I step onto the elevator with my room key clenched in one hand.

Usually, after a long day like this one, I head up to my room, shake off the cockpit smell, throw on a fresh blazer, and head down to the hotel bar. There’s always some woman sitting on a stool, dressed to the nines, just waiting for a guy like me to walk up and buy her a drink.

Tonight, I have better plans.

The doors open on my floor and there’s Katie, all dressed up and ready for a night out in the Big Apple. She smirks at me with interest but it quickly falls as I pass by her without a second glance. A quiet scoff and she steps on. Guess she’s still feeling a little dejected.

Bullet officially dodged.

I find my room and slide my key card into the lock. The light flashes from red to green and I step inside.

I kick off my shoes. I toss my jacket over a chair. I loosen my tie.

There’s nothing quite like a night in with your girlfriend.

I sit back on my bed with a small bottle of booze from the mini-fridge and my cell phone. It’s after ten here, meaning it’s still early on the west coast.

She answers within two rings.

“Hey, Thad,” she says, her voice distant and low.

“Hey. You sound… not good. What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just working on the project from hell.”

I laugh. “Well, take a quick break with me. You’ll feel better.”

“Did you just land?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Where are you?”

I slide off the bed and step to the windows. “Let me turn on the camera and I’ll show you.”

I flick it on and turn it around to scan the skyline for her. Her own camera pops up on my screen and I smile as I see her pixelated face. It comes into better focus after a few seconds. Faded makeup, smudged reading glasses, and a loose bun on her head. But still gorgeous.

She gasps. “That’s New York!” she says.

“Yes, it is.”

“Lucky bastard.” She squints with envy. “I guess you have some fun night out with the flight crew planned?”

I shake my head. “Nah.”

“Nah?”

“I’ve seen it all before,” I say. “I’d much rather hang out with you instead.”

She blushes and picks up a nearby wineglass. “Well… as long as you don’t mind watching me tear my hair out and slur obscenities.”

“I don’t.” I chuckle as I move back to the bed. “In fact, that’s my new favorite show.”

Phoebe twists to the right as a sound draws her attention. “Hmm.”

“What’s that?”

She slides off the couch, carrying me with her. “Someone’s at my door.”

“A visitor?” I feign a gasp. “At this hour?”

“It’s only seven,” she says, chuckling.

“Oh, right. Three-hour difference.”

“Well, with any luck…” she says, “there won’t be a time difference between me and New York for very much longer.”

“You don’t need luck, Pheebs,” I tell her. “That promotion is yours.”

“Yeah, I hope so.” She unlocks her door and opens it. “Well, hello there.”

I move my head, foolishly trying to get a better look around her. “Who is it?”

She twists the phone forward to show me.

I frown as his face comes into view. “Maximillian.”

He smirks. “Thaddeus.”

“What are you doing there?” I ask.

Phoebe sits down on the couch and lays her phone on the coffee table, propping it up and pointing it in their direction so I can see.

“Yeah,” she says at him. “I thought you had paperwork to get through.”

Max sits down beside her. “It went faster than I thought it would.” He kisses her cheek and then turns to wink at me. “What are you guys up to?”

She sighs and reaches for a stack of papers. “I am working. Thad just landed in New York and called to show me the pretty city lights.”

I nod. “Your pretty city lights. Soon you’ll be owning this town, Phoebe. You’re gonna love it here.”

Max looks down. “Yeah, I’m sure she will.”

“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves too much,” she says.

He licks his lips and leans in closer to her, sliding his hand over her thigh.

My frown deepens.

“How about,” he says, “you take a break with me and—”

“Nuh-uh!” I say, shaking my head. “No. She’s already taking a break with me.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“That’s right. Wait your turn.”

Phoebe laughs. “Guys, I can’t take two breaks. This book’s second act is a mess and if I don’t fix it by the time my boss gets here on Thursday then he’s gonna… take two breaks upside my head… or something. Fuck, I’m fried.”

Max grips the papers and slides them off her lap onto the floor. “Relax, Phoebe,” he says, drifting toward her neck.

His lips touch her throat and she closes her eyes. Her face flushes. She bites her bottom lip. He wraps one arm around her and lays the other hand on her breast.

“Max,” I say.

He pulls back and looks at me. “You know, I could always turn the camera away,” he warns.

I squint, betrayed by the blood rushing toward my groin. Phoebe visibly shivers in his arms. She wants it. She might even need it, given the stress she’s under. In the end, I don’t mind. If I can’t please Phoebe myself, then he will. Doesn’t mean I won’t gladly watch.

“Someday soon,” I say, faking an angry glare, “I will get you back for this.”

Max smiles and crushes his lips on Phoebe’s. She parts them for his tongue and they trade a few hard kisses back and forth.

Phoebe opens her big eyes and she looks at me, fully aware that there’s a camera on them. She shakes with nerves but the excitement on her face overwhelms any reluctance she has. I smile back, enjoying the view, and her lips curl for me.

