The hawthorne brothers a.., p.47
The Hawthorne Brothers: A Complete Billionaire Romance Collection, page 47
Finally, I’m completely in. I take a moment to savor the sensation of being inside the woman I’ve wanted for so long, of having our bodies connected. Claire, too, stays still and quiet. Her eyes are closed.
I touch her cheek. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she answers as she opens her eyes.
Our gazes meet and heat ripples through my veins.
“Are you going to move or do you want me to take over?”
She pushes her hips against me and tightens around me to tempt me with the latter. I grunt, then give her a grin.
I wouldn’t mind her taking over, but not right now. Right now, I’m in charge.
I lean over her and give her a searing kiss just to let her know it. Then I pull away and start to jerk my hips. Claire grips the edges of the pillow beneath her head.
I keep my eyes on her face as I go on with my thrusts, my hips driven by the hunger deep within my body. The same pleasure that consumes her features fills my veins and I move even faster.
Her lips form an O as she throws her head back. Her eyes squeeze shut and her body trembles. I keep moving, managing a few more thrusts before I feel the waves of pleasure rolling in.
“Coming.”
I give a final, powerful thrust and bury myself deep inside Claire’s body. There, I let my cock unleash all my pent-up desire in its rubber sheath as every muscle in my body grows taut.
For a few moments afterward, I stay still, not wanting to move. Then, gradually, my body starts to relax. Except for my cock. It’s still hard. And Claire notices.
Her lips curve into a mischievous grin as she gives me a squeeze.
I put up a finger in warning. “Don’t do that. I have to change the condom.”
“Change?” she asks playfully. “Does that mean you have another?”
“Yes.”
She runs her finger down my chest. “How many?”
“Enough,” I tell her.
Or so I hope.
Claire pulls my face down for a kiss. She tugs on my lower lip, then looks into my eyes. I can see lust burning in her green orbs anew.
“Go and change, then. And hurry. Please?”
I give her a quick kiss before pulling out.
“As you wish.”
~
Hours later, I lie beneath the covers, my cock spent and my lungs still gasping for air. Sweat coats my skin. Beside me, Claire lies still and silent. I can tell she’s exhausted, too. She was barely moving during that last round. I almost think she’s asleep, but then she snuggles against me. She rests her head on the crook of my arm and lets out a sigh.
“Is that a sigh of contentment?” I ask as I look at her.
Claire nods. “Utter contentment.”
“Good.” I kiss the top of her head. “For a moment there, I was afraid I’d never be able to satisfy you.”
She frowns. “You make me sound like an impossible customer, the kind I hate.”
I give her a puzzled look. “You mean you’ve had customers who weren’t satisfied with your cooking?”
“You bet. I even had a customer throw a bowl of food at me. And it was perfectly cooked, too.”
“Wow.”
“What? Surely you didn’t think my life’s been perfect for the past few years. True, I had lots of fun. I had a lot of amazing experiences. But there were bad ones, too.”
“There are always bad ones,” I say.
“Yeah. Inevitable. But we can try not to dwell on them and definitely not let them get in our way.”
“Which is what you did,” I tell her with a look of pride.
“Which is what I did,” she agrees.
She puts her hand on my chest and draws circles over my skin with her fingertip.
“You know, maybe you chose to work at your father’s company. Maybe you didn’t. It doesn’t matter. You can always make a new choice.”
I look at her. “You think I should leave.”
“I think…” She lifts her chin to meet my gaze. “You should do whatever you want to do with your life, whatever makes you happy. Right now, you don’t seem happy.”
“I don’t?”
Claire shakes her head. “No.”
I stare at the ceiling as I gather my thoughts. “I don’t think I’m unhappy. I like my job.”
“But you don’t love it. It doesn’t get you out of bed in the morning…”
“Actually, it does.”
“But does it fill the void in your soul? Does it feel like what you were meant to do? Does it give your existence purpose and meaning?”
“Wow. That’s deep.”
She lifts her head and looks at me. “They’re important questions, Ryker. Maybe they’re the most important questions of all. And I’m not asking them because I’m disappointed in you. I’m not. I’m asking them because I don’t want you to be disappointed in yourself. Because you owe it to yourself not to disappoint yourself. Does that make sense?”
“Yes.” I touch her cheek. “And I know what you’re saying. But right now, I can’t think of anything else to do.”
“Have you tried?” Claire asks.
She really can be persistent sometimes.
“I just don’t want you to get stuck somewhere you don’t want to be just because you’ve grown comfortable there and you feel like there’s no other place for you. There is. You can make a place for yourself somewhere. Anywhere.”
“It’s not just that,” I tell her. “It’s not just me. There are people who have built their careers around me.”
“You mean your brothers?”
“There are people who rely on me. Not just my brothers.”
“I’m sure you’re important to them, but more than that, you are important. You shouldn’t keep yourself from making the most of your life just because you’re worried about what might happen to how others live theirs. They can rely on someone else. You can only rely on yourself to make you happy.”
Now she’s being pushy, but I don’t have the heart to scold her.
