3
I slept the sleep of the dead last night. Barely woke to mumble a sleepy hello to Skyler when she called and then crashed hard until morning. Back at work, I finally have a minute to review the People magazine spread. I’m unimpressed. It was supposed to be labeled “Bared to You” like the book Skyler loves, but no. That would be far too much to ask. The heading now reads “Skyler Paige Bares It All” and then goes on to talk about her happy upbringing, her start in acting, and even more information on her parents’ untimely demise than is warranted.
All the planning and special photo shoots were all twisted around. There are more pictures of the two of us kissing and being overly friendly than need to be shared. The pictures are all tasteful, which isn’t the problem. Bo took them, and the man does damn fine work. If these were private images for us to enjoy, I’d be clapping the guy on the back and thanking him for doing superb work. Only seeing my relationship with Skyler bleed out onto the pages of a top magazine is not part of my life goals.
Frankly I’m surprised at how much they played upon our budding relationship, and I notify my lawyer of my concerns on Skyler’s behalf, as well as my own. He informs me that since we sent over the files and left the interview open ended, they could report what they wanted to report. Unfortunately all of it was true. However, the way the story was twisted didn’t speak to Skyler’s true nature or what she wanted to express to her fandom or the public at large, and that bothered me.
I toss the magazine on the desk and pick up the phone, wanting to hear her voice.
“Hey, you . . .” Her voice is sleepy and muffled.
Sleepy Skyler. Mmm. I love sleepy Skyler. She lets me do anything to her in the morning. Go down on her, lick, nip, and suck on her breasts until she’s begging for my cock. One time, I even woke her enough so I could shove my hard dick into her mouth. She took it like a champ, sucking it down while waking up.
I groan and fist my hand, wishing I were touching her in some way. “Morning. How’d you sleep?”
She hums. “Good. I was exhausted. Didn’t finish up until late after I talked to you. Rick and I didn’t even have dinner until close to midnight. We ended up calling in twenty-four-hour Chinese food. I practically crashed in my kung pao chicken.” She yawns loudly.
Rick the Prick having a midnight meal with my girl. I scowl but ignore the comment, not wanting to rile her up again after yesterday’s cock-up.
I glance at the clock and note it’s eight. Not too early, but my woman sounds wiped. “When do you have to go back in?”
“Noon. They had some problem with the equipment . . .”
“Ah. Well, that’s good for you. Gives you some extra time to relax before picking it back up.”
“Yeah.” She hums again before exhaling long and slow. God, I can so clearly recall the feeling of her waking up against me, her breath feathering out across my bare chest. I miss it more than I should.
“I just read the People piece.”
Silence greets me.
“I’ve already contacted my lawyer . . .”
Skyler yawns again. “They can’t do anything, honey. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Besides, everything they printed is the truth.”
I grit my teeth. “Yes, but it wasn’t what we discussed with them.”
“You’ll learn soon enough that nothing the press or media says is ever what they’re going to print. They always do what they want in the end. Could have been a lot worse. At least it puts us in a good light.”
“All I know is that bridge is fucking burned to the ground,” I snarl, and run my hand through my hair, wishing there were more I could do or say.
Sky chuckles. “Okay. Oh, I have good news for you.” Her voice takes on a sweet lilt, which acts as a balm to my frayed emotions.
“Really? Please, for the love of God, lay it on me. I could use some good news right about now.”
“I have the entire weekend off. Friday included. I thought maybe I could come to Boston. Meet your folks. Spend the weekend with you . . .”
She’s not even here and the grin I’m sporting is from ear to ear.
When the fuck did I get so excited about seeing a woman?
Never is the answer.
It’s Skyler. My personal game changer.
“Sky, baby, you have made my fucking week.” Already I’m imagining all the things I want to do to her, plus the things I want to show her once I let her out of my bedroom. Of course, the guys and Wendy will want to see her. “I want you to meet Wendy and Royce too. He’s itching to grill you. Make sure you have nothing but good intentions.”
She laughs heartily. “Awesome. I was thinking perhaps I could sneak over alone . . .”
Immediately my hackles rise. “Peaches, I know you want to have freedom, but baby, that’s not the life you have. You gotta make sure Rachel and Nate escort you. I’m sorry, but your safety is more important than privacy. Especially since the spread came out. The paps will want a piece of you.”
She groans and sighs loudly into the phone. “For once in my life, I’d like to be a no-name. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, and thanks to you, I’m over my slump, but the lack of privacy is—”
“Fucked up. Daunting. Stressful.” I can think of a hundred things to label what she must be going through, and I’ve only had a tiny taste. The paps were out in front of my building when I left for work, taking pictures, and at my office, again taking more pictures. I ignored them and moved on. It had to be a million times worse for my girl.
