Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
EVE
“K it.” I blink a few times to be sure my eyes aren’t fucking with me.
That this isn’t just one of my dreams he’s appeared in each night since last week.
But wait.
“Topher.” That was the name in the portal. “The enchantment request form said I’d be working with Topher .”
The second I say it, I wince. Seriously? That’s what I’m hung up on?
Not the fact that my best friend’s brother just banged me senseless at a tropical sex resort?
Kit just stares, eyes wide with shock and Caribbean sun. “I’m Topher. He drags a hand down his face. “Eve, I—you didn’t—I had no idea—” He stops to draw breath. “You’re here.”
“ You’re here.” How did this happen? “ This is your research?”
“Yeah.” Perfect pecs flex as he picks up the drape that’s dropped to the floor. “I’m uh—studying sex workers.”
“By being one?”
“Basically.”
Holy fuck. “Camille didn’t tell me you worked here.”
“Camille doesn’t know.”
Lobbing my best friend’s name back and forth feels wrong right now. I’m sprawled naked on a table, sweat and sunlight sprinkling my flesh that’s still flushed from what he just did with his fingers.
From what I’d been hoping he’d do with his tongue.
I must lick my lips because Kit—or Topher?—drops his gaze to my mouth. “It’s my first day.”
For some reason that strikes me as funny.
“Well, let me know if you need a last-minute job reference.” I choke back a laugh and wonder if I should get dressed. What is he doing here? “Sorry, I’m just…surprised.”
“No kidding.” He seems to realize he’s holding the drape and offers it to me. “Do you want to cover up?”
“Uh, sure.” Taking the sheet, I scoot to the edge of the table. His eyes trail my breasts as I feebly twist the fabric into a makeshift toga. The knot doesn’t stay and the whole thing slips down to my waist.
“Fuck it,” I mutter, lifting my gaze to his. “I think we’re a little past modesty at this point.”
Besides, I already know he likes my tits. Not because he said so, either. He can’t seem to stop staring, those gentle blue eyes devouring my breasts with a hunger that’s palpable.
“Feel free to stay naked,” he says with a shake of his head. “Your body is fucking beautiful. Don’t cover up on my account.”
“Thank you.” On the beach in the distance, a calypso song swirls with the soft splash of waves. There’s a clatter of plates and I wonder who’s sampling the Crystal Bliss culinary enchantments.
“You’re a consort.” I shift on the table and a bright splash of sunlight hits my face. I squint at Kit’s face and consider. “This is some kind of research thing?”
“Here.” He reaches up to adjust the shade screen, which also helps shield us from view. “Better?”
“Yes, thank you.” My legs dangle off the edge of the table. I feel awkward and strange and—I’ll admit it—still pretty turned on.
“Crystal Bliss hired me to gauge how employees—how consorts—hold up in this unique environment,” he explains. “Rather than conducting a traditional employee satisfaction survey, I’ll be working alongside them while interviewing staff members and studying the psychological impacts of the job.”
“Holy shit.” I still can’t wrap my head around this. “Have you done this before?”
“Gone undercover as a sex worker? No.” Kit drags a hand down his face. Probably the same hand he used to make me come my brains out. “My specialty has always been niche sexuality studies. As a social psychologist, I research interpersonal and group dynamics, how individuals are impacted by the people around them…” He trails off, shaking his head. “Never mind. I won’t bore you with details.”
“Do I look bored?”
His eyes sweep my body and go molten. “You look fucking delicious.”
We stare at each other for a few silent seconds. I can’t believe he’s here. Kit Plier, the man I haven’t stopped thinking about for a week. The man who delivered the best sex of my life.
He’s here at Crystal Bliss Retreat.
What are the fucking odds?
I’m slowly becoming aware that I’m naked and still unbearably aroused. He’s shirtless, and I survey the bare, broad expanse of his chest. Those huge, capable hands.
