by L. A. Fiore
Justin moved fast, grabbing Ashley. “Hold your breath.” Then he jumped into the pool with a reluctant and squirming Ashley.
Gage lifted his eyes from his phone and watched her son drag his sister into the pool with him, the splashes echoing in the quiet room. He smiled. Turning his head, Tilly was placing her stuff on a lounge chair two down from him. Scarlett and Rachelle were eyeing Tilly’s kids, while having a hushed conversation at the other end of the pool. Ashley was above water, breathing in heavy breaths, as she threatened her brother.
Gage leaned in to the chair next to him, pretending to put his phone down, and whispered, “Jesus, you’re fucking sexy.” His eyes quickly taking in Tilly in a teal bikini top and cut off shorts.
Tilly spread out a towel on her chair, but she was making a show of it, because she was looking at Gage out of the corner of her eye. Wearing nothing but his swim trunks. His tan body on display, her eyes traveling down his body, his chest, his abs, then lower. He said he’d keep her wet. He wasn’t wrong about that.
“You’re one to speak,” Tilly teased. “Not sure anything tops how you look right now...well, maybe wet,” she said, then reached for the button on her shorts. She took her time shimmying out of them because she had an audience. Her nipples were hard, and her body was tingling. She dropped her shorts on the chair, glanced over at Gage whose eyes were roaming the full curves of her body in a bikini. A sly grin tipped his lips. Feeling the pressure building in his cock, he adjusted his position in his chair. He’d seen her naked multiple times. Had fucked her seven times, but the sight of her, right now, had him aching to touch her. Was it the forbidden fruit that they both had tasted, knowing how sweet it was that was causing the intense sensations coursing through his body?
Tilly grinned, even as her temperature spiked at the look in his eyes, then called to her kids, “I’m coming for you both.”
She made a splash, the warm water enveloping her. She broke the surface, her hair slicked back from her face. She couldn’t resist glancing behind her, giving Gage another secret smile, while she thought about later and how she was going to run her hands all over his body, then her mouth. With effort, she turned her thoughts from that and shifted her focus to her kids. Both of whom took off for the other end of the pool.
Rachelle smiled and offered, “Sorry,” when she bumped into Ashley as they started to head off in the same direction.
Ashley smiled back. A little breathless, she said, “I think that was my fault. If she catches us, she drags us under. She always catches us. I’m Ashley, by the way. And that’s my brother, Justin.”
Scarlett chuckled. “My dad does that too.” She rolled her eyes. “So annoying.” Then smiled. “I’m Scarlett, this is Rachelle.” Scarlett pointed to Gage. “That’s my dad.” Then she shouted, “Dad say hi, this is Ashley and that is her brother, Justin.”
Gage’s eyes went wide before he recovered and stood, making his way to the end of the pool where everyone seemed to assemble. “Hey, nice to meet you,” he said to Ashley. Then his eyes shifted to Tilly who was just reaching them.
Ashley’s cheek warmed, as she looked up and said softly, “Hi.”
Tilly stood, holding out her hand to Gage. How she pulled off casual she didn’t know because witnessing Gage saying hello to her daughter...she liked it. More than she should. “I’m Tilly.”
Gage sucked back the growl rising from his chest. The sight… her hair slicked back, water dripping from her face, coating her neck and chest, reminded him of the first day they met. Gage crouched down at the edge of the pool and took Tilly’s offered hand. “Gage,” he said, holding her eyes. “You all from around here?” He smiled, reluctantly let go of her hand and moved to sit at the edge of the pool, his legs hanging in the water.
She wanted to kiss him, even with an audience, dear god, she wanted his mouth on hers. She looked away for a second, needing to get her shit together, before she looked back and replied, “An hour and a half away. How about you?”
“Nice,” Gage said, and thought it was fucking cute seeing Tilly suffering with need. But he wasn’t one to talk because he was feeling the same from the moment she walked in the door. “About two hours, live up in Yardley.” He glanced to the kids who were all setting up to race. Gage leaned in. “We can stop now; they aren’t paying attention.” He winked.
Tilly moved closer, dropping her voice. “This is harder than I thought it’d be, but I’m feeling like I should get the kids something to eat. You know, while they’re swimming and distracted,” she said, then added with a grin. “Could probably use a hand with that.”