“That and more.”
“I know, Sky, but you have to be safe. There are a lot of wack-jobs out in the world. Promise me you’ll bring your crew with you?”
She growls under her breath, sounding like a little fire-breathing dragon. “Fine.” She’s not happy about it.
“One day we’ll figure out a better system, but for now, where you go, they go. Promise me?”
“I promise.” She lets out what sounds like a frustrated breath.
“Good. Now what are you wearing?” I say salaciously into the phone line, holding my breath until she gives full details.
The knock on the door may as well be pounding against my chest. I’ve been waiting all afternoon for her to arrive, making sure my place is picked up, dirty clothes in the hamper, dishes in the dishwasher. The cleaning service came yesterday to scrub away any man filth and dust from being away so long.
I can’t help smiling as I walk to the door and fling it open.
There she is. My dream girl in all her glory. She’s wearing a black halter-style one-piece, which crosses delectably at her tits and flares out at the waist into wide, flowing, belled legs. Her feet are encased in a pair of sexy-as-fuck gold strappy heels. Her blonde hair is parted down the center, the long layers cascading in beachy waves over her shoulders.
“Jesus!” I gasp, losing my cool in one word.
Her brown eyes flare in appreciation as she takes in my dress slacks and light cashmere sweater. “You guys can go to the hotel. I don’t believe we’ll be leaving tonight,” she says, smirking.
I finally notice Nate enter the doorframe and set her suitcase inside. He grins and winks before looping an arm around his wife. “Call if you change your plans.”
Skyler doesn’t take her eyes off mine when she responds, “Will do.”
I hold the door open farther. She doesn’t walk through the door, she sways inside, her small juicy ass bouncing against the thin silk fabric a bit with her efforts.
My mouth waters with the desire to bite right into that fleshy surface. I push the door and kick it shut, locking it behind my back. She tosses her coat onto my couch and scans the area before turning around. “Nice place,” she quips, before lifting her hand to the back of her neck.
As if in slow motion the swaths of fabric at her neck slip down, uncovering her strapless bra, and slide across her bare abdomen and over her rounded hips and toned thighs to fall straight to the floor. A scrap of black lace in the shape of a triangle is covering her sex.
Skyler places her hands on her hips. “You going to stand there all night, staring with your mouth open, or are you going to kiss your girlfriend hello?”
I blink stupidly a few times, taking in the swell of her breasts being pushed up by her bra, the delicate hourglass shape of her small waistline, the flare of her hips.
“My girlfriend?” I tease. It’s the first time either of us has used the standard title people give the woman they’ve committed to seeing exclusively.
She grins. “Mm-hmm. I read it in a newspaper this morning.”
I take one step closer, watching her pupils dilate. “The newspaper, huh? Must be true. You know they only print facts.” I grip my sweater and undershirt in one go, pull them over my head, and toss them to the floor.
She licks her lips when my naked chest comes into view.
While her gaze runs up and down my chest, she reaches behind her back and unclips her bra. It falls to the floor, and I’m gifted with pale pink tips already erect due to her obvious excitement.
I swallow around the sudden burst of arousal that hits me. My cock hardens painfully in my pants, and ripples of excitement rush along my nerve endings in every direction, readying for the moment when our skin touches for the first time.
“Peaches, you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I’m one lucky man.” I shake my head and fist my hands.
She loops her hands at the tiny line of lace at each hip, pushes the fabric down, and shimmies out of it, baring every inch of her naked body. Her wet center comes into view, and I can no longer hold back my carnal response. Everything in me is straining, reaching for her . . . my dick, my hands, my entire body. In two big strides I cup her cheeks and smash her lips to mine.
My girl opens her mouth immediately, tangling her tongue with mine. She tastes of mint and smells of peaches. I suck on her bottom lip, kissing her hard, harder than I normally would, but I can’t help it. I need to feel her and be felt by this woman.
One of her hands tunnels into the back of my hair, holding my head to hers; the other locks around my shoulders, nails digging in for purchase. The heels she’s wearing help her stand closer to my height, making it easy to devour her mouth.
I tilt her head and drink deep from her, solidifying everything between us.
Lust.
Desire.
Need.
We’re reconnecting in the same way we began. Only now we’re familiar. We know what the other likes and wants, making every kiss more intense. Every touch a branding of skin on skin.
With her chest pressed flat against mine, I can finally breathe again. The tension, which weighed so heavily on me from our last day in Copenhagen until right now, is finally lifting.
I rip my mouth from hers, both of us panting, our foreheads resting against one another.
“God, I missed your mouth,” she whispers in the quiet space between us.
I grin wickedly and kiss her wet lips hard before falling to my knees in front of her. I clutch her thighs when she teeters off-balance. Her hands flail but then grip my shoulders, finding purchase.
