Chapter 26
twenty-six
FRANCIE
“I swear to God this was your hottest scene yet,” Autumn tells me breathlessly, as we talk on the phone. “I had to jump on Parker as soon as he walked into the hotel room. The poor guy didn’t know what hit him. Especially when I started begging him to pretend to be a Dragon Rider.”
“Does he even know what a Dragon Rider is?” I ask her. I’m feeling kind of smug at how well the writing is going. For the past week I’ve been on fire. I write all day, then Asher comes to see me after working at the hotel, and we pretty much spend the night tangled in my bed.
I’m starting to get too used to it, truth be told. Which probably means I’m in trouble.
“Well, no. At first he thought I was supposed to be the dragon. But we talked it through and he got the gist. Three times.”
I snort. “You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”
“Only three mimosas. And a glass of champagne. Please tell me there’s no third act breakup. I don’t know that I can take it. Can’t you just write the whole book full of hot sex?”
“I think my editor might have something to say about that,” I tell her. “But I’m glad you liked it.”
“Not as glad as Parker.” She lets out a sigh. “It felt different though.”
“Different how?” I ask, feeling the worries creep in. Different sounds bad. Am I going to have to re-write it? Ugh.
“I don’t know. It’s just… that scene. The throat holding. The whispering. The dirty talking.” There’s a pause. “It’s like you’ve found your inner slut.”
“Thanks.” I try not to laugh. Drunk Autumn has no filter.
“Have you been having dirty dragon rider sex with somebody?” she asks me, taking me by surprise.
I cough. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Who is it? Jesse? Mylene? Or a random guest from the hotel? Don’t tell me Captain Toe Shoes has made it back to the island.”
I wince. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Nope.” She sounds gleeful.
“Well lucky for you I just have a good imagination,” I tell her. “And access to the internet.” Most of the time. Kind of.
“Liar,” Autumn singsongs. “That internet connection is terrible. And don’t try to kid a kidder. Remember when I was having hate sex with Parker when I was forced to live in the apartment next to his? You sound exactly like I did then.”
I frown, remembering how she and Parker got together.
He’s Hudson’s best friend, and wouldn’t go near her.
Until those weeks when the two of them were living next to each other on the island while Autumn oversaw the renovations of the Grand Liberty Hotel while Hudson was overseas fighting for custody of his daughter.
“It’s nothing like that,” I protest. I will tell her about this.
Eventually. When she’s back on the island and I can explain everything to her.
That’s if there’s anything to explain. Yes, I’ve been spending all my non-writing time with Asher, but I also know from the phone calls I overhear that he needs to get back to New York. I don’t know what will happen then.
And I don’t really want to think about it.
But maybe there’ll be nothing to tell Autumn by the time she’s back here.
I tell myself that, even though something inside of me aches at the thought.
There’s a pause, but then she sighs. “Fine, I’ll let it go for now. But if I find out it’s someone sketchy, I reserve the right to call your brothers and demand a full-scale intervention.”
The laugh gets caught in my throat. “About that…”
“About what?” She sounds confused. But this is something I want to run past my best friend. She’s been part of my life for so long. She knows the way I think, and I need her now.
For a moment there’s silence. “Wait, seriously?”
She knows how adamant I’ve been about them not finding out about my writing. And I can’t tell her why I’ve been thinking about it. Those words Asher said to me, that night in the car. That he’d want to know. That he’d be proud.
And I know they’ll be hurt, too. That I didn’t tell them from the start.
“I think it might be time,” I say, feeling every word thump with the tightness of my chest. “I hate hiding it. But also, I’m terrified to come clean.
” I lean back on the sofa and look up at the ceiling.
“Once they know, they’ll all have opinions.
Liam will want to see the financials, Myles will want to talk to my publishers.
And then there’s the sex.” I wrinkle my nose.
“The steaming hot sex scenes,” Autumn adds.
“Exactly. Those.” Nobody likes to think about their family reading the smut they wrote. “I’m not sure they’ll ever look at me the same way again.”
