Chapter 24
CLEO
His mouth was hard against mine, hungry and demanding. I matched his intensity, biting his bottom lip and making him groan. His hands were everywhere. On my waist, in my hair, sliding down to grip my ass.
“You drive me fucking crazy,” he growled against my mouth.
I dug my nails into his shoulders. “Good.”
In one swift move, he lifted me onto the counter.
The marble was cold against my bare thighs, but I barely noticed because Cash was shoving my knees apart.
He stepped between them and moved his mouth over my jaw and down my neck.
His hands slid up my thighs with bruising pressure.
His teeth on my neck gave me a vague idea of what it must feel like to be the subject of a vampire attack.
Damn good. That’s how it felt.
“Is this what you want?” he asked, his voice rough as his fingers traced the edge of my panties.
“Yes. I’m not playing games anymore. Stop talking and touch me.”
His eyes darkened at my command. He hooked his fingers into my panties and yanked hard. They tore away from my body. More destroyed clothing. I don’t care. I don’t feel bad about it.
He tossed them somewhere behind him while his mouth continued to devour my neck. I should feel exposed, sitting on a bathroom counter in just a bra, but I didn’t. I felt powerful.
When his fingers finally touched me, I gasped. I was already wet, had been since that kiss on the balcony. He slid one finger inside me, then two. My head lolled to the side. The invasion was too much and not enough. His thumb circled my clit with just enough pressure to make my hips buck.
“Look at me,” he said.
I did. His eyes were intense, focused entirely on my face as his fingers worked inside me. He was still fully dressed while I was practically naked. The contrast made everything hotter.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said.
I believed him. He didn’t dole out empty compliments. He said what he meant and he believed I was beautiful.
His fingers curled inside me while the pad of his thumb continued to rub my clit. My head fell back as pleasure rapidly built. I was climbing so fast I could barely breathe. It was too much. My body felt like there were a million needles pricking my skin.
“That’s it,” he murmured. “Let go for me. Let me feel all that Cleo energy exploding on my fingers.”
His thumb pressed harder and circled faster. I shattered. My orgasm crashed through me in waves. I cried out, not caring who might hear. His mouth captured mine, swallowing my moans as his fingers worked me through it.
Before I could catch my breath, he lifted me off the counter. My legs wrapped around his waist instinctively as he carried me to the bedroom. He unceremoniously tossed me onto the bed.
I watched him undress in quick, jerky movements.
He pulled his tie off in one smooth motion.
His fingers worked quickly on the buttons of his shirt, revealing more skin with each one.
When he shrugged it off his shoulders, I couldn’t help staring.
His chest was defined, not overly muscled but strong.
There was a thin line of dark hair trailing down to the waistband of his pants.
More. God, more.
He unbuckled his belt, and my mouth went dry.
“Condom?” he asked, his voice strained.
“In my bag,” I said, nodding to my suitcase.
Yes, I brought condoms. I wasn’t planning on sex with Cash, but I also didn’t want to have the opportunity and have to deny myself because I wasn’t prepared.
He stripped naked. When he turned back to me, I took a moment to appreciate him. Cash Bancroft was magnificent, all lean muscle and purpose.
He rolled the condom on and stalked toward the bed like a predator in the wild spotting his next meal. I reached behind me to unhook my bra, letting it fall away. I really didn’t want that getting torn. It was Victoria’s Secret and not cheap.
His eyes darkened further as he took in the sight of me completely naked.
“I’ve been thinking about this since I first saw you,” he admitted, settling between my legs.
“Liar.” I laughed. “You hated me when you first saw me.”
He smiled, a genuine one that transformed his face. “I never hated you. I just didn’t know what to do with you.”
“And now?” I asked, wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling him closer.
“Now I know exactly what to do with you.”
Cash entered me in one slow thrust that had us both groaning. He filled me completely, stretching me in the most delicious way. For a moment, neither of us moved. Or breathed. I just absorbed the sensation of being impaled on Cash Bancroft’s gorgeous cock.
Then he started to move, and coherent thought became impossible.
His strokes were deep and controlled. I dug my nails into his back, urging him faster.
I hated that he was so good at this. He slid in and out knowing just where all the sweet spots were.
I was racing toward my second climax with embarrassing speed.
“Cash,” I moaned.
