Chapter 1
1
R AIN
The phone hums on the nightstand as footsteps near the bed.
I crack an eye open and take a peek. Dimly lit, the bedroom sprawls out in front of me with long drapes at the windows and lampposts glowing in the backyard.
I close my eyes and bury my head in the pillow.
The phone goes silent before ringing again––a clipped sound–– as James’ clothes rustle closer and his smokey voice drifts from nearby.
“It better be good, Preston,” he says quietly in a husky tone before moving away from the bed.
He doesn’t leave the room and keeps talking while I flick my eyes open.
The morning lights up the horizon, igniting the sky.
The backyard is a canvas of luscious trees, smooth grass, blossomed shrubs, and gravel pathways covered in petals.
The water trickles in the fountains like a mellow song, and a soft breeze blows the curtains.
“Yeah, yeah... I hear you,” he murmurs.
I shift under the covers, reveling in the scent of his cologne and pinning my eyes on his broad shoulders.
Facing the opposite wall of windows with his phone tucked between his shoulder and his ear, he works his suit pants closed.
A crisp pinstripe shirt hugs his V-shaped torso, the leather belt highlighting his trim waist, his dark pants emphasizing his backside and muscular legs.
A smile lines my lips while a sweet need grows in my body.
Clenching my thighs, I indulge in the pulsing pleasure.
“Mm-hmm...” he murmurs, holding his phone with one hand and sliding the other into his pocket.
He stares at the view, his athletic frame filling his clothes deliciously, making him look sexier than ever.
I bury my head into the pillow, realizing how smitten I am.
“Why can’t you tell me now?” he asks.
A few moments pass before he talks again.
“You’ll never hear the end of it from me if I’m flying there for nothing. Uh-huh... Okay. All right. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he says, smiling.
He goes quiet again, Ed’s muffled voice echoing in the room.
“Today,” James says. “Yes. I’ll leave in a couple of hours.”
My ears perk up.
“Singapore,” he murmurs.
The last shred of sleep disappears as I push to my elbows and pin my gaze on the back of his hair.
“I don’t know. The end of the week… maybe.”
My chest tightens.
Smoothly, I swing my legs off the bed, push to my feet, and tiptoe to him, naked.
I loop my arms around his torso and crush my breasts against his back.
“Yeah, yeah... I’ll let her know,” he says, a smile threading through his voice when I press my lips against his back and move my hands over his abs.
“Uh-huh... Cut it out, Preston,” he says, laughing.
He pulls his hand out of his pocket, cuffs my fingers, drags them down, and presses them against his bulge.
Palming his erection, I gently squeeze.
He pulses under my touch, iron-hard.
“She’s good,” he says, tipping his chin down and staring at my hand. “Very good... in fact,” he adds, a grin flooding his voice.
He pivots and wraps his arm around my shoulders.
Our eyes lock before his dark green gaze dips, tinged with a lustful smile.
His clean-shaven face glows in the morning light, and his lips are arched into a sultry smile while his hand moves over my body before caressing my chest and stomach.
His fingers trail my folds and stroke my clit.
Closing my eyes, I relish the pleasure.
Ed’s voice becomes a quiet hum, and a gasp falls from my lips when James’ breaths trail closer, prompting me to open my eyes.
Grinning, he reads my eyes, murmuring something once in a while in response to Ed.
Giving him a come hither look, I push up on my toes, part my thighs, and quietly ask him to caress me even more.
“You’re so wet,” he mouths to me as I slowly roll my hips against his hand.
His phone goes quiet before Ed’s voice vibrates in the air again.
“James?”
“Yup,” James says, a smile flickering through his eyes as he shifts his focus back to the conversation.
His fingers stay on me, though, still stroking and making me wet.
“What about your girl?” James asks. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah.. yeah. She’s fine,” Ed says,
His voice sounds different, and James notices it.
“Is she?”
“Yup,” Ed says, more convincing this time.
Something else catches James’ attention.
He lifts an eyebrow, his smile fading.
“Is this about her?” he asks.
“I don’t want to talk about her right now,” Ed says.
James shifts his eyes to me, his phone still glued to his ear.
“It’s about all of us,” Ed says.