“We can’t have you missing my mouth, now can we?” I waggle my eyebrows and inhale her delicious scent only a couple of inches from her center, taking in the familiar, rich essence of her arousal. I lick my lips and stare up at my dream girl.
Her nails bite into my shoulders as she boldly widens her stance, opening herself to me, being vulnerable in a way I know in my heart she’s not been with another man. It’s a gift I relish and plan to honor with a dozen stellar orgasms this weekend.
I ease my hands along the outside of her thighs from knee to hip, caressing up and down. She trembles under my fingertips, wanting what I’m about to do to her almost as much as I want to drive her insane and hear her scream my name while under my tongue.
“Honey . . .” Her voice is coated in desperation.
I let her need fill me up as I lean forward and open her lower lips with my thumbs so I can reach my goal in the first swipe. The second the flat of my tongue touches her, she ignites, crying out to the ceiling.
Soft. Lush. Heaven.
Her taste covers my tongue, and my hips jut forward on instinct, my body wanting what my mouth is receiving. I run my tongue up and down her slit, licking every inch of her before I spread her wide and hold her firmly so I can fuck her with my tongue.
“Parker,” she gasps, one of her hands digging into my shoulder as she gyrates her hips in small circles, greedy for more.
I move my mouth and insert two fingers deep into her wet heat. Her body goes rigid at the invasion, and a heavy moan, which may as well be a hand squeezing my dick, filters through the air. I become so hard in response, I have to undo the button and zipper of my slacks to give “the beast” more room.
Taking my time, I lick around her tight bundle of nerves, alternating between sucking and flicking it with the tip of my tongue. Using a steady, unhurried rhythm with my fingers, I thrust and retract evenly, loving the sensation of her internal muscles gripping my fingers with every plunge.
“Please . . . I need to come.” She stirs her hips and grips my hair with one hand, tugging at the roots until I stop licking and look up at her. Her arousal coats my lips deliciously, and I only want more. Honestly, I can’t get enough of her taste on my tongue.
“Honey, make me come,” she begs, sinking her teeth into her plump bottom lip. As I take in her naked body from my kneeling position, she’s absolute beauty personified.
It hits me like a punch to the chest that I’m on my knees, worshipping this woman’s body, and there is no place on earth I’d rather be. It’s a profound thought, which flares my nostrils as I suck in lungfuls of her honey scent. I flex my fingers to hold her in place and cover her aching bundle of nerves with the heat of my mouth. I lock down on the firm kernel and rub back and forth with as much pressure as I can muster with her constant movement.
Skyler’s body jolts against my hold, both of her hands holding my head to her core as she bucks against me wildly.
My dick is seeping at the tip, and I shove my underwear down to wrap its girth in a firm fist to stave off the desire to come. The sound of her losing her mind in ecstasy, her taste on my tongue, and her scent in my nose could have me going off any second.
I lock my lips over her hot bundle of nerves again and suck until she comes in a long stream of yeses and profanities.
The second her body starts to shake with aftershocks from one helluva powerful orgasm, I stand up and shift her to the side where I can rest her ass on the back of my couch. Shoving my pants to my ankles and kicking them off, I center myself between her thighs and my raging hard-on at her slippery slit and thrust home.
“Fuck!” I pull out to the tip and slam back in.
Perfection.
Stars race across my vision and relief flickers out of every pore while her tight sheath locks on to my cock. She wraps her arms around my back and sucks on my neck.
“Fuck me hard, honey. We both need it,” Skyler pants against my ear, before nibbling on the cartilage.
Shooting star–like tendrils of pleasure surge through my veins, propelling me to take her harder, faster, deeper until I’m powering into her. Every thrust better than the last.
“Perfect,” I grind out through my teeth.
Thrust hard.
“Fucking.”
Thrust deep.
“Woman!” I growl out.
Before she can respond, I pull out, grab her hips, and spin her around so her pert, juicy ass is pointed at my cock. She grips the couch back and, once again, widens her legs. I can see her glistening sex, swollen and waiting for my entry. It makes me dizzy with lust and greed.
I palm her cheeks with both hands and spread them so I can see everything. Her dark rosette winks, and even though we haven’t talked about anal play, I’ve got to taste her everywhere. There will be no inch of Skyler Paige I haven’t kissed or licked. I curve my body over her form and kiss a line down her spine, over her tailbone, pucker, and to her center. Skyler’s body quivers, and she sighs loudly when I glide over her dark hole, leading me to believe she’s not averse to a little ass play.
I want to test her limits a smidgen, so I flatten my tongue back over her center and trail it over her slit and up to the forbidden place I haven’t touched yet. I swirl my tongue around the tight rosette, catching a whiff of her peachy bodywash. I groan and flick my tongue against the sensitive muscle until Skyler is wiggling her ass and whimpering for more.