Gage smiled. “They have pizza at the restaurant in the lobby, was gonna grab a pie for me and the girls. We can do that.” Gage deliberately snaked his tongue out of his mouth, touching his bottom lip before he continued in a low deep voice. “And other things.”
Tilly’s voice was hoarse with lust when she said, “Other things first.” She moved to the ladder, climbing from the pool.
Gage kept his eyes to Tilly, the way her body moved as she took each step. Jesus, had he paid this much attention to every detail about Heather when they’d first met. He hadn’t. He stood and shouted, “Hey!” All the kids stopped when they heard his booming voice. “You all want some pizza?”
Justin called back, “Yeah, pepperoni and mushrooms.”
“Cheese for me,” Ashley yelled.
Scarlett yelled back, “You know what we like!”
Tilly watched the dynamic between the kids and Gage, smiling to herself as she dried off. She grabbed her cover-up from her bag and pulled it over her head. Her body was on fire, her legs were weak, watching him and knowing what they were about to do. It was wrong, but she wanted him, the pull too strong to deny.
“Got it!” Gage said, grabbing his wallet and he shoving his feet into his sneakers. “Be careful,” he told them as he turned and said to Tilly, “You ready?”
Softly she replied, “More than ready.” Then louder she said, “We’ll be back.”
“Bring something chocolatey back, too, please,” Ashley shouted. “It is Hershey after all.”
“Oh, good call,” Scarlett said to Ashley. “Yeah, what she said.” She smiled to Gage. Gage grinned back. Not only at his daughter, but the whole crew watching them. It was a view he could get used to… very easily.
They both started for the door. “Well, fuck, that worked out well, huh?” Gage said to Tilly as he opened the door for her.
“Yeah, it did.” She answered absently because her thoughts were elsewhere. Walking through the door Gage held for her, she looked back and knew he’d hear the need in her voice when she asked, “Now where to?”
Gage already scanned the area on their walk to the pool. He turned right; Tilly followed him. They were walking down a short hall when Gage snatched her hand and dragged her into a door with no sign. He had noticed earlier a man exiting from it and saw that it was a large closet filled with bins of trial-sized bottles of chocolate, orange shampoo. The door wasn’t even shut before Gage let go of her hand, her body slamming into his, and their mouths connected. Tilly whimpered and Gage groaned as their tongues met.
Tilly fisted Gage’s hair, her tongue warring with his, yanking from his mouth to moan, “I missed you.” Before her mouth was on his again.
His hands gripped her ass, pulling her flush to him, grinding his growing cock on her. His mouth moved from hers, kissing her neck, as he whispered in a rasp, “Fuck, I need you.”
Her hand moved down his body, under his waistband, gripping the base of his cock before she slid her hand up. “I need you, too.” She moaned.
He followed her moves, his hand sliding the material of her cover-up up as he snaked it around to the front. In seconds, his hand was down her bikini bottoms and his fingers driving deep inside her wet pussy.
“Oh God,” she moaned, her hips shifting into his touch. It had been t
oo long, already her body was building to her release, the tingles shooting down her arms and legs.
She fisted his cock harder, causing him to growl. “Fuck.” His mouth moved from her neck; quickly eyeing the room, Gage moved his leg out, hooked his foot on a bin and dragged it closer to them. Tilly didn’t need to be told when she lifted her leg and rested her foot on the bin, giving Gage better access. Hooking his fingers, his thumb moved to her clit, where he pressed and began to swirl the sensitive area.
Tilly gripped Gage’s arm, her fingers digging into his flesh, as her hips moved with his rhythm. Her other hand picked up the stroking on his cock, her attention faltering the closer her body got to her release.
Gage started to thrust his hips, moving in tandem with Tilly’s motion. His mouth took hers as he felt the first signs of her orgasm edging. When her body began to sway, her hand squeezed his arm for support, right before she came, Gage swallowing her moans when she did. In seconds, he followed with a groan sliding down Tilly’s throat.
Gage ended their kiss with a light brush of his lips on Tilly’s. Both finding their senses as they came down from the high. A high only they could provide each other. When Tilly was steady on her feet, Gage stepped back, looking at the evidence on the floor of their insatiable need for each other.