Something in him broke. That infamous Cash control slipped. Suddenly he was pounding into me. His hips snapped forward with an urgency that matched my own. The headboard slammed against the wall with each thrust.
Every nerve ending was on fire. I wrapped my legs tighter around him, changing the angle so he hit exactly where I needed him.
“Fuck, Cleo,” he groaned. “You feel so good.”
That was it. My name on his lips had me falling apart again. My body clenched around him. He followed me into bliss moments later. His punishing rhythm faltered as he pressed deep inside me. His body shuddered with release.
We were breathing hard. Our skin was covered in sweat. He carefully pulled out and disposed of the condom in the bathroom before returning to bed.
I expected him to go to his room, but he slid behind me. His body spooned mine. I stared at the wall and tried to collect my thoughts, which had scattered in the throes of ecstasy.
Why did you do that?
The question echoed through my mind. I knew why. I’d known since the Hamptons. I set a boundary I couldn’t hold. My body had rebelled against my logical brain. Which was fine. Bodies made decisions. Adults managed those decisions and moved forward with information.
Except I was stuck in Rome with him. I couldn’t just climb out of bed and slink back to my apartment, knowing I’ll never see him again.
I will see him. Often.
And I had to fix whatever this was before it ruined my friendship with Melody. At the end of the day, Cash was family. I was the friend. I knew I’d be the one pushed out.
I shifted slightly and felt his arm tighten around me.
“I’ll fix it,” I said softly. “The Angelica thing. I’ll figure out a way to clean it up.”
He stirred slightly. Not asleep yet, or not fully.
“I should have just been your arm piece.” The words tasted bad but I said them anyway. “You were right. I went off script and made a mess and I should have talked to you first. I’m sorry. I’ll make it right.”
“Stop.” His voice was low and sexy and my body was asking for another run at Cash Bancroft. “I overreacted.”
“You didn’t. The lie was reckless.”
“The situation was already messy. You made a call. It wasn’t the call I would have made, but it wasn’t wrong to try. We’ll fix it together. It’s not only on you.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay,” he said.
A few minutes later his breathing changed, deepened, and I felt the full weight of him go slack behind me. I didn’t move.
The ring was still on my finger. I could see it in the low light from the city coming through the curtains.
I wondered how much the thing was worth.
Several women had been admiring it at the gala.
I looked at it for a long time, letting my thoughts drift to dangerous fantasies I knew would never come true.
How are you going to tell Melody?
Oh God. Melody.
I ran through the conversation in my head and could not find a version of it that didn’t end with her making a sound only dogs could hear.
She’d been suspicious in the Hamptons. When I told her I was dropping everything to come to Cash, she definitely knew something was up.
That was the infuriating thing about having a best friend who knew me too well.
And Austin. Austin was going to find out. I would never live it down. I had fallen for the stupid Bancroft charm just like every other woman on planet Earth.
I was going to have to stand next to Cash at a christening someday and smile pleasantly while internally combusting. He was going to be perfectly composed and I was going to be quivering and melting and desperate for more of his attention.
Except that was never going to happen.
Because this was a travel fling. That was the only honest category for it.
Two people in a foreign city with manufactured intimacy and high stakes.
Too much champagne and a fabricated engagement, and those conditions produced feelings that didn’t survive contact with regular life. I knew this. Everyone knew this.
Mistaking angry sex for something more would be the kind of mistake I couldn’t afford.
After the mess tonight, Cash was unlikely to be enthusiastic about helping me launch my own business.
We would go back to the real version of things.
He was a Bancroft and I was Melody’s best friend.
We occupied completely different stratospheres.
We’d be polite at the many functions that were coming our way.
Birthday parties. Holidays. Backyard barbecues.
My heart rate picked up and I recognized it for what it was. I was spiraling. I was thinking twenty-two steps ahead and I hadn’t even taken the first one.
Nothing had to change unless I wanted it to. I could go home and keep working for Melody. I was good at it and I loved it. It was my thing. Cash was the one pushing me to change and move out of my safe space.
Nothing had to change.
I was still the same person I’d been before this trip. This had been a detour.
I could put the ring in his hand in the morning and get on a plane and go home and chalk this up to Rome being Rome.
The breathing behind me stayed deep and even while I lost my shit. I closed my eyes. It would be okay. I knew my place. I had my own security blanket.
It was enough.