“Fine,” I tell her as I stroke her cheek. “When I think of something else I want to do, when I find somewhere else I’d rather be, you’ll be the first to know.”
“But you will try to think of something?” she asks.
I let out a sigh. “Maybe. Maybe when my brain starts working again, which will probably take a few days after how much work it just did.”
“Oh, come on.” Claire nudges my side before resting her head. “It wasn’t your brain that did all that work.”
My eyebrows furrow as I touch her hair. “Are you saying I wasn’t creative enough? I’m offended. I did try various… approaches and techniques, you know.”
“Fine.”
I lift my head to look at her. “Just ‘fine’? Are you saying you’re not satisfied after all?”
“Just shut up.”
She seals my lips with a kiss to make sure of it, then goes back to snuggling against me. I place my arm around her and play with her hair, not saying another word. I thought Claire wasn’t going to anymore either, but after a few moments, she speaks again.
“Did you mean what you said… about not caring what Joel thinks?”
My hand goes still.
Joel. I really wish Claire didn’t have to bring him up when we’re both naked in bed. But now that she has, I have to give her a reply.
“I… think I still care what Joel thinks, no matter what I want to think,” I tell her honestly as I wrap a strand of her hair around my finger. “But I’m just saying I’m not going to let his opinion get in our way.”
“So you’re going to tell him about us, then?”
I don’t answer. I want to say yes, but I’m still not sure I can and I don’t want to lie to her after all the sex we just had.
So I stay silent. Claire doesn’t say anything either.
She’s upset with me. I know it. She’s gathering her thoughts to launch an argument, one I’m sure to lose.
I draw a deep breath. Wait for it.
“You know, you don’t have to tell him,” she says finally.
My eyebrows furrow. “I don’t?”
Claire shakes her head. “So what if he’s your best friend? Even best friends have secrets from each other. I have this friend. She’s in love with her best friend but he never notices it or suspects.”
“So you’re saying we should keep this a secret from Joel?”
“I’m saying he doesn’t have to know,” Claire answers. “Why do we have to tell him? We both already know what he’ll think. And frankly, it’s unfair for him to think that way. It’s not like we’re draining the life out of him, like we’re committing a crime.”
But I’m breaking the bro code, which feels like a crime. In fact, I’m starting to feel guilty now.
“You know what? Let’s not talk about this right now. We’re both tired.”
“You’re right.” Claire snuggles against me more. “I’m tired. I think my eyelids are getting as heavy as boulders.”
“So close them.” I stroke her hair. “Just sleep.”
“What about you?” she asks. “Are you going to leave as soon as I’m asleep?”
“No. I told you I’m not like Asher.”
“Hmm.”
“Besides, I’m tired, too.”
“Then you’ll just be here.”
“I will,” I assure her. “I’ll be snoring just as loudly as you.”
Claire chuckles. “I don’t snore.”
“You used to.”
“Well, I don’t anymore.”
“We’ll see.”
She falls silent. A few minutes later, I hear her even breathing and then a snore. I grin.
Well, at least it’s not a loud snore like my dog used to make. It’s a relatively quiet, feminine snore. More like a puppy’s whimper. Cute actually.
I plant a kiss on Claire’s forehead, close my eyes and let the sound wash me away to the shores of sleep. I have a feeling I’m getting a good one.
Chapter Nine
Claire
“You look like you’re in a good mood,” Natalie tells me as we sit in the tasting room of the bakery that the wedding planner chose, supposedly to choose a wedding cake. “Do you feel like telling me why? Because I feel like listening.”
I look at her as I consider her kind offer. I want to tell her. Really, I do. I want to tell the whole world that I finally had sex with the man I’ve been dreaming of for the past seven years and that it was out-of-this-world, mind-blowing-beyond-imagination sex. So much so that it’s been two days and I still can’t get it out of my head. Frankly, I don’t think I ever will.
But I can’t tell anyone, especially not Natalie. If I tell her, she’s bound to tell Joel. Maybe not intentionally, but it will still happen. And then Joel will freak out. He’ll beat Ryker to a pulp. If Ryker fights back—and he has every right to—Joel will get beaten to a pulp. They’ll both get hurt and Natalie will get worried. And then I’ll feel guilty, though some of that might go away after I get an earful from Joel, which I surely will because he still thinks I’m eight, or maybe six.
In short, telling Natalie is a snowball of disaster waiting to happen, which I don’t want because right now, I just had sex with the man I’ve been dreaming of for the past seven years and it was the best sex I’ve ever had.
In short, I don’t want to ruin the mood. Or anything. So no. I’m not going to tell her.
“No, thanks,” I say. “I think I’ll just hold on to the happiness for a while.”
That should be fine, right? I mean, when people are sad, like when they’re grieving or going through a rough patch, they want to be left alone at first, and people respect that and leave them alone. Surely you have a right to be left alone when you’re happy, too. At least, I hope Natalie thinks so.
She nods. “Okay.”
Of course she does. She’s an angel.
“But I just want to say that I’m happy for you. Whatever it is that’s making you happy right now, I’m glad you have it.”
