, dropping her elbows and laying flat on the bed. She was his to touch, his to play with.

“I can feel your nipples through the fabric, Audrey,” he told her, circling one through the layers of bra and T-shirt and driving her wild. “You know what that does to me when I see that?”

“The same thing my bun does?” she guessed.

He chuckled, and then his fingers were reaching for the zipper of her jeans, even as he leaned in and nipped at the tip of her breast, then buried his face in her cleavage again. “So fucking sexy.”

She did feel sexy in his arms. Like her curves were an incredible turn on to him instead of a turn off. Like she wasn’t the plain, boring Petty sister. She was uninhibited and delicious and just for him. And she loved it. She cupped her breasts and pushed them toward him, letting him nuzzle at the valley.

He tugged at her jeans again, and then groaned. “You need to take these off.”

She lifted her hips slightly and began to reach for the buttons, but he stilled her hands. “I have a better idea.”

“Oh?”

“Flip over for me.” His eyes were hot on hers.

Her throat went dry. Anal? Now? She wasn’t sure she was ready. “I—”

Reese’s eyes widened and he chuckled, burying his face in her breasts again. “I lost that bet, remember?” His hand slid along the curve of her thigh in her jeans. “I just wanted to take you from behind.”

Her face flamed with embarrassment. “Oh. Of course.” She got up from the bed and undid her jeans, then let them pool to her feet and stepped out of them. Next went her cotton bikini panties, and then she stripped off her plain shirt and her bra. Reese watched her every move, his gaze caressing her.

When she was naked, she glanced at the bed and then slid into his arms. She wrapped hers around him and pulled his head back to her breasts.

“Mmm.” He nuzzled at one of her nipples again, lightly licking the tip. “So lush and gorgeous. I love your big, heavy breasts. I could play with them for hours.”

“But I ache so badly for you,” Audrey told him, shivering when he grazed her nipple with his teeth. “I don’t think I could last for hours.”

“No?” Reese gave her a hot look, then ran a hand along her ass and lightly smacked it. “Get down on all fours, then.”

A quiver ran through her body and she did as he commanded, feeling a bit exposed as she did so. He got up out of the bed and she glanced over her shoulder to see him at the nearby dresser, rolling a condom onto his cock. Reese moved back to the bed and she glanced away, staring at the headboard, waiting for his touch.

She didn’t have to wait long. His hands slid over her ass again, feeling her smooth flesh, caressing her skin. “Look at all this beautiful ass,” he murmured appreciatively. “Not a freckle on it. You’ve never gone sunbathing naked, have you?”

“No,” she breathed, pushing back against him just a little. “I’m not brave enough.”

“I’d make you brave,” he told her in a low voice.

“I know you would.” And he would. He made her a bolder person, and she loved it.

His hand continued to trail along her hip, caressing the indentation of her waist, then traveled to her spine and moved along it, stroking her like he would a kitten. “I could stare at you for hours.”

She whimpered, letting him know just how much this was torturing her, and nudged back against him again.

“But I won’t,” he murmured, and then she felt the head of his cock at the well of her sex a mere instant before he pushed deep inside her in a single hard thrust.

Audrey’s breath caught in her throat, and her muscles locked as she drank in the sensation of him seated deep inside her. He felt good. His cock seemed to be so big and thick that he rubbed inside her just perfectly. And there hadn’t been a bit of pain when he’d sunk deep, which meant that she’d been incredibly wet and ready for him. She leaned forward on her elbows a bit, moaning with pleasure and lifting her ass for him.

“Ah, beautiful,” he told her, and his hands gripped her waist. Then he slid out, almost all the way, leaving only the tip inside her, and pushed back in with one hard thrust. He repeated the motion, his hands clasping her waist and dragging her back against him.

Her breasts, now loose from her confining bra, swayed with every rough stroke, and Audrey moaned, pressing her cheek to the bedding as he continued to pump into her. Faster and harder he stroked into her, and she could feel the build starting low in her pussy, need spiraling inside her. He continued to rock into her, rough and hard and demanding, and she leaned into each driving thrust with her hips.

“Touch yourself, sugar. I want to have you come with me.”

She whimpered again, and her hand slid under her body to her lifted hips, and then to her pussy. She dipped her fingers delicately between her wet folds even as he continued to fuck her roughly from behind. Her fingertips lightly scored her clit, and erotic pleasure exploded through her body. “Reese,” she said with a ragged breath, and began to circle her clit with her fingers with a rapid pace that wouldn’t last long. “Oh, God, need you so bad. Oh, Reese.”

“That’s right,” he gritted, and his thrusting took on an even harder, rougher edge. “You belong to me, don’t you, Audrey?”

“Oh, God, yes.” Her fingers circled faster and faster,. The tension built in her legs and she curled her toes, feeling the clench of her building orgasm in her calf muscles.

