Eighteen months later

“We really shouldn’t do this...”

Georgie gasped and swallowed hard as I pushed her up against the white vanity. “It’s not illegal,” I said with a smirk.

“But it’s b—”

I stole her next words with a kiss, sucking in her bottom lip. She moaned into me, a deep and hungry sound, and I curled my fingers in her hair, groaning low when her tongue slipped into my mouth. I reached down and grabbed her ass, grinding myself against her.

“Wait, someone could hear us,” Georgie murmured, pulling away a moment later. “There’s a ton of people out there!”

“That’s what makes it so fun.” I grinned against her ear, leaning closer to her.

She smiled deviously. “I guess there is a wall between us and them…” she said. “But we have to be quick. We’re expected out there soon. Especially you.”

I regarded her through a lusty haze. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. Not when you look this fucking good.”

“I shouldn’t have even let you into the room,” she said, shaking her head with a teasing grin.

I trailed a path down her bare upper back, the pressure of my fingertips increasing as I tried to slip under her strapless dress. It was too tight, and there wasn’t enough time for me to undo it, so I changed tactics. I leaned down and put my hands up the skirt of the dress, hiking it up as I grabbed her ass and pushed her into a sitting position on the vanity. Some makeup bottles and compacts went flying, and she giggled as she spread her thighs invitingly.

“What do you want to do to me?” she asked in a breathy voice, looking at me with half-lidded eyes.

There were so many fucking things I wanted to do to her. I’d spent a good portion of the last year and a half doing most of them, but when it came to her, once was never enough. Or twice. Even a million times probably wouldn’t be enough to sate my appetite when it came to Georgie’s body. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever met, inside and out, and she deserved to be worshiped. I didn’t just want to make her come, though. I wanted to make her smile, wanted to make her laugh.

Since our return from Saint Clare Island a year ago, we hadn’t gone a single day without seeing each other. The two week vacation was like a crash course in relationships for both of us, and now there was nothing in our way. Nothing to stop us from being with each other whenever we could.

Georgie showed me that I could actually be with someone. For real. That latent unease about inadvertently fucking everything up with her didn’t bother me anymore, because I knew she was always there for me no matter what, even if I messed up and said stupid shit on occasion.

In return, I showed her that she could ditch the fear of betrayal which kept her closed off for so many years. I would never leave her without warning. In fact, I would never leave her at all. She knew that. Nothing could tear us apart, and we grew closer every day.

We even lived together now, at my place in Del Mar Heights, or ‘Paradise’ as Georgie called it. She’d kept the townhouse she owned, though. She worked hard to buy it, and I thought it would be sad to see her give that up so soon, so I suggested she hold onto it and rent it out for a while. She agreed, and she found a tenant easily—her friend and colleague Tiana, who’d been hunting for a new place around the same time.

Ever since then, my house was Georgie’s house too. We were truly inseparable.

“Why don’t you tell me?” I murmured, stepping in between her spread legs. I wanted to make her beg, wanted to see her eyes darken as she demanded my cock.

“I want you inside me,” she replied, cocking her head to the side. “Now.”

Close enough. I undid the top button of my black pants but left them up, teasing her with a mere glimpse of my erection. Then I reached up her skirt, tucked my thumbs into the waistband of her panties and pulled them down past her knees as she squirmed on the vanity. One glance at her face, the tight clench of her jaw, and I knew she was ready for whatever I wanted to give her.

She let out a breathy, expectant moan as I reached down and freed my cock from my underwear. The glint of hunger in her eyes made my cock throb like crazy. Her expression was nothing short of desperate need. Pushing myself closer between her legs, I pressed my cock up to her bare pussy, rubbing it in circles over her clit. My breath was heavy against her neck, and my mouth watered at her delicious scent.

“Nate, please...” she whispered. “I want you.”

“Good.” I moved my cock down, pressing it right up against her soaked entrance. “This is mine,” I murmured roughly.

“Yes,” she gasped, arching against me. She wrapped her legs around me, begging me with her body.

My eyes stayed locked on hers. I was about to thrust myself all the way inside her tight pussy when a knock at the door startled me.

“Georgie? You still in there?”

It was Tiana.