His words are puzzling at best.
Staring blankly at me, James ponders.
“Okay, then. I’ll be there.”
He ends the call, a shadow sliding over his eyes.
“What was that all about?” I ask.
He stares at his phone, sunk in thought, still musing over something, his hand peeling away from my body.
“I don’t know...” he murmurs. “Something going on. He sounded different.”
I slide my hand to his arm.
“Different how?”
He lifts his eyes to me.
“Not like him.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he had news for me but didn’t want to share them over the phone. He wants to speak to me face to face.”
My eyebrows tilt up.
“Why you?”
He shrugs.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think it’s bad news?”
“Uh… I have no idea. Anyway...” he says, shifting his focus to me entirely, his gaze hovering over me again.
A smile tugs at his lips.
“What were you doing a moment ago...?” he asks quietly, his eyes drifting down, making me all tingly between my thighs.
Crushing a smile, I run my hand up his chest until I reach his neckline, slip my fingers inside his shirt, and stroke his neck.
“I heard...” I murmur before rolling my lip beneath my teeth and waiting for his eyes to meet mine. “I heard you talking on the phone, and you said you were flying back to Singapore this morning.”
He doesn’t comment.
“You said you were going to spend some time with me this week,” I point out.
“That was the plan, but I got a phone call last night and need to go back.”
I look down, disappointed.
“What is it?”
His voice is tender yet firm.
I lift my gaze.
His eyes soften as he notices my expression.
“What is it, baby?” he asks, his fingers touching my face.
“I've made plans.”
“What kind of plans?”
A lustful smile creases his lips, his gaze going down, feasting on my naked body.
“I can’t stay in town for this,” he says. “But I can take you with me, especially if you want to come like that,” he adds, tilting his chin down, motioning to my body.
He cups my breast again, straightly eye fucking me while sliding his phone into his pocket.
“You and your dirty mind,” I murmur, flirting.
His eyebrows lift, feigning surprise, a playful grin rolling to his lips.
“I’m sorry,” he says facetiously. “Have I got it all wrong?”
I push up on my toes and slide my hand over his groin, his hard flesh twitching.
“No. You got it right, but there is something else...” I say before moving my lips over his neck.
“You said you’d be here this week,” I murmur, slowly stroking his erection.
“What is so special about this week?” he asks, looking straight into my eyes.
A fiery smile lines his gaze, his hard meat heavy against my hand.
“Eve travels from New York. She took some time off to visit me, and I thought we could do something fun together.”
“Okay...” he says, musing. “I have a better idea.”
A secret grin sprouts on his lips.
“What?”
“I’ll tell you later,” he says, peeling my hand away and sliding his zipper open.
My eyebrows lift, a naughty grin tugging at his lips.
“I thought you had to leave,” I say, tossing a flirting smile at him and pulling out his erection.
“I thought you were asleep,” he throws back at me.
“I’m never asleep for that,” I say, lowering myself in front of him.
I wrap my hands around his shaft and swirl my tongue around his hard-on. Lust glints in his stare.
I move my lips and tongue, not breaking my stare, his eyes glinting as he nods appreciatively.
I stroke him with my hands, closing my mouth around his crown before bobbing my head until my cheeks go hollow.
Pulling my hair into his fist, he starts thrusting.
We’re like a perfect piece of machinery tuned for pleasure.
We’ve perfected our lustful dance, and secret language, little signals born out of subtlety, guiding us in scaling up and falling together just as fast.
He taught me well.
I suck him harder, my mouth arduously pressing on him, serving him a clue.
He doesn’t change his pace as he keeps rocking his hips, holding my head against his thrusts.
His eyelids slide down a little, his gaze still linked with mine, brimming with pleasure.
“Good...” he says curtly.
My fist moves down and up, sliding and twisting, as my free hand cups his balls.
A soft gasp falls from my lips as he grips his erection, pulls it out of my mouth, and lets it bounce free.
In one motion, he sweeps me off my feet and crashes with me into a nearby chair. His back sinks into the cushy armchair while my legs spread across his groin.
He fills me up, my center hugging his erection.
His eyes go up as I grab the back of the chair with both hands on either side of him, arch my spine and lean forward, riding him.