“Okay, um.” I tug at the sheet by my hip. “If it’s awkward for you, we can stop here. I’ll give you a great review, but you don’t need to complete the massage.”
Kit cocks his head and the corners of his mouth twitch. “Is it awkward for you?”
“No.” Oddly enough. “Awkward’s not the word I’d use.”
There’s that lip quirk again. “What word would you use?” Blue eyes drop to my breasts and turn fiery. “Because I have some of my own.”
“Like what?” My voice sounds high and breathy.
“Beautiful.” He takes a step toward me, eyes holding mine. “Breathtaking. Sexy as fuck.” Another step closer, eyes filled with desire. “Unbelievably hot.” One more step and his thighs bump my knees. “Shall I go on?”
I try to swallow, but my throat feels tight. I’m twitchy and way too aware of the ache between my legs. The echo of his hands on my body, his fingers inside me, his breath on my skin?—
“Eve?”
“Yes?”
Blue eyes search mine. “You requested a massage.” His hands cup my knees and I draw a sharp breath. “Unless you object, I intend to provide the service you requested.”
There’s a throb in my core as I swallow. “Don’t you mean enchantment ?”
He laughs, or maybe growls—it’s impossible to tell. But there’s no mistaking the need in his eyes.
With another low rumble, Kit shoves my knees apart. Moving between my spread thighs, he tips up my chin to peer deep in my eyes. “Tell me now if you want to stop.”
I don’t make a sound. No way in Hell do I want this to end. I want him . Badly. Any way I can have him.
And the truth? I haven’t stopped thinking of his mouth between my legs for seven days, sixteen hours, and roughly thirty-nine minutes.
Standing flush against me, his hips between my thighs, Kit shifts his hips just a little. I groan at the sudden friction. I’m still naked and slick as the fly of his shorts skims my sex. There’s no mistaking the rock-hard bulge. I shudder as he brushes my clit.
“Let me enchant you, Eve.” He leans so his breath skims my neck, and I shiver again. He tips my head back to kiss his way down my throat. Then he pauses at the spot where my neck meets my shoulder, nipping and suckling my heated flesh. “I’m very good at my job.”
“The job you’ve held for less than a day?” I groan as his mouth finds my nipple. “I’m aware.”
As his tongue laves that sensitive point, I let go of the sheet and anchor my hands on his shoulders. Taut muscles bunch in my palms, and whatever he’s doing with his tongue makes me moan.
Kit comes up for air as deft fingers move to my breasts. He’s stroking my nipples as he looks in my eyes. “You know what I planned when I asked you to roll to your back?”
I gasp as his thumb rolls one nipple. “Trigger point work on my anterior deltoid?”
One edge of his mouth quirks. He dips his head down and returns to kissing my breasts. “Is that what you want?”
“No.” I breathe in and out, clutching his head as he moves down my body. God, he’s good with his mouth. His tongue swirls my navel and his voice rumbles rough on my flesh.
“Lie back, Eve.” He kisses his way down my belly, nudging me back to obey him.. “Let me taste that sweet pussy again.”
“ Okay.” I try to sit up and reach for his cock. I want this to feel good for him, too. “But?—”
“Let me give you pleasure you don’t have to work for.” His eyes lift to mine with a question. “I’ll fuck you if that’s what you want.” The heat in his gaze says he wants that, too. “But lying there, letting me pleasure you with my mouth?—”
“Yes,” I gasp, licking my lips. “I want that.”
A smile tilts his mouth at the corners. “Good.”
He guides me to lie down again. My legs dangle gracelessly off the table, but not for long. Kit grabs the bolster and sinks to his knees, cushioned from the concrete as he eases my legs over his shoulders. Relieved of the burden of gravity, I tip back on my elbows to watch him.
He kisses his way up my calf, taking his time as silky hair grazes my shin. His mouth moves to my knee, then my thigh, then higher still. I can’t see his eyes now, but the heat of his breath makes me shiver. He’s almost to the junction of my thighs and I catch myself holding my breath, begging for Kit to move up one more inch.
