Chapter Eighteen
Gray
“Then do it.” She pushes away from the wall as the doors part onto the deserted floor, but then makes sure her hand brushes my erection as she stretches up to whisper in my ear. “Make me dirty. Make me drip. You like knowing you’ve marked your territory.”
A feral sound rises up my throat. The little tease has my cock in a vice-like grip with her words.
She sashays out of the elevator and glances in both directions. “Which way is your room?”
“This way.” I take her hand and lead her down the passageway at a fast clip that she has to hurry to keep up with.
Impatient, I take out my door card and press it against the scanner while she slips her hands into my pants pockets from behind and does a reach around grab at my cock. Opening the door, I tug her inside and straight to the bedroom.
My fingers catch the hem of her dress and drag it up over her beautiful curves. She lifts her arms to the sky and then pulls them down when I have the material over her head. Reaching for her panties she wriggles them down her gorgeous thighs and lets them puddle on the floor.
“Place your hands on the end of the bed, Rica.” My need is urgent, animalistic, and pounding in my blood.
She bends over and gives me a view of her pussy while I shed my clothes. It’s a beautiful sight. The need to fuck her until she can’t take another drop is all I can think about.
“Fuck, you’re going to be so filthy by the time I’m done with you.” Gripping her hips, I line up and thrust deep. She takes me so well and so easily. All the way to the hilt.
A little moan accompanied by her squeezing me makes my eyes roll back. I let self-control dwindle, fucking her hard and fast until those moans are orgasmic screams and my climax overtakes me.
My cock loses some of its rigidity, but not enough for me to stop fucking her, though I gentle my movements. If we had a toy I would use it on her while I wait to be ready to go again, but since we don’t I reach around and play with her clit while I push my cum deeper inside her with each roll of my hips.
“What are you doing, Gray?” She moans, turning her head for my kiss. “You came. I came.”
“And we’ll both come again. Until this pussy can’t hold another drop. Or you tell me to stop.” I angle my hips to hit better.
“Don’t… stop.”
“Not going to.” Harsh breaths act as punctuation. “I just need a couple minutes. Before I’ll be ready.”
“God, you really are dirty.” She whimpers.
I scoop up some of her braids in my fist and hold onto them as the blood begins to pound back into my dick. A few minutes later her cheeks are clapping against my hips as I drive us both toward the brink of one more orgasm.
A blinding, toe cramping climax builds in my balls and the base of my cock. The ripple of her pussy around me sets me off like a bottle rocket. I pump her full of hot jets of my cum.
Lightheaded and slightly unbalanced, I ease out of her. She brims over with my cum. I push it back inside with two fingers. “You look so fucking sexy like this. Overflowing with my cum. Filthy.”
Perfect. A sight I could never get used to because she is so beautiful, but a sight I want to see over and over again. Another drop seeps out and I roll my finger through it and spread it all the way to her asshole.
She pushes back at me when I massage that spot. I’ll fill that at some point too.
I thought I had it all with Indy. I thought she was my forever. But she never made my chest swell quite like this. “Crawl into bed, Rica. I’ll get something to clean you up with.”
“Just come to bed,” she says before crawling over the mattress and under the covers. “I want to be filthy with you all night long. Especially if… will you hold me?”
“I’ll hold you.” Of course I will. I would do just about anything she asked me to.
I walk around the bed and climb in next to her. Turning off the light, I pull her back to my chest and slip my hand between her legs where I tuck two fingers back inside her.
“Is that some kind of plug? Are you plugging me with your fingers, Gray? You want to keep me all filled up?”
“I want to keep you…” I let the words derail while the thought spins out in my head. I want to keep her in my bed. I want to keep her as my friend. I want to see where this thing between us goes. How would that even work? I nuzzle my lips to her neck. “I want to keep you so fucking needy, I can take you whenever I want.”
“Like you even have to try.” She wriggles deeper into my big spoon as her breath starts to stretch out. “I’ve wanted you since I was fourteen.”
She falls asleep with my fingers plugging her pussy. And I lie there terrified to doze off. The last time I fell asleep next to her EJ woke me up, and I spent the next couple of months with her angry at me.
But it’s not EJ that bothers me. He’s at home, far away from this thing he would call a bad decision. And it isn’t because I could make America mad all over again. Though I prefer it when she likes me.
It’s that I’ll wake up thinking Indy is in my bed again. That for a moment I’ll trick myself so hard it will hurt that much more to come out of it and see America beside me.
America who—whether she meant to or not—just admitted she’s wanted me since she was fourteen. Who probably wants more of me than I have to give. And who I would never want to cause pain.
I lie there for a long time with these thoughts going around and around in my head while America sleeps peacefully in my arms. Until my shoulder goes numb, and I can’t bear the stillness anymore.
I carefully slide my hand from between her legs before slipping out from under the covers.
“Gray?” she mumbles. Her voice is groggy and thick.
“Go back to sleep.” I press my lips to her temple.
She burrows into the pillow as I pick up my pants and pull them on. Leaving them unbuttoned, I scrub a hand through my hair as I leave the bedroom. There’s a small table near the glass windows that lead out to a balcony, and I settle there with the view of the city lights while I boot up my laptop.
It’s much earlier in the States, though the office closed a couple of hours ago. EJ called a while ago. When I was getting the drinks at the bar. I’d shut my phone off then, but I turn it on and hover my thumb over his number.