A satisfied grin stretches across his lips.
“Fucking good,” he murmurs, his gaze lingering on my face as I take him in with drunk eyes.
Grabbing my hips, he pulls me down on him harder.
“It doesn’t break that easily...” he says.
Smiling, we recollect our first time together when he said those words to me.
My knees slide back and forth, my legs spreading even more as I grind on him a little harder.
He drinks me in, feasting on pleasure.
“That’s fucking good,” he says, his eyes unfocused.
Nearing the tipping point, I experience the first shudder.
“Don’t stop,” he says, observing me through his thick eyelashes.
I pick up the pace.
He gets even harder.
“Go for it...” he says, a moan pushing up my chest.
That very moment, he springs out of the chair and crashes with me on the bed. My back hits the mattress, the back of my head sinking into the pillow while his weight comes on top of me.
His thrusts are hard and fast, my pleasure doubling and tripling as pleasurable shudders sweep through me.
“James... Fucking James...” I murmur, my lungs pumping air fast, my heart pounding, my pulse racing.
He grabs my butt and rails me fiercely.
Bodies locked, breaths clipped, we ride the crest of pleasure before slowing down.
Relief flows through us in the blissful aftermath.
A few moments pass before he rolls off me, his back hitting the mattress, a grin clinging to his lips.
I roll onto my side and push to my elbow, my hand sliding over his chest.
“I need to change my clothes,” he says, smiling and winking at me.
He starts to rise.
I push him down.
“About that change of plans.”
He lifts an eyebrow, grinning.
“You didn't forget, did you?”
“Nah-huh.”
Swiftly, he escapes my grip and pushes to his feet, his fingers already on his shirt.
With one flick of his hand, he takes it off and pulls away. Shirtless, he makes a beeline to the walk-in closet.
“James?”
I spring out of bed.
He exits the closet, a pair of hangers in his hand–– a new shirt and pants.
“Hold this, please.”
He hands them to me before shedding the rest of his clothes and tossing them into a hamper.
He heads into the shower.
“Are you going to tell me or not?” I ask, rushing after him.
My eyes go down over him and his still-hard cock.
“Leave them there and come with me in the shower.”
He motions to the chair. I set the hangers down, take a step, and stop.
His eyebrows lift, a smile lighting up his eyes.
“First, you tell me, and then I’ll go with you in the shower.”
“All right.”
He takes my hand, pulling me to him.
“No. I’m serious. I’m not going until you tell me.”
He spins around and cups the back of my hair, his lips landing on my lips.
His kiss takes me by surprise, softening me, his sensual strokes gnawing at my conviction.
I melt in his hands.
“Are you fucking with me?” I say, tearing my lips away from him. “There is no plan, is it? You just want to make sure I’m not mad at you for ruining my vacation.”
“Yes, there is a plan,” he says. “Preston wants us to fly to Monaco this coming weekend.”
My mouth falls open in surprise.
“What?”
He tips his chin down, still smiling.
“Mm-hmm.”
His fingers brush over my face gently while I search his eyes.
“What is that all about?”
He shrugs.
“I don’t know. He didn’t want to tell me.”
“And...?” I murmur, waiting to hear the rest of his plan.
“And we’re going to Monte Carlo.”
I toss a questioning look at him.
“We?”
He nods.
“You can spend some time on the Riviera. Ed’s not in Monaco until Friday when I come from Singapore.”
“Okay.”
“Not that I trust him with you,” he jokes.
I laugh.
“He’s in love,” I say.
“Are you?”
Chuckling, I give him a flirty smile.
“I think you know that already,” I say, stroking his face.
“So... What do you think?”
“It sounds good,” I say halfheartedly. “What about Eve? She planned on staying here with me until the end of the week.”
“Tell her to bring her passport. She’s coming with us.”
My mouth drops open, my eyes widening in surprise.
“No.”
“Yes. You can leave tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, my God... James.”
My arms open before closing around him, my lips crashing against his.
“I guess you like my idea,” he says as we tear away from each other.
“I love it...” I say, thrilled.
“Good. Now let’s get in the shower,” he says, a lustful promise flickering through his gaze.