by Larkin Rose
Mayson sat on the couch and patted the space beside her, hoping Paige would join her instead of taking the free space on the opposite side. She’d been quiet through dinner. Whether truly enjoying her food, or avoiding conversation, Mayson wasn’t sure.
Paige sat down but left several feet between them.
Mayson could feel her anxiety. She liked it. Liked knowing she, the real Mayson, could provoke Paige’s sexual discomfort. God knew she’d been in mental anguish all day recalling their night at the lingerie shop. Her insides had burned with every recollection.
Paige kicked her sandals off, then turned sideways to face Mayson. “Time for a little more Q and A.”
Mayson propped her arm on the back of the couch. “Be gentle with me.”
Paige could think of nothing other than not being gentle. Of tearing into this woman. Ripping and clawing at her. She blinked at her own images and cleared her throat. “Why do you have a guard?”
Mayson chuckled. “Promise not to laugh?”
With a nod, Paige took a sip of wine, enjoying the slow warmth crawling through her veins. Too many more refills and she’d be on the stupid side of woozy. The side that made her act on her needs. The side that made her entirely too brave. Then again, she’d have something to blame come morning light.
“He came with the house.”
Paige angled her head. “Came with the house? Like a consolation prize?”
Mayson laughed. “Something like that. He worked for the previous owners. Celebrities. He was going to be out of a job, so I kept him. Even moved him and his wife to one of the guest houses by the beach.”
“Do all of your employees live on the grounds?”
“If they need to.”
Paige could only stare. Had Mayson just shown her soft side? Another soft side? Damn, did she have a bad side? Yes…the dark side of pushing innocent people into fountains.
“Why are you single?” Paige took another sip.
Mayson thought about the answer. Truth was, she didn’t know why she hadn’t met the one. Had she not searched hard enough for her? Had she consumed too much of her time in business? In disaster relief? Was she holding out for one in particular? Had she been holding out for Paige?
“I’m not sure. Maybe I’m waiting.”
“For what?” Paige turned the glass back to her lips and Mayson watched the motion.
She seemed nervous all of a sudden. Was Mayson creating that tension?
Mayson resisted reaching out for her, pulling her across the space, and molding her tongue inside that mouth. “For the explosion.”
Paige took another sip and arched a brow. “You believe in that love at first sight, breathless, blinding lights bullshit?”
Mayson pondered the question. No. She’d never believed in all the love hype. But she wasn’t so sure anymore. Not while Paige was a grasp away. Not when Mayson could think of nothing other than locking herself between those thighs and fucking Paige until she begged for more, or for an end. The sexual chemistry was incredible. She’d never felt it with another woman. All she wanted to do was act on the urge. Right now.
“No. But I believe I’ll know it when it happens.” Mayson set her glass on the coffee table and turned back to Paige. “I’ll feel it.”
Paige only stared at her. Her throat rippled as she swallowed. “And when you find it?”
Mayson scooted toward her. “I have only one simple rule for the one I’m meant to spend my life with.”
Paige licked her lips. “What is that?”
“Keep the fighting clean. And the sex dirty.” Mayson plucked the wineglass from Paige’s grasp and set it on the table.
When she turned back, she had to bite back a moan. Come fuck me was written in the depths of those green eyes. “Paige?”
“What?” Paige whispered.
“Kiss me.”
Paige hesitated for point two seconds before she flung herself at Mayson. She was desperate for that kiss, craving the feel of Mayson against her once again.
Their lips locked and tongues invaded. Paige moaned, her insides throbbing like a steady heartbeat.
Mayson tugged her close, her palms on either side of Paige’s face, holding her in place.
Paige crawled over her lap and pushed her backward onto the couch. She ground in desperate drives as lights burst behind her closed lids. Good. Mayson felt so fucking good. Her tongue drove deeper into Paige’s mouth and Paige whimpered. Her hips surged down over Mayson, craving penetration, beyond wretched for the orgasm already scrambling to the surface.
Mayson palmed the cheeks of her ass and pumped into her. “You feel so good, Paige.” She drove her tongue into Paige’s mouth again.
Paige hummed and circled, greedily seeking release.
Mayson pushed against Paige’s weight with nothing more than the strength of her stomach muscles. She flipped Paige onto her back and shoved the hem of Paige’s dress up around her hips.
When a finger slicked against the edge of Paige’s underwear, she sucked in a startled breath and locked her fingers in Mayson’s hair.
Mayson teased her opening while her tongue stabbed seductively into Paige’s mouth. Then she entered her in one smooth thrust.
Paige fisted hair and jerked Mayson’s head back while those fingers filled her. She stared up at Mayson, in complete disbelief that she was lying beneath this woman with Mayson’s fingers inside her.
Mayson’s lips parted as she watched Paige, those brown eyes packed with desire. She drove in once, then again, and dear God, again, fucking Paige, pumping her hips into Paige with every driving force.
