Epilogue
James
The drive home felt longer than usual.
I’d been at the distillery since six in the morning, finalizing details on our fourth new product line of the year.
After everything that happened with Diane, after clawing back control of the company, I’d made it my mission to prove the business was better off without her.
A new launch each quarter. Record-breaking sales each time.
This one was the best yet. A limited-edition bourbon aged in sherry casks. My father would have loved it.
But right now, all I wanted was to get home to my girls.
When I pulled into the driveway, the house was dark. No lights in the windows. No movement behind the curtains. I checked my phone. Nothing from Haley.
Strange.
I let myself in and stood in the entryway, listening. The house was silent. Too silent for a home with a five-year-old who treated quiet as a personal challenge.
“Haley?” I called out. “Lily?”
Nothing.
I dropped my keys and headed toward the bedroom, loosening my tie as I walked. My mind was already running through possibilities. Early bedtime. Exhaustion. One of Lily’s elaborate games that required everyone to hide.
I pushed open the bedroom door and stopped breathing.
Haley was sprawled across the bed wearing nothing but my white t-shirt from yesterday. The fabric hit her mid-thigh, riding up on one side to reveal the curve of her hip. Her hair was loose around her shoulders. Her eyes were dark with intent.
“Wow.” The word scraped out of my throat.
“Thought I’d surprise my fiancé.” She stretched, catlike, and the shirt rode higher. “You took forever getting home.”
Fuck, she was gorgeous. A year of waking up next to her, a year of having her in my arms, and she still knocked the air out of my lungs.
“Where’s Lily?”
“Sleepover at Meg’s.” Her smile turned wicked. “We have the house to ourselves until tomorrow afternoon.”
“That was smart planning.” I leaned against the doorframe, drinking her in. “But I was hoping to see her tonight.”
“Shut up and get over here, James.” She crooked her finger at me. “Our daughter is fine. Right now I need my fiancé to stop talking and start using his mouth for better things.”
I crossed the room and caught her lips with mine. She tasted like red wine and bad intentions. Her fingers worked my shirt buttons while I pressed her back into the bed, covering her body with mine.
I grabbed the hem of the t-shirt she’d stolen and pulled it over her head in one motion. She lifted her arms to help, and then she was bare beneath me. Completely naked. Nothing hidden.
“Fuck.” I sat back on my heels and just looked at her. The soft curves of her breasts. The dip of her waist. The flare of her hips. “You’re incredible.”
“You’re staring.”
“Damn right I am.” I ran my hands up her thighs, spreading them wider. “I’m going to stare at you for the rest of my life and it still won’t be enough.”
My fingers found her center, and I groaned at what I discovered. She was soaked. Absolutely drenched. Her arousal coated my fingers before I’d even touched her properly.
“Christ, Haley.” I dragged my fingers through her folds, watching her face as I explored her. “How long have you been lying here thinking about me?”
“Since I dropped Lily off.” Her hips lifted into my touch. “Three hours of imagining what I wanted you to do to me.”
“Did you touch yourself?” I circled her clit slowly, watching her eyes flutter. “While you were waiting?”
“I tried not to.” She bit her lip. “Didn’t last long.”
“Show me.” I pulled my hand away and sat back against the headboard. “I want to see what you were doing.”
Her cheeks flushed pink, but she didn’t hesitate. She spread her legs wider, giving me a clear view, and her hand slid down her stomach.
I watched her fingers find her clit. Watched her start to rub in slow, practiced circles. Her touch was different from mine. Lighter. Faster. She knew exactly what she liked, exactly how to build herself up.
“You do this often?” My voice came out rough. “When I’m not here?”
“Sometimes.” Her back arched off the mattress, her breasts rising with each breath. “When you’re working late. When I can’t sleep.”
She was beautiful like this. Completely uninhibited. Her head thrown back, her lips parted, soft sounds escaping with each stroke of her fingers. I wanted to pin her down and taste her. I wanted to replace her hand with my mouth and feel her come apart against my tongue.
But not yet. I wanted to watch her first.
“What do you think about?” I palmed myself through my pants, achingly hard. “When you’re touching yourself like this?”
“Your hands.” Her movements sped up, her hips starting to rock. “The way you grip my thighs when you go down on me. The sounds you make when you push inside me.”
“Keep going.” I squeezed myself harder, matching her rhythm. “Let me watch you get close.”