Max raises her shirt over her breasts. She lies back as he slips down to kiss the thick peaks. He bites down and she flinches from the light, delicious pain it brings her. That moan. Those little noises she makes.

I reach for my belt.

He continues downward, kissing down her belly as he kneads her breasts. I keep my focus on Phoebe and her reactions. He squeezes and she quakes. He nibbles and she moans. He hooks his fingers into the elastic of her pants and she shifts upward off the cushion to let him pull them down to her ankles, panties and all.

She spreads her knees for him and he moves up to kiss her lips. I’ve seen enough of Max’s style to know that he won’t stay there for long. He’s an oral guy. He’ll linger and tease her for as long as possible before giving her what she really needs.

I grip my hard cock and stroke as he finally heads south. Phoebe keeps one hand on her breast while the other grips his hair. She guides him down, taking a little control, and I smile at the sight. She knows what she wants. Fuck, that’s sexy…

Max nibbles and kisses her inner thighs, nose so close to her slit that even I can practically smell it. My mouth waters, wishing I were there to taste her myself. I let the bad feeling pass through me. These long-distance nights won’t last forever. I’ll make sure of it.

He buries his face in her pussy and Phoebe gasps. Her back arches off the sofa, breasts heaving as pleasure courses through her.

I watch her face as it flexes and the moans tumble off her lips. My dick throbs in my hand. I imagine walking up to them right now. Phoebe would lean closer to me and prop herself up to align her mouth with my cock. She’d look up at me as I fucked her mouth. Max would make her come over and over again. The vibrations of her moans would make me shoot right into the back of her throat. She’d swallow like a good girl. She always does.

I let out a groan, nearly coming, and Phoebe’s eyes open for me. She smiles, still moaning and writhing beneath Max’s tongue as she edges with climax herself.

I alter my fantasy. Instead of coating her little, pink tongue, I pull out and come on her face. Thick ropes of it drip down her cheeks and nose. My woman covered in my seed. She licks it off her lips before opening wide for me again to lick me clean, too. Fuck, she’s perfect…

Max sits up and reaches for his belt, his chin glistening with her wetness. I swallow my saliva, envious of the taste he has on his tongue that I don’t.

Phoebe trembles. She’s so close to orgasm but Max wouldn’t let her have it. She’s one touch away. One good thrust and she’ll fall to pieces. I know the look. Max does, too.

He pushes his pants down over his ass, exposing himself and she shifts closer to align their bodies. Still, he makes her wait. He unbuttons his shirt and tosses it off his shoulders. She reaches up to claw at his undershirt and he lets her pull it over his head. It drops to the floor as he leans over her and pins her to the couch.

He finally penetrates her and I grip myself even tighter.

Phoebe’s jaw drops with satisfaction. He lowers down to kiss her as he fucks her, whispering words meant only for her ears. Whatever they are, they drive her crazy. She bites her lip. She moans even louder. She takes every hard thrust while I keep my stroke in rhythm with him. I imagine it’s me making her laugh and scream. It will be soon enough.

Max pushes up on his arms and stares down at her as she comes. He groans and flexes, stopping his grind and pulling out to jizz on her mound.

I drop the phone and come into my wide-open palm. The fantasy plays out in my head. Phoebe lying beneath me, gently quivering as she gazes back. My woman. Hell, my future. I kiss her and she kisses me.

The fantasy ends and I glance around my hotel room. I’m just a guy sitting alone, jerking off to his girlfriend while she fucks his best friend three thousand miles away. Consider my reality checked.

I slide off the bed and walk to the bathroom to wash my hands.

“Thad?”

I hear her call my name and I can’t help but smile. “Just a second…” I say, drying my hands on a towel hanging by the door.

When I come back, I pick up the phone to find her shut up in her own bathroom. “Hey…”

Her face lights up. “There you are.”

“Here I am…”

And here I’ll be for the rest of the night while she cuddles up with Max. I force the thought away. No petty jealousies, right?

I clear my throat. “Look, I think I’m gonna call it a night. Had a long day…”

“Okay,” she says.

“Goodnight.”

“Wait. Thad?”

I pause. “Yeah?”

“Please don’t go yet.”

She looks at me with those big, begging eyes and I melt. “All right,” I say.

“I just wanted a moment alone with you.”

“Oh, yeah?”

She exhales a thick breath. “That wasn’t too weird, was it?”

“No, that was really sexy. I’m happy to have been included. You looked amazing.”

Her face twists up as it all sinks in. “Never done it with someone watching like that before…”

I catch the pleasure dancing behind her eyes. “Did you like it?” I ask.

She nods. “I liked that it was you.”

My heart pumps warmth through my fingers. Phoebe Pink. Kinky, yet still so innocent.

“When are you coming home?” she asks.

I smile. “As soon as possible.”

“I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, Pheebs.” I bite my tongue to stop myself from saying what I really want to say. “Goodnight.”

She presses her lips together and I wonder if she’s holding back as well. “Goodnight, Thad,” she says, swallowing it down.

One more smile to get me through the night and I hang up the call.