“Such a tease,” I breathe softly as his lips brush my hip.
“You want my mouth here?” He kisses the spot where my leg meets my body. “Or here?” He moves an inch closer, warm breath fanning my sex.
“Oh.” The sound slips out of me as his lips touch the top of my pubic bone. He’s so fucking close I can feel it.
“Or here.” The tip of his tongue skims my clit and I gasp.
“ Yes .”
“This is the sexiest”—a pause as his tongue dips inside me—“softest”—another long lick up my seam—“sweetest pussy on earth.” He flattens his tongue on my clit and I whimper.
The words feel as good as his mouth. Closing my eyes, I give in to the pleasure. The roar of the sea serves as the perfect backdrop to the heat of his mouth on my sex. His tongue sweeps inside me and I wad up the sheet in my fists.
“Oh, fuck.”
He licks me again with a growl. “God, Eve.”
He’s doing that thing he did last time, sipping my clit like it’s one of those tiny cocktail straws. The sensation feels wild and I arch up for more.
“So fucking good.” I babble the words mindlessly, letting him worship my pussy. How is he so great at this?
Fingers get added to the mix and he coaxes me closer to the edge, using his tongue to open me. Kit devours me like he’s starving. Like I’m the best meal he’s had in a month. He moans and the raspy vibration sends shockwaves of pleasure through me.
“Please,” I beg, fisting my hands in his hair. “Fingers.”
There’s a chuckle and one second later, he’s sliding two digits inside me. They’re thick and they’re long and my God —is there a goddamn g-spot magnet in the tip of that middle finger?
I angle up higher to watch the man work. A smile tugs his mouth as he pumps his hand slowly, eyes seeking mine as his fingers plunge in and out.
“You like when I fill you up?” he growls. “When I suck on this tasty little clit?”
“Yes.” As he hits something magic, I arch off the table. My back’s bowing up, but his hand on my hip keeps me steady.
I want him to fuck me, but I also love this; the sweep of his tongue, the thrust of his wrist, the filthy words spilling from his lips. A sexual feast meant only for me.
Why did I ever want silence? All I want now is Kit’s voice coaxing me over the edge.
“That’s it, sweet Eve.” His tongue swirls faster, making me dizzy. “You’re squeezing my fingers so hard.”
I feel myself clenching as the orgasm bears down like a cyclone approaching. “Kit, fuck—that feels unreal.”
“Come all over my face.” Another soft lick as his tongue swirls my clit. “Think you can do that for me?”
I nod and cry out as the first wave takes me. “Oh, God.”
His fingers thrust deeper, tickling my G-spot as I cry out again. He suckles my clit as I arch up and scream.
Bright lights burst behind my eyelids as I ball up the sheet in a fist. One wave ebbs as another one hits me, sweet surges of pleasure that shake me to my core.
The orgasm lasts for a long fucking time, wringing me out with its force. Kit brings me down slowly, fingers still moving inside me.
As the last spasm fades, he plants a soft kiss on my hip bone. “Feeling enchanted?” One edge of his mouth quirks and I laugh.
I try to sit up but my muscles won’t hold me. “Fuck.” I flop back on the table and throw an arm over my eyes. Spots of bright color dance on the backs of my eyelids. “That was insane.”
He chuckles and withdraws his fingers, leaving me empty and throbbing. “You’re fucking incredible.”
There’s movement somewhere inside the room before I hear the sound of a fridge opening and closing. Seconds later, he’s back with a bottle of water. “Need help sitting up?”
“I’m good.” This time I manage, leveraging myself on an elbow. Accepting the water, I take a long drink and sigh. “Best massage I’ve ever had. Hands down.”
“We aim to please here at Crystal Bliss.” He offers a self-deprecating smile. “Sorry to shock you like that.”