Her free hand fisted in the sheets. I could see her thighs starting to tremble, could see the flush spreading down her chest. She was getting close. Her breathing had gone ragged, her movements more desperate.
“That’s it.” I watched her fingers move faster, chase the release that was building. “Show me how you make yourself come.”
“James-” Her voice was strained, her whole body tensing. “I’m going to - I’m right there-”
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away.
“James!” She nearly sobbed, her hips jerking up into empty air. “What the fuck? I was right there!”
“I know.” I pinned her wrist above her head, pressing my body over hers. “I could see it.” I kissed her jaw, her neck, the spot behind her ear. “But tonight you don’t get to come until I decide.”
“That’s not fair.”
“I never said I’d be fair.” I kissed down her throat, taking my time. “I said I’d make you feel good. And I will. Eventually.”
I worked my way down her body inch by inch. Her collarbone. The swell of her breasts. I took one nipple into my mouth and sucked until she gasped, then gave the other the same attention. Her hands grabbed at my hair, trying to push me lower, but I refused to be rushed.
“Please.” She was squirming beneath me. “Your mouth. I need your mouth.”
“Where?” I kissed her ribs. Her stomach. The jut of her hip bone.
“You know where.”
“Say it.”
“Between my legs.” Her voice was desperate now. “I need your tongue on my pussy, James. Please.”
I settled between her thighs and looked up at her. She was propped on her elbows, watching me, her chest heaving with anticipation.
I held her gaze and licked her. One slow stroke from her entrance to her clit.
Her head fell back with a moan. I did it again, slower this time, savoring the taste of her. She was even wetter than before, her arousal coating my tongue, and I groaned against her flesh.
“God, you taste good.” I spread her open with my fingers, exposing her fully. “I could do this for hours.”
I circled her clit with my tongue, then sucked it gently between my lips. Her thighs clamped around my head. Her hands fisted in my hair. She was grinding against my face, chasing the sensation.
“Right there.” She was panting. “Don’t stop. Right there, James. I’m going to-”
I pulled back.
“No!” She tried to drag me back down. “You bastard, I was so close!”
“I know.” I pressed a kiss to her inner thigh. “I could feel you getting tight.”
“Then why did you stop?”
“Because I want you desperate.” I bit down gently on the soft skin of her thigh. “I want you begging for it by the time I let you come.”
I buried my face in her again, building her up with long, slow licks. She was moaning constantly now, her hips rolling against my mouth. I pushed two fingers inside her and curled them up, finding that spot that made her scream.
“Fuck!” Her back arched off the bed. “James, please. Please let me come. I need it.”
I sucked her clit hard while my fingers worked her from the inside. She was right there. I could feel her walls starting to clench.
I pulled away again.
“James!” This time it was almost a scream. “I can’t - I need - Please!”
“One more time.” I kissed her hip, her stomach, her ribs. “Give me one more and I’ll let you have it.”
“I hate you.” Her voice broke on the words. “I genuinely hate you.”
“No you don’t.” I kissed my way up to her mouth and let her taste herself on my lips. “You love what I do to you.”
I kissed down her body again, slower this time. By the time I reached her center, she was trembling. Shaking. So wound up that the first touch of my tongue made her sob.
“Please.” She was crying now, tears of frustration leaking from the corners of her eyes. “Please, James. I’ll do anything. Just let me come.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.”
I sucked her clit into my mouth and didn’t stop.
She shattered. Her whole body convulsed, her thighs clamping around my head, her hands yanking my hair hard enough to hurt. I worked her through it, gentling my touch as the waves subsided, until she was limp and gasping beneath me.
“Good girl.” I kissed her inner thigh. “That’s my good girl.”
“I can’t move.” Her voice was wrecked. “I think you killed me.”
“We’re not done yet.” I climbed up her body and kissed her mouth.
I stripped off my shirt and tossed it aside, then unbuckled my belt. Her eyes tracked my movements, going dark as I freed myself from my pants.
“Get on your knees.” I stood at the edge of the bed. “I want that pretty mouth.”
She rolled over and positioned herself in front of me, her face level with my cock. She looked up at me through her lashes, waiting.
“Open.”
She parted her lips and I guided myself into her mouth. The wet heat of her surrounded me and my head dropped back with a groan. She was perfect at this. Knew exactly how much pressure I liked, exactly how deep to take me.
“That’s it.” I fisted my hand in her hair, guiding her rhythm. “Just like that.”