“Tell me that, then. Tell me you don’t want anyone but me. Tell me you won’t let that fucking sexy little bun down for anyone but me.”

She moaned, rubbing herself even faster. “No one but you, Reese. Don’t want no one but you.”

“Good,” he growled, and the word was so animalistic and utterly satisfied that it took her by surprise. Not that it mattered, because then she was coming, her body launching into orgasm, and she gave a choked cry of his name, her muscles clenching and working around him even as he continued to stroke deep into her from behind.

And then he cried out her name, and she knew he came., His strokes were growing jagged and wild and so rough that she could hear his balls slap against her skin, could feel him smacking against her pussy. And it made her quiver all over again, the orgasm continuing to rip through her for long, intense moments.

And then it slowed, as it always did, and she panted, cheek pressed to the sheets that smelled like Reese, and felt him peel out of her to dispose of the condom. She breathed heavily and sat up, considering her surroundings. She was in his room, an intruder. Should she get quietly dressed again and head into the shower? He hadn’t wanted her around him earlier, at least not until he’d exploded and they’d more or less dragged each other to bed.

But she wasn’t just a quickie fuck, so she grabbed his covers and slid underneath them, waiting for him to return to bed once he’d cleaned himself off. He’d have to deal with her and the conversation she wanted to have. If he didn’t, well, that was too bad for him, because she was determined to talk.

Reese returned to the bed a few moments later and slid under the covers with her, then tugged her against him. He pulled her on her side and spooned her against his now-softening cock, snuggling close. His head buried against her neck and he began to nibble on her ear. “God, I love touching you.”

She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his. This felt so good. She felt warm and delicious and wanted in his arms.

Which meant he was probably trying to distract her. She wasn’t fooled for a minute. “So tell me about the business deal.”

“Not right now, Audrey.”

“Right now is a perfect time,” she pointed out. “You’ve just taken the edge off and you’ve already chased Camilla away, so you might as well tell me about it. It’s not going to affect things any more either way.”

“Hmm,” he said, and she could tell he was thinking it over. It was almost like he didn’t want to ask for help. Not that she had much to give, but he seemed reluctant to open up about any of it, as if that might convey a weakness of some kind.

“Come on,” she said with a nudge. “It might help you to bounce ideas off someone else.”

He hesitated a moment more, then slid his hand over her hip, caressing her skin. “I made a bad investment last year.” His fingers stroked her curves and she lay perfectly still beneath him, sensing he was about to open up and that it was difficult for him. “My company’s private, so no one knows exactly how bad off we are except myself and my board. It was a gamble on medical technology. Cade told me not to invest, but I thought I knew more than him and took a risk.” He shrugged. “Turned out he was right. It was a bloodbath and I lost a fortune. I was close to making my billion and now I’m at risk for losing everything.”

Her throat locked. “Your . . . billion?”

“Mmmhmm.” His fingers stroked down the inside of her thigh. “All of us have at least a billion, except me.”

“All of who?”

He slid his fingers to the curve of her knee and played with the soft skin there. “It’s not important.” He leaned in and kissed her shoulder, then grazed his mouth over her skin. “I’ve had to fight for every dollar that came my way. If I’d been patient and listened to Cade’s advice, I’d have made it by now. Instead, my company’s drowning and I thought that pairing up with Camilla’s father on a celebrity cruise line would be the way out.”

“Except Camilla doesn’t care about the business half as much as she cares about having fun with you,” Audrey told him, leaning into his casual caresses.

“Something like that,” he murmured. “So you see my problem.”

“You’re friends with billionaires,” she pointed out, her breath catching when his hand moved abruptly to her nipple and began to tease it. “Why not ask Cade or Logan to help you out?”

“Pride,” he told her bluntly. “Out of our group, only Cade and I came from nothing. I won’t be the one who asks for a handout.”

Our group? she wondered, but didn’t ask. It was like she was only getting half of the story, and he was distracting her with caresses instead. Not that she minded the caresses, but she wanted to help him, prove that she was different from the women he normally dated.

And then she wondered to herself why it mattered, but somehow it did.

“So why not approach Camilla’s father directly?” she asked him. “Tell him that his daughter’s not taking things seriously and you want a real business investment. Camilla will be mad at you but if her father truly wants to invest with you, then maybe he’ll understand.”

“Mmm,” he said again, his noncommittal response she was becoming all too familiar with. “We’ll see. I don’t want to think about Camilla right now.”

And his hand slid between her thighs, cupping her pussy.

Audrey rolled over in bed to face him, her mouth seeking his even as his fingers slid deeper, spreading her pussy and gliding over her clit. Even as she kissed him, she recognized the stalling tactic, and for some reason, it bothered her.

Why was it okay to talk business with brainless Camilla but not her? What made her different?

And why on earth did it bother her? She knew Reese was just a fling and had known that going into things. So why did she care now?

 



Date: 2015-02-03; view: 504


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