Autumn clears her throat, like she knows I need her advice right now. “But maybe they shouldn’t,” she says. “Maybe it’s time that they see you as a grown up. Somebody with a career, a gift. You’re right, it’s time to let them in a little. They love you, you know that.”
“They do,” I say softly.
“Good. Then we’re agreed. Operation come clean is go.” Her voice lowers. “Now back to the important stuff. Throat holding. Have you done that? Because Parker won’t and I’m not happy about it.”
I’m about to laugh when the front door opens and Asher steps in. I’ve told him to stop knocking and use the spare key – mostly so he doesn’t disturb me when I’m writing.
I shoot him a wide-eyed look and quickly wiggle the phone at him.
He raises a brow. “Who is it?” he mouths.
“Autumn,” I mouth back.
He rolls his eyes. Then he crosses the room slowly, with that lazy predatory stroll he does when he knows he’s about to wreck me. He kneels between my legs where I’m curled on the couch and presses his mouth to my bare knee.
I swat him away, but he ignores me, a grin on his lips.
“It’s your sister,” I mouth.
“Tell her you’re busy.” He doesn’t mouth that one. Says it loud enough for me to glare at him.
“Are you watching TV or something?” Autumn asks.
“Yep,” I lie. “I’ll turn it down. Anyway, how’s Parker handling things? Is he enjoying commentating?”
“He is, but to be honest, I’m a little distracted whenever he’s on the screen. All the British announcers sound like sexy Bond villains. But when I ask him to mimic their accent he refuses.”
I snort. Then gasp as Asher kisses along the inside of my thigh. Damn him for making this feel like more than just sex. “Well that’s not fair.”
“I know, right? I had a dirty dream about one of them last night. Between the Bond guys and the dragon riders, Parker’s being a little overworked.”
“What’s that?” I ask, loudly for Asher’s benefit. “You’ve been having lots of hot sex with Parker.”
Asher wrinkles his nose. Haha, gotcha. No guy wants to hear about his sister’s love life.
I lift a brow at him. Checkmate.
“Obviously,” she says. “That’s not news.” She laughs softly. “I’d better go. Parker will be home any minute. I’m going to see if I can get him to say bees knees by giving him a blow job. Love you, babe. Talk soon.”
“Love you too,” I choke out, hanging up quickly.
Asher looks at me. “Never, ever let me hear about my sister’s love life again.” But he’s smiling, leaning in to kiss me, like he’s missed me all day.
The same way I’ve missed him.
“Then don’t touch me when I’m on the phone with her,” I say reasonably.
“It’s hard not to touch you when you’re looking so beautiful,” he tells me. The softness in his eyes mixes with heat.
“Sweet talker.” I tip my head to the side, feeling my body respond to him.
“I mean every word I say,” He leans forward, pressing his mouth to mine again. This time, his kiss is full of intent.
I kiss him back, pulling him closer, until his body is pressed against mine, our legs tangled, our hands seeking each other.
“Good,” I tell him. “Now touch me again.”
ASHER
“Is this what you do now?” Hudson asks, walking into the security room at the hotel with two cups of coffee. “Run software tests all day like you’re a trainee at your own company and not the CEO?”
“You’ll thank me for it later,” I murmur, closing my laptop quickly. “This place is going to be like Fort Knox. Nobody will get onto the island without your knowledge.”
I know how much he wants to keep his family safe. Skyler, Ayda. And the new baby on the way.
Leaning against the wall, Hudson sips his drink, his gaze firmly on me. “How many overnight tests do you have to run?” he asks. “Isn’t this the third one this week? You can run them during the day, I told you that. Instead of staying here all night watching a damn screen.”
There’s a half smirk in his voice, like he knows I’ve been lying through my teeth. Of course I haven’t been watching a screen all night. I’ve been fucking Francie. Holding her. Teasing her for her Clark Kent fetish while she practically melts at the sight of my glasses.
I’ve been living a life I never thought I’d have.
“Do you want the system to have vulnerabilities?” I ask him. “Or are you gonna let me do my job?”
“I want to know why you say you’re working here all night, except when I came to the hotel last night there was no sign of you,” he says.
“You came here last night?” I frown. “Why?”