Who am I not to give the woman what she wants, at least a little of what she wants, until I can properly prepare her to take my cock up her tight ass? Using my thumb, I dip it into her wetness and thumb-fuck her for a few lunges, getting the digit nice and soaked with her arousal. Once I’ve got her moaning consistently, I pull out, stand up behind her pretty ass, and plunge my cock straight into her slit. Her little pucker closes tight as I thrust a few times inside her heat before I feel she’s let her inhibitions go enough to circle the muscle teasingly with my thumb.
“How’s this, Peaches? I fuck you while playing with your pretty little ass.”
“Mmm . . . so good.” She pushes her body back against my cock, which sends a bout of euphoria skittering out from my dick, up each nerve ending, and out my lungs in a rough burst of air.
“Jesus!” I hammer her harder in retaliation for her surprise move.
She loves it so much, one of her hands leaves the couch and slides into her curls.
“You playing with yourself, baby? Reach lower, feel me fucking you while I shove my thumb in your ass.”
“Oh my God . . .” She gasps as I dip the tip of my thumb into her.
She follows through on my command with her hand. The second her fingers graze the sides of my cock where I’m taking her, I lose it.
Each caress of her fingers against my length and balls is like a jolt of nirvana. I hold on to the feeling as long as I can, wanting her as high as I am. “Come with me . . .” I plunge my thumb in and out of her ass and thrust my hips, battering her swollen sex until her entire body locks down.
“Yes!” She screeches like a banshee, and I redouble my efforts. Pounding into her, holding my thumb deep inside, my other four fingers locked over her tailbone so I can tug her ass and fuck her center at the same time.
Her body is limp as a rag doll while I keep thrusting . . . until she surprises the hell out of me and goes off again. Less intense than the first time, but enough to send me straight over the edge into bliss.
My balls draw up, my mind goes blank, and all I can see, hear, and feel is Skyler. She’s all around me as I plant myself flat against her, curve my body over her back, and release deep inside. Shot after shot, I lose all the inhibition, stress, and tension that have crept up this past week until nothing but peace remains. As I come to a few moments later, I’m resting over my woman’s naked body, sated and wrung dry.
Firming my stance, I ease out of her, lift her up into my arms in a princess hold, and carry her to my bed. Once there, I lay her down before hitting the bathroom for a warm washcloth. When I come back, I ease open her legs, and she doesn’t protest or even stir. I’ve drained two orgasms out of my girl, leaving her dead to the world. I take care of cleaning her up, toss the rag in the laundry, and go around to the other side of the bed.
Once under the covers, I pull Skyler into my arms and curl my shape entirely around hers. Contentment fills my bones as she nuzzles her ass against my crotch, tugs one of my arms between her breasts, and kisses my fingertips before resting her head on my other bicep, sighing and falling asleep.
I chuckle and burrow my chin into her neck, her peaches-and-cream scent filling my lungs and putting me at perfect peace with my world. Instead of falling asleep, I stare at the beautiful woman in my arms.
Not only is Skyler Paige a stunning beauty, her soul is pure. She could have hated me for the media shit storm, which ensued because of my place in her life and my team screwing up the pictures, but she didn’t. Once she got past the hurt and misunderstanding, that was it. No dragging it on and on or throwing it in my face. When a problem arises, we solve it, and then it’s done. No bullshit or drama. Nothing like what I dealt with in the relationship with Kayla. That woman put me through the wringer. Now that I have a woman in my life like Skyler, the complete opposite of Kayla and everything she stood for, I’m starting to remember the good part of having a woman. Not just to fuck. Skyler and I have off-the-charts chemistry in the bedroom, but it’s more than that.
Having someone to talk to at the end of the day, even if it’s a phone call. Knowing someone is thinking about me as much as I’m thinking about her. Planning my world around things that might make her happy and vice versa. I can even see the benefit of thinking about the future, though Sky and I are far from that at this point.
Still, in the past, I couldn’t even imagine having children. Especially not with Kayla. And the more I think back, the more I realize how fooled I was by her beauty. She was a bitch to me and a bitch to my friends. Even my mother voiced her concerns about a long-term future with Kayla, which is unusual for Catherine Ellis. While my brother and I were growing up, Ma didn’t get involved in our romantic affairs, but she was always there if we wanted to talk. I should have noticed the signs sooner, which is part of why I think I’ve held off on pursuing the opposite sex for more than a few rolls in the sack. I wasn’t sure I could trust a woman again, but with Skyler, I’m willing to try. Take the risk in order to reap the reward.
And Skyler is absolutely my freakin’ reward.