“Guess we need to clean that up.” He chuckled.
Tilly followed his stare. A little voice screamed in her head. What the hell were they doing? Their kids were right down the hall, but then her gaze lifted, her eyes soaking up the sight of him until she reached those brown eyes that she saw whenever she closed her own. It was more than lust that rushed through her veins. She reached out, ran her hand down his chest and over his abs. Her voice whisper soft when she said, “I really have missed you.”
Gage’s hand came up, palming Tilly’s cheek, he gazed deeply into her sated hazel eyes and whispered, “I’ve really fucking missed you.” Before their kids came looking for them, Gage broke the profound connection they both found themselves in, letting the world around them fade away. “You go order the pizzas, peppers and onions for me and the girls. I’ll be right behind you after I clean this up.” He laid a firm kiss on her forehead and moved a foot back from her. In that moment, he knew if he didn’t step back, the longer he stood close to her, he wouldn’t have the strength to.
Tilly didn’t respond for a second before she said, “Okay.” She didn’t want to walk away, looking back when she reached the door, to see him watching her, and she almost walked right back to him. She didn’t. Peeking out to make sure the coast was clear, she glanced back and grinned. “The kids wanted chocolate; I’m getting them frozen hot chocolate. You want one?”
His voice was raspy when he replied, “I’ll take anything you wanna give me.” In no way was he talking about the offered confection, but in their lives.
Her grin turned into a smile. “I’ll remember that,” she replied, slipping from the closet.
_______________
“Girls, come on already!” He shouted in the door to their adjoining room. “We’re already running late.” He turned, went to the small desk and grabbed his wallet, shoving it in his back pocket and snatching his cell with his other hand. He thumbed the screen. Tilly still had yet to respond to the text message he’d sent her ten minutes ago, letting her know they were running late due to a flat iron catastrophe. It died. To Scarlett and Rachelle, it was the end of the world. To Gage, it was a fucking hair straightener. But it was his girls, so he went to the gift shop and bought a new one that was marked up the ass.
“Okay,” Scarlett came through the door breathy and added, “Ready.” Rachelle coming up behind her.
He took in their hair styles, tilted his head and asked evenly, “Thought the flat iron was to straighten your hair?”
“Well,” Rachelle drawled, looking to the ground and back at Gage with soft eyes, “We decided to go curly.”
He took a deep breath, grumbled a few words under his breath. The girls were giggling at him when he told them, “Get out that door and you both better run to that elevator.”
They did as told. Gage beating them in the race.
Scarlett leaned her back to the mirrored elevator wall and said, “I know you wanted this to be an us weekend, but it’s fun hanging with the people we met at the pool.”
“Yeah,” Gage swallowed down the guilt and added, “It is.” Then he smiled at his daughter. A smile filled with nothing but lies.
The elevator stopped. The bell rang a second before the doors opened. Gage’s eyes meet Tilly’s over the shoulder of the man she was embracing. His heart plunged to his gut, causing it to twist. Bile rose to the back of his throat. A tightness snaked around his chest, the pressure forcing Gage to breathe deeply out of his nose.
“Dad,” Scarlett called from outside the elevator.
He shook his head, all thoughts flying around in the small space, but the sensations still coursing through his body. He met his daughter’s concerned eyes.
“Sorry,” he said as he stepped into the lobby, while the girls ran to Tilly’s kids.
Tilly’s heart was pounding so hard, she could feel her pulse jumping in her neck. Luke stepped back from the hug, grinning down at her. “Are you surprised?”
Her smile felt brittle, like her face was going to crack. Was she surprised? Fucking understatement. Her voice, a little too bright when she said, “I am.” She couldn’t look past Luke, couldn’t bear to see that look on Gage’s face. She hadn’t even gotten to text him, to warn him what he was walking into.
Luke glanced over at the kids, she followed. Seeing the smiles on her kids’ faces made her feel like shit feeling what she was, knowing what it meant to her kids. She heard Scarlett first, braced when Luke turned around, a curious look on his face.
“You made it,” Justin said. “My dad surprised us.”