It used to be that we were like brothers, and while I wouldn’t talk to him about intimate parts of my life, considering our entire adult life that intimacy was shared with his sister, I’d have called him to shoot the shit while working through it in the background.
I still have no compunction to share with him when it comes to America. I know his opinion on what we’re doing, and I don’t need him to reiterate it.
I call him back anyway. He has no way of knowing his cousin is taking up space in my bed.
EJ picks up the other end. “You’ve been quiet lately.”
“I’ve been busy.” I clear my throat. “With work.”
“Tell me about it.” EJ chuckles. “I’m dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on a settlement upward of three billion dollars. This shit is not for the weak.”
“Mikey Valance’s deal with the Bears blew up. We’re scrambling to find him a new team.”
He lets out a low whistle. “Fuck.”
“Fuck is right.”
“If anyone can bring it back from the brink it’s you,” he says.
“I hope so.” I open my emails to see some of my feelers are already being returned. My bosses aren’t showing the same confidence. They’ve decided to put Crew in charge of Mikey’s contract negotiations. They don’t trust me to do the job I used to be so good at. It’s been like this since I came back. But it won’t stop me from reaching out to my contacts. Mikey’s career has to come first. Hopefully this shows my bosses that they can still trust me. “How are your parents?”
We make small talk while I write emails and check player stats. The feelers I put out for Mikey are turning up some good leads. This might actually work out in his favor. I forward a few of them to Crew. Mikey’s career and his family are more important than my ego.
EJ’s putting the final touches on the settlement that he’s presenting tomorrow.
“We’re all heading to the Dells—” He stumbles to a halt. “Shit.”
“I’m not invited.” It’s the only reason he’s wishing he kept his mouth shut. It’s a family trip and that used to include me.
“No. That’s not… Of course you are.” Everything about the way he says it tells me that he’d rather go to the dentist and have teeth pulled than the awkwardness that would be me showing up to that trip. “It’s just… it’s to celebrate Indy’s recovery. It’s been almost a year.”
“I’m aware.” I’m aware of how long it has been since she ripped out my heart, stomped on it, and left it a beating zombie inside my chest.
“And Theo’s family lives out that way. And then there’s America and what happened in Positano. Have you seen her since you’ve been in the UK?”
I glance toward the bedroom. “No.”
“No? As in you haven’t reached out? Or no, as in she doesn’t want to see you?”
“I haven’t had the time.” I open another email from the office. I’m almost done with probation. I’ll have proved that I’m stable and trustworthy. I’ll get my client list back. And can stop worrying about whether my job is secure. My breath sticks in my throat as I stare at the words until they blur. “I’ve been too busy courting Everett Mann.”
“It’s probably for the best,” he says.
Yeah, it might be if it were true. But we’re so far past that. And there’s a good chance that I’m going to have to pay for it with my career. All-Star wants me to stay on, but only as long as I bring Mann. Without him… I won’t have a job.
“You’re still my brother. You don’t need to be dating my sister to be family.” Or dating his cousin. That part he leaves unsaid, but it’s there in the undercurrent. “Want to play some?”
“Think I’m going to log off actually.” I slump back in the chair. I suspected it would come down to something like this. But not over Mann. “Get some sleep. Next time?”
“For sure.”
Hanging up, I close my laptop too. Lumbering to my feet, I stretch as I consider going back to bed with America. She’s soft in all the right places, and smells so good.
But there are ghosts in the shadows of my mind and now, unemployment on the horizon. So I pace the living area and search for a nearby pizza place on my phone.
“Can’t sleep?” America fills the bedroom doorway when I glance up. She’s wearing my shirt. As I watch, she lifts the collar to her nose. “Is everything okay?”
Those beautiful legs, those sweet curves, those gorgeous expressive eyes are all fast becoming kryptonite. I’ll work out how to get Mann to sign. I don’t have another option. Although I wonder how much harder that will be once America tells him it’s over.
He seems to truly like her. If he realizes I had anything to do with why she no longer wants to see him he’ll no doubt be more interested in kicking my ass than signing on the bottom line.
I nod. “Are you hungry?”
Mann can be tomorrow’s problem.
“I was going to order a pizza.”
“Oh.” Her eyes light up and she rubs her hands together before pressing her fingertips to her lips. “Can we get kebabs? I know a place. It’s not far from here. They have the best garlic sauce. Oh and garlic potatoes.”
“You want garlic?” I tease. “What if I want to kiss you?”
“You’ll be as garlicky as me.” She sticks her tongue out before disappearing back into the bedroom. “And if you really don’t want to deal with my stinky garlic breath you can always get on your knees again.”
“Don’t tempt me, woman.” I prowl after her only to catch my shirt in the face.
“Should we order a ride?” she asks, wriggling into her dress.
I grab a fresh sweatshirt and hand it to her to put on over her dress. It’s gotten cooler since we were at the club earlier. “I only ended up having the one drink, so I’ll drive.”
“Okay.” She finds her heels while I dress. “I’m ready when you are.”
“I’ll grab my keys.” I follow her out.
In the elevator she wraps her arms around me and sinks against my chest. I hold onto her with a new sense of ease. We’re different now. Not just friends, but something more. Whatever more is I don’t want to run from it. I feel good around her, better. It feels like living again. I really like her. A lot.
I don’t want to hurt her at all, but especially just to keep my job.
There has to be some way to keep Mann while keeping America out of the fray.