“I mean, it’s not a bad surprise.” The guy who’s delivered some of the best orgasms I’ve ever experienced works here , at the place I’ve traveled to experience fantastic sex?
Not really a sacrifice.
But I do have some questions. “I take it you looked at my profile?”
“Yes.” He leans back on the frame of the door. “Didn’t know it was you at the time, but I reviewed your file.”
I slide off the table and stretch. “Did anything shock you?”
“Shock me?” Kit tilts his head. “Definitely not. I’m here by choice, remember?”
“Yeah, I just…” What am I trying to say? “My ex got kinda weird when I shared fantasies.”
Weird is putting it nicely. The first—and only—time I asked Brock if he’d ever consider bringing a third person into our bedroom, he looked me dead in the eye and frowned.
“I’m not really into weird kinky shit.” He frowned. “Wait. You’re not a nympho, are you?”
And wanting so badly to be normal, I laughed and assured him I’d been joking.
“Eve?” Kit’s smile is warm and inviting. “You’ve definitely come to the right place if you want to explore new things. Or try things you’ve done before with different partners, different combinations of partners or toys or?—”
“This is a safe space?” My smile feels a little wobbly. “Is that what a shrink would say?”
Kit grins. “This shrink says you can enjoy whatever the fuck you want in a place designed to cater to your sexual desires. Or anywhere, really.”
The passion in his voice makes me shiver. “Okay.”
“With whomever you want,” Kit adds. “Crystal Bliss employs more than five dozen consorts of all genders. You can request any of them, or let the system decide for you. It’s all up to you, Eve.”
Have I ever felt this much power? The sense that I’m in charge of my sexuality? Just me, Eve Goodrich from Portland, Oregon. Not my parents. Not Brock. Not anyone else but me .
Even as I think that, some tiny voice in the back of my brain starts to whisper.
Kit. I want Kit.
But that’s nuts.
It’s only the part of me wired by my childhood to seek out monogamy. To find one partner and settle into a comfortable, committed, normal existence.
That’s not what I’m here for.
“Thank you,” I tell Kit. “For the best massage ever. And for what it’s worth, I’m happy you’re here. It’s nice seeing a familiar face.”
“You’re welcome.” Kit’s eyes meet mine and something swirls in my belly. “I’ll see you around, Eve.”
Leaning in gently, he plants a soft kiss on my lips. Then he draws back with a smile. “I’m glad you’re here, too.”
Then he turns and slips through the door.
* * *
Caribbean sun caresses my cheeks and my arms as ocean waves kiss the powdered-sugar shore. I’m sprawled on a queen-sized sun bed that’s draped with white gauze on all sides of its four-poster frame.
“Oh my God.” Camille’s voice sounds crisp in my earbud as I smile at the shirtless man handing me a mojito. “I’m so thrilled for you! Your first happy ending massage.”
“There’s a card idea for Hallmark.”
Camille laughs. “Did you get to touch his cock?”
I wince just a little because yeah. We’re talking about her brother. Not that she knows it.
“It was mostly just oral and manual stuff.”
“That can be so much better than penetrative sex.”
“No kidding.”
I’m bringing my pal up to speed on my first few hours at Crystal Bliss Retreat.
Most of them, anyway.
I conveniently left out the part where her beloved brother banged me silly on a massage table. For whatever reason, Kit’s chosen not to tell his family about this career move. I won’t be the one to spill it.
“Was massage guy hot?” Camille asks. “Like—scale of one to ten. Would I fuck him?”
“No!” I bite my lip as shirtless mojito guy turns. “Not you,” I whisper, turning my focus back to Camille. “Yes, massage guy is hot. Really hot. But not your type.”
“Why not?” My therapist bestie sounds baffled. “I’m a big fan of hot guys who deliver multiple O’s.”
“You have Hayden. Get your multiple O’s from him.”
“I do.” It sounds a bit forced, but before I can push, Camille switches gears. “Does the resort look like it does on the website?”