Luke’s attention lingered on Gage before he turned it to the girls with him. Glancing back at Tilly, she swallowed the lump and offered hoarsely.
“This is Gage Sutherland and his daughter Scarlett and her friend Rachelle.” Tilly finally looked at Gage, hated what she saw looking back. She tried to wordlessly apologize before she added, “We met them earlier at the pool. The kids are planning on sharing some hair-raising adventures tomorrow in the park.”
“I can’t wait,” Ashley said, looking over at her two new friends.
Luke looked back at Gage. “Luke, Tilly’s husband. It’s nice to meet you.”
Gage sucked in a deep breath through his nose, stuck his hand out and regretfully offered, “Gage.” When Luke took his outstretched hand, he wanted to pull him in and punch him in the fucking face. But he held in his anger and glanced to Tilly. He couldn’t accept Tilly’s silent apology behind her eyes because in that moment, a million instances flew through his mind. The chances of bumping into Kenny, a man she now worked with, he brushed off. Now, her husband showing. Was she playing games with him? Was he nothing more than a fuck toy?
Gage removed his hand from Luke’s, thought about wiping it on his jeans before he turned to Tilly, his voice tight. “It’s great your husband showed. We’ll let you all enjoy a family dinner.” He turned from them, his voice firm when he called, “Girls.” They both turned and when he got their eyes he told them. “Come on, let them have some family time.” He watched as both girls’ shoulders slumped even as they nodded.
Tilly wanted to call him back, but she didn’t. She was still trying to process the fact that her husband was there. He never paid attention to anything, but now he chose to become aware. She was pissed, pissed at him for giving a shit. Saying that, it was wrong, but it didn’t stop her from feeling it. Or the pain that sliced through her from the look Gage had given her, a coldness in his eyes she’d never seen before. It took everything to stay where she was, to not follow him and demand he share what was going through his mind. She knew if she did, Luke wou
ld see right through her, would see just how much the man walking away from her meant. Part of her wanted to do it. To let the cat out of the bag and let the chips fall where they may, but not in front of her kids, not in front of his daughter and her friend, so instead, she just stood there, her husband taking her hand as if he knew her thoughts, while she watched as the man she’d come here for disappeared down the hall.
_______________
The next morning, Gage woke from the two-hour sleep; the sun had not even risen yet. He hadn’t heard a word from Tilly since he left her and her family in the lobby the day before. Quietly, he packed up his bag and did the same for the girls. Woke them and lied to their faces as he said he had an emergency at work and they had to leave. Neither questioned him as they stumbled from their beds and right into the truck, only to fall back asleep only minutes down the road. Gage didn’t know how he made it home that day because he felt like his breath was stolen from him, never able to take one deep enough. His body was on autopilot, numb and drained. His head hurt from all the thinking he’d done throughout the night. So when he pulled into his driveway and exited his truck, he said a prayer to the man upstairs for their safe arrival.
His wife came rushing out the back door. “Wha—” She halted her words when he held a finger to his lips, shushing her and pointing to the back of the cab where the girls were still sleeping. When she spoke again, she was quieter. “What are you doing home?”
He took in his wife and lied to her, “I missed you, wanted to come home.” But he did miss her. Missed all that they once had. The laughs. The smiles. The deep love. And even as his wife walked into his arms, he held her tightly, needing what she was giving him. He just wasn’t sure it was the right woman’s arms wrapped around him.
_______________
Tilly woke early on Sunday, slipping from her room to text Gage, but instead, she walked to the lobby and used the house phone to call his room. No answer. She looked around the lobby, checked the pool, before going back to the phone and calling him again. Nothing. She pulled her phone from her pocket and texted him. Waited. But he didn’t respond. Her body went numb, her mind going all over the place. They had plans today, but she didn’t really expect him to follow through, not with Luke there. But she did want to talk to him, needed to make things right, needed to get that look from him out of her head. She hadn’t been able to eat, hadn’t slept. Her family was together, her children happy, but she couldn’t be happy until she knew that Gage was okay, that they were okay. And she didn’t want to think too long on that because she knew it was wrong on so many levels. Walking to the front desk, she waited for the girl to finish with the person in front of her, before she asked, “Can you tell me if Gage Sutherland checked out? He was in room 653.”