I give her a big smile. “Thank you, Nat. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
She places her hand over mine. “And if you ever need someone to talk to, whether it’s because things get so happy that you can’t contain them any longer or because things stop being happy—which I hope won’t happen—I’m just here.”
“I know.”
She pulls her hand away and places it on her lap. Then she draws a breath.
“Nervous?” I ask her.
“About the cake? No.” Natalie shakes her head. “Choosing the cake is one of the fun and easy parts. But yeah, there are more intimidating, daunting things that I can’t help but feel anxious about.”
“Like?”
She shrugs. “A lot of things.”
“You know you can always talk to me if it gets a bit much,” I tell her. “We can even get away from everything for a while.”
“Aw. That’s sweet.”
Not as sweet as the smile she’s giving me. Or her personality.
“Thank you, Claire.”
I nod. “You’re welcome. By the way, why isn’t Joel here? Is he coming?”
I glance at the door.
“No,” Natalie answers.
I give her a puzzled look. “Why not?”
“Because I’m the cake expert. Or so he says.”
“But it’s his cake too.”
“Also, he said he doesn’t mind whatever I choose. If I like it, he’ll like it.”
“Bull,” I say. “He just didn’t want to come here, did he? Let me guess. Either he can’t tear himself away from work or there’s a video game he wants to catch up on.”
Natalie grins. “You know your brother so well.”
I’m about to ask her which one Joel used as an excuse, but a woman wearing a red apron appears carrying a tea sandwich tray. Instead of tea sandwiches, though, each level is decked with miniature cakes.
She sets down the tray on the table in front of us.
“Please try each one and decide which you like best. I’ll check back with you after a few minutes.”
Natalie nods. “Okay.”
After the woman leaves, she starts with the tasting, urging me to do the same. I don’t think I can take a mouthful out of all of them, so I only taste the ones I know I’ll like—raspberry swirl, carrot, apple spice, vanilla almond, red velvet, lemon, and strawberries and cream.
“So, what do you like best?” Natalie asks me when I’m done.
“The raspberry swirl,” I answer. “Although the strawberries and cream tastes good, too.”
“I know. So do the chocolatey ones. They all have just the right level of sweetness. And the banana is just nostalgic for me. And the carrot seems healthy. And the lemon isn’t too tart.” She lets out a sigh. “They’re just… all good.”
Which means she doesn’t know what to pick. And I can tell it’s starting to make her anxious.
“Hey.” I place my hand on her shoulder. “Just take a deep breath. This is the fun and easy part, remember?”
“I thought it would be. But now… I don’t know. I don’t know which one I like best. I don’t know which one Joel will like best. Or the guests. What if I pick a cake no one likes?”
“Nonsense. You said it yourself: All the cakes are good.”
Natalie shakes her head. “But I still don’t know which one I should pick.”
I know the feeling. I may never have had to choose a wedding cake, but I remember one time that I was asked to make a dish, any dish I wanted, and I just couldn’t come up with one. How did I get out of that situation again? Oh, right. I cooked three different dishes and tied them all together.
“How about you choose three different flavors and not just one?” I suggest. “Maybe the baker can make a cake with three tiers and each tier can have a different flavor.”
That succeeds in getting rid of some of the wrinkles on Natalie’s forehead.
“You think?”
I nod. “I think so.”
She smiles but then lets out another sigh. “I still don’t know which ones to pick, though.”
“It’s okay,” I tell her. “Take your time. Taste them all again if you like.”
Natalie just touches her chin as she stares at the cakes.
“Do you want me to call Joel?” I ask her. “He really should be here, you know.”
“Aha!” Natalie exclaims as she raises her finger. “I’ve got an idea.”
“What?”
“How about you put a blindfold on me, line up all the cakes in a row in random order, and then I’ll point to three?”
Is she serious?
I give her a look of disbelief. “You want to leave the choice of your wedding cake to fate?”
Natalie shrugs. “Fate brought Joel and me together. Fate can do this.”
I sigh. “Fine.”
At least Natalie doesn’t seem stressed anymore. In fact, she looks excited for the first time since we got here.
“Oh, and don’t tell me what flavors I chose,” she adds. “Tell the baker, but don’t tell me. That way, even I will be surprised when I find out what they are on my wedding day.”
“Okay.”
Aren’t there already going to be enough surprises for her on her wedding day? Well, at least this will be a pleasant one. Or so I hope.
She hands me her handkerchief. “Here. Use this to blindfold me.”
“Okay.”
I roll the handkerchief and tie it over her eyes. She rubs her hands together and claps them.
“Now, this is fun.”
I guess it kind of is. There’s a thrill in not knowing what exactly is in store.
A thrill.
My lips curve into a grin as an idea pops into my head.
Oh, tonight is going to be a thrill, alright.
~
“What is this?” Ryker asks me as I slip the mask I bought over his eyes moments after he comes through the door of my apartment.
“A blindfold,” I give him the obvious answer.
“And I’m being blindfolded because…?”
“Because we’re going to have a taste test. And by we, I mean you.”