“Because your emergency contact lenses arrived from the mainland and I assumed you might need them.” He points at the box I found this morning. “But apparently, you’re fine without them.”
I ran out two days ago. I’ve been wearing my glasses since then, and I hate it. Francie, on the other hand, acts like I’m walking sex in them. She kept tugging at the frames last night while she straddled me. Told me I look like a dirty professor.
Not that I mind the comparison.
Hudson lifts a brow. “If you’re not staying at the hotel, where are you sleeping?”
“I have a feeling you know the answer to that.”
“Well, I saw your car outside the lighthouse,” he says slowly. “Our sister’s house.”
Jesus. When did my brother become such a prude? “What do you want me to say?” It’s a serious question. He’s caught me. If he wants to know, he can know. But I’m not sure he really wants to.
Plausible deniability is a beautiful thing.
“You’re messing around with Francie.” There’s pain in his voice when he says it. Like he really doesn’t want to have this conversation.
“Messing around makes it sound like something it’s not. I’m seeing her. Yes.”
“Every night? All night?”
“You want a blow by blow account?”
He squeezes his eyes shut. “Fuck’s sake. First Parker, now you. Why can’t you find some nice girl in New York and keep me out of this? She’s Autumn’s friend. Skyler’s too. You mess things up and they’re gonna get pissed at me.”
“Why would they get pissed at you?”
“Because they’ll know I know. And they’ll ask me why I didn’t stop you.
And now I’m talking to you and the expression on your face makes it really fucking clear that you’re not going to stop doing this thing that’s going to cause me to get shouted at.
And possibly make me involuntarily celibate for the foreseeable future.
” His words came out fast and uncontrolled, and his face is pink.
I stare at him for a moment as he finally calms down.
“Do you feel better?” I ask, a grin in my voice.
“No.” He shakes his head. “I feel worse.”
“What if I promise not to mess things up?”
“Not really.” He sighs. “I promised Skyler I wouldn’t mess things up and I did.” He sinks down into one of the office chairs. “Why did you have to tell me?”
“I didn’t,” I point out. “I asked you if you really wanted to know and you said it out loud. I gave you an out. You didn’t take it.”
He glares at me. “Do you like her?”
“Very much.” My throat tightens.
There’s a beat of silence. A long, loaded pause.
“How long has it been going on?” he finally asks. “I assume it was you who made her cough wine out at the dinner party.”
My mouth twitches at the memory of that night. “It was.”
“And before that?”
“It’s been… building.” I won’t be telling him about the sex club. Or the surveillance feeds. Some things are sacred.
“Now, do you want to know what she does when I pin her wrists above her head and call her my good girl, or can I get on with my job?”
He winces. “Just… do it.” He waves at my laptop. “And please never, ever say those words to me again.”
My grin is pure provocation. “I’ll try. But it’ll be hard. She’s very vocal when she’s being good.”
Hudson groans and rubs a hand over his face like he’s trying to erase the last two minutes of his life. “I hate you.”
“You love me.” I reach for my bag. “But if you don’t leave, I’m going to keep torturing you.”
He’s halfway out the door when I toss one last barb at him. “And maybe tell your staff to avoid reviewing camera four unless they’re prepared for a very educational experience.”
That one’s a lie. But the horror on his face is worth it.
“Jesus Christ,” he mutters under his breath. “I need a fucking therapist.”
When the door shuts behind him, I finally let the smile drop.
I should feel triumphant. But instead there’s this dull ache in my chest. A creeping dread I can’t quite explain. I’m staying on the island longer than I need to. Delaying meetings. Ignoring decisions. Because for the first time in my life, someone sees all of me and doesn’t flinch.
That should scare me. Maybe it already does. Everything I touch eventually falls apart. I know that better than anyone.
I pull out my phone.
I’m on my way over. I’ll pick up some dinner. And wear my glasses. – Asher
My mouth twitches as I hit send.
It feels good, this quiet domestic rhythm we’ve fallen into.
Too good.
I grab my things and the dinner I ordered, then make my way outside, breathing in the salty air, already imagining her opening the door with that sleepy little smile she gives me.
But then my phone rings.
And just like that, the whole damn world shifts.