“Better.” Adjusting the brim of my sun hat, I scan the sun-swept expanse of sandy beach. “You’d love this shoreline. Turquoise ocean as far as you can see and white sand for miles. Tons of shirtless men bringing drinks or snacks or offering foot rubs.”
“God, that sounds fabulous. What kind of snacks?”
I laugh because of course that’s what my foodie friend would ask. “I saw chips and guac on the menu. Fresh ceviche, shrimp cocktail?—”
“Served with a side of meat twinkies?”
“Gross,” I say, snickering. She’s the only sex therapist I know with an endless arsenal of penis euphemisms.
“Seriously, how’s the food? The website said it’s five-star quality.”
“No lie.” I sip my mojito as a trio of toucans soars overhead. “For lunch, I had rum glazed rockfish with grilled pineapple and this amazing glass noodle dish. It had coconut and fresh local veggies.”
“Yum.” There’s a grin in her voice and I know what’s coming. “Make sure you save room for all the beef missiles, bacon bazookas, custard pumps, sausage sabers?—”
“You’re disgusting.” It’s why we’ve been friends for so long. “Tell me you don’t talk with patients like this.”
“Of course I don’t. I save it for you, sweetie.”
“Thanks.” I can count on Camille to make me laugh. “Everything okay with Bratwurst?”
“Your cat is currently licking his fuzzy little balls and eating freeze-dried minnows by the dozen.”
“Not at the same time, I hope?”
“I’m so glad you’re doing this, hon.” Camille sighs, and I picture her sitting back on the cushy white couch in the house she shares with her longtime boyfriend. “Putting your pleasure first. You got a little lost for a while there. I worried about you.”
“When?” Not that I’m unaware I went a little off track, but I’m curious. “Where do you think I got lost?”
She’s quiet a moment, considering. There’s a fine line between therapist Camille and bestie Camille. I’m not sure who might speak next.
“You had a wild streak in high school,” she says slowly. “Nothing out of the ordinary. It was great, actually. And for a while there in college and grad school, you got experimental. You did all the fun things so many normal young women try out.”
There’s that word again. Normal . Funny how it means different things, depending on who says it.
“I had fun in my early twenties.” That’s when I had my first threesome. One of three I’ve had in my life, all before age twenty-five.
Camille knows all of this. “But then it’s like something switched off,” she continues. “Like your stepdad’s judgement and your mom’s compliance just…I don’t know. Seeped into your brain in a slow trickle after years of having purity culture poured into you.”
I know what she means, and Camille isn’t wrong. “I watched Perfect Presley getting all the things I wanted,” I admit. “This great career. A cool house. A doting boyfriend who proposed in the world’s most romantic way. I just—I don’t know.”
“You thought maybe your ticket to normal—to winning your parents’ love—was to do everything your stepsister did?”
“Pretty much.” I feel stupid admitting it. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
She goes quiet again. “You seemed happy at first. It’s common for women to chase sexual thrills and then settle down. It wasn’t my place to judge. I thought that’s what you wanted.”
So did I. “I wouldn’t have listened,” I say softly. “If you’d told me you thought I was making a mistake with Brock? I don’t think I would have heard you.”
“I know. And I couldn’t risk our friendship like that. I already knew Brock didn’t like us spending time together.”
“True.” That’s one thing I always pushed back on. The only time he referenced ‘your snotty little sex therapist friend,’ I looked him dead in the eye.
“Don’t ever— ever —make me choose between you and Camille.” I stared him down until he held up his palms in surrender. “You won’t like my choice.”
He backed off after that, though he never tried to hide his irritation. Each time I hung out with Sara and Camille, he’d get huffy. I could live with that fine, and Camille rolled her eyes when he’d give them the cold shoulder.
“Fuck.” Pulling myself back to our beachfront phone chat, I draw a deep breath and exhale an awkward laugh. “Sorry. Went kinda dark for a second there.”