Georgie immediately pressed her hand over my mouth. Then she took a deep breath. “Just fixing my lipstick and getting my shoes on! I’ll be out soon.”

“Okay, good. Your mom is going nuts looking for you. Also, we can’t find Nate. Any ideas?”

Georgie gave me a devilish grin before answering. “I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

“I swear Bobby and I saw him walk in earlier, but now he’s vanished. So weird! He didn’t answer Bobby’s text a few minutes ago, either.”

As well as living at Georgie’s old townhouse, Tiana had been dating my brother for the last five months. They’d gotten on like a house on fire since they first met at a dinner party that Georgie and I hosted.

When Bobby told me they were officially together, his words were accompanied by the first genuine smile I’d seen on his face since the day of his doomed wedding to Libby, in those early moments at the church before the awful truth surfaced.

Christ, that fucking wedding… it was a black stain on our collective memories. Even thinking of it made my jaw twitch.

I didn’t like the fact that having my fortune returned to me came at the cost of my brother’s happiness, but I suppose it was for the best that Libby’s true nature was forced out into the open that fateful day on Saint Clare. Either way, she was going to leave my brother and break his heart, so it was better that things happened the way they did. That way, at least he knew at the end of the day that it was never his fault; not something he did wrong.

Despite that, he’d still been devastated for months after the revelation of Libby’s wrongdoings, but he got through it with our support, just like Georgie said he would. The introduction to Tiana really helped things turn around for him, and now he was finally back on his feet. He was energetic, he was working hard, and he was happy again.

There was one silver lining to the hard times we’d experienced after Libby’s betrayal. It taught us to be honest with each other and stop bottling up our true feelings. If one of us had a problem, we discussed it with the other, no matter how small or petty we thought it was. We were brothers, so the size and scale of issues didn’t matter. It was our job to support each other through thick or thin—just like Mom always wanted for us.

As for Libby, she was serving time in prison for what she did (as was her shady accomplice Justin). Sometimes Georgie missed her sister, missed the relationship they used to have, but as much as it hurt, she had to accept it was gone now. She’d tried to visit Libby a couple of times, but Libby simply told her to fuck off and told her it was ‘her fault’ she was sitting in prison. That upset Georgie at first, for obvious reasons, but she’d eventually come to the realization that some people just couldn’t be reached or changed, no matter how hard she worked at the relationship. In other words, some people were just assholes. Ever since that acceptance, Georgie had been a lot happier.

She took another deep breath, her face flushing with a mixture of exasperation and need. “He’s probably in the bathroom. Anyway, I’ll see you out there,” she called out to her friend.

“All right.” We heard the staccato sound of Tiana’s stilettos as she stepped away from the door. Georgie’s shoulders drooped with relief, and she brought my head closer with her hands, snaking her fingers through my hair.

“Now,” she commanded.

She didn’t need to tell me twice. I pushed myself inside her, tongue in her mouth, consuming her. Our breaths matched, pants filled with gasps and moans, and I thrust deeply, groaning as she clenched her muscles around me. I didn’t need to be gentle. She wanted it hard and fast. Rough and sizzling hot.

“So fucking wet,” I growled. “Fuck…”

She sank her teeth into my shoulder to muffle her climax only moments later. That was my tipping point too. I gripped her hips hard as I shot my release deep inside her, and she gasped and clenched around me even harder.

I cleaned myself up with a wad off tissues. Georgie did the same before giving herself a cursory glance in the mirror. “Wow, I thought that would mess up my hair, but it looks fine,” she said, pulling down her dress.

“You always look fine. Better than fine, actually.”

She smiled and looked at my reflection in the mirror. “Suck-up,” she teased. She peered at herself again. “Jeez, look how red and glowy my cheeks are now. Who needs to spend fifty bucks on blush at Sephora when there’s a guy like you around?”

I chuckled. “Is that why you keep me around?”

“I can think of a few other reasons.” She turned and glanced at the clock. “Shit, you better go. You’re meant to be up there now.”

I nodded and adjusted my tie before leaning down to quickly kiss the top of her head.

“Are you ready?” Georgie asked, her eyes wide as she stared up at me.

I winked. “Of course.”

She smiled and finished smoothing down the silky cream fabric of her dress. “Then I’ll see you at the altar in five, Mr. Man Candy...”