Camille chuckles. “Want me to spew more penis euphemisms that sound like food? Boney cannelloni, meatsicle, frank-n-beans, kosher pickle, pork sword…”
“Okay, okay.” My shoulders relax now that we’re back on a lighthearted track. “Seriously though, I’m glad you pushed me to come here.”
“Me, too. Tell me more about the sex workers. Please say they’re not impoverished souls forced into selling their bodies.”
“Definitely not.” I’ve chatted with several consorts since I got here. “They have men from all over the world. Women, too. They all seem happy, and not in a fake way.”
“Do they have to be out hustling clients like street prostitutes?”
“No, that’s the great thing.” I feel oddly protective of Kit and his colleagues. “Consorts are salaried. They’re not actually paid to have sex. We’re not even allowed to tip them. They get generous benefits, paid time off, full use of spa services?—”
“You must have grilled someone, huh?” She gives a fond little laugh. “I’ve always loved how much you care about people.”
I think about Kit and his research. How he’s here to make sure consorts are happy. Something warm pools in the pit of my belly and I drag my thoughts off Camille’s brother.
She can’t know about this.
“It’s not all sex, all the time,” I tell her. “They also have non-sex forms of bliss.”
“Like what?”
“Spa stuff and Pilates and this whole room filled with rescue kittens and another with puppies.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. I guess they figure we need pleasurable moments not involving genitals?”
Camille laughs. “Are you scheduling a kitten petting?” She groans. “I just heard that come out of my mouth.”
“My massage was actually called the Bliss Kitty Sensuous Surprise.”
She snorts. “Are they trying to be cheesy?”
“I don’t think so. Also, big nope to petting puppies and kittens. I can do that at home.”
“Atta girl.” Camille chuckles. “Maybe I’ll get engaged, just so I can break it off and hit the Jilted Brides Honeymoon Club.” She sounds like she’s teasing, but there’s an edge to her voice.
“Camille? Is everything okay?”
“Absolutely.” She switches the subject quickly. “Christine and Courtney say hello. And Clara watered your plants this morning.”
“I’ve been gone twenty-four hours.”
“You know how they are. Sisters get smothered with love.” My friend’s voice turns thoughtful. “I think that’s why they took it so hard when Miranda broke Kit’s heart and cut us off. Nothing’s more painful than someone rejecting your love.”
My throat squeezes tight and I nod. “That must have been hard for Kit.”
“It’s strange now, thinking you know him. That you slept with him.” She starts to sound stilted. “I’m so used to talking about him as someone you don’t know. I didn’t expect it to feel this weird.”
“Weird how?” Guilt creeps up my throat and I swallow.
“It’s hard to describe. I guess I liked having separation between my superhero big brother and my high school bestie. Like you existed in different worlds or something.”
“I can see that.” I hate that I’m already lying. That I’m not telling her I’ve seen Kit again.
“Anyway, I’m glad it happened. That you got your one night with my brother.” There’s a sweet note of sadness in her voice. “I want you to be happy.”
“But?” I can tell by her voice there’s a but.
She hesitates. “I’m glad it was just a one-time thing. Boys aren’t worth risking our friendship, you know?”
“I know.”
And I know in that moment that I can’t ever tell her.
It’ll be our secret, Kit’s and mine. As long as he keeps his mouth shut, our chance meeting here can be nothing more than a tropical extension of our first hookup. A stealthy vacation fling.
“I miss you already,” I tell her. “But I’m so glad I’m here.”
“Promise me something, okay?”
“Okay.” There’s no hesitation, though part of me hopes she won’t ask me not to touch Kit again. “Whatever you want.”
“Promise you’ll put yourself first. That you’ll prioritize you —your pleasure, your needs, your sexual satisfaction.”
“I promise.” I think I can do it. I’m already halfway there.
“And promise we’ll never never let a man get between us again.”
“I promise,” I say, swallowing hard.
Crossing my fingers, I pray those two vows don’t conflict.