Paige came in a blinding wave of wet heat. She screamed out and clutched at Mayson, her insides eagerly squeezing those fingers.
Mayson fell over her, still pushing in and out of her, until Paige bucked one final thrust and arched away. Then she lifted Paige up and around her hips. Paige wrapped her arms around her shoulders and locked their lips together once again.
She felt weightless in Mayson’s grasp, those tight arms easily holding her.
Mayson kicked open her bedroom door and stepped across the room while Paige ground against her, already eager for more.
They fell onto the bed and immediately started tearing at clothes, unable to break the seal of their kiss, both breathless and desperate.
Paige ripped at Mayson’s T-shirt while Mayson tore at her dress. She wanted Paige’s skin against her own. Wanted to hear Paige scream out again. This time, against her mouth. Next time, around her tongue. And then, beneath her again. Over and over, alternating every sexual position they fell into.
She’d never been so consumed with this type of need, this kind of desperation. It was unnerving at the same time it was comforting. This was Paige. Her mystery woman. She felt just as connected now as she had all those years ago. Were they meant to be together? Was Paige the one?
The emotions waving through her said she was. They said she’d waited long enough and had finally found her equal. The one who could make her feel just like this. Exactly like this.
Paige broke the kiss long enough for Mayson to tug the dress over her head and shuck out of her T-shirt before her lips were back against Paige, tongue invading.
They finally managed to kick out of their underwear before clinging to each other once again. Slick skin against slick skin. Hot breaths against hot breaths.
Mayson screwed her eyes shut with every hiss and cry and whimper. She was overflowing incredibly fast with emotions. Love. Ache. Need. Was this what Paige was looking for? Love? Had she been holding out for at first sight, breathless, blinding lights love? Did she even know?
The realization stabbed hard. Had they both been holding out for this? For this emotional connection? For each other?
Mayson rolled Paige onto her back and kneed her legs apart. “Tell me what you want, Paige.”
Paige arched against her. “This.”
Mayson sucked at her neck. “Tell…me.”
With a whimper, Paige circ
led her hips. “Please. Mayson.”
Mayson moved down to an exposed nipple. She teased and flicked, then sucked the tip into her mouth for a brief second. “Tell…me…Paige.”
Paige pushed against her shoulders and urged Mayson down farther, seeking satisfaction against her mouth, against her tongue. “Everything, Mayson. I want everything.”
When Mayson latched on to her, Paige sucked in a hiss and arched into her mouth. She drove her hips forward while Mayson flicked and nursed, dragging Paige’s orgasm back to the edge so fast it whipped heat along her limbs.
“Fuck, yeah!” Paige screwed her eyes shut while the pressure built, pressed her head into the mattress, and suddenly Mayson was above her.
She stared down at Paige for what felt like eternity, compassion, desire, and need sharp with clarity in her eyes, so visible Paige had to look away.
She’d seen compassion before. She’d seen desire numerous times. Even need. More often want. But never like that. Never with such clear precision.
Paige didn’t like it. Didn’t like its meaning. This night was about sex. This moment was about release and pleasure. It wasn’t about compassion or love. It was about pure lust.
She snaked her hand between them until she found Mayson’s slick opening and then pushed her fingers inside.
Mayson arched onto her and lowered herself to Paige. She slipped her tongue into her mouth while she pushed her fingers back inside Paige.
Together, they rode and arched and pumped against each other, cresting the waves of satisfaction until they both came in a wail of cries and howls.
Spent of energy, Mayson sagged against Paige and listened to her breathing return to normal. She’d never been so comfortable. So relaxed. She never wanted to leave this town, this house, or this bed again.
Paige shifted beneath her and Mayson tightened her grip, not yet ready to let Paige leave. Was Paige regretting this night? This moment?
Not sure what Paige wanted, not sure what her intentions were, and not willing to find out, Mayson moved over her and slowly lowered herself down Paige’s body. “Now, where was I?”
“No way, Mayson.” Paige attempted to tug her back up, but Mayson had a job to finish. Again. This time, without the mask.
She continued lower until she was snuggled between those lean thighs. With her sights trained on Paige’s face, she flicked out her tongue and swiped it across Paige’s clit.
Paige dug her head into the mattress and quickly succumbed to Mayson’s command, her fingers tangling in the sheets.
Mayson flicked again, and again, savoring her flavor, until Paige arched up to greet her.
Chapter Fourteen
Paige awoke with a start, Mayson still snuggled between her thighs, her head on Paige’s stomach. Soreness seeped along her muscles and nestled between her thighs. Sex. The soreness of sex. Amazing sex. Possibly the best sex she’d ever had, even compared to her mystery woman, then and now.
She didn’t think that possible, but Mayson had proved her wrong, over, and over, and over. Sex, in almost every position, hour after hour, all night long.
Shit! What time was it? Paige strained to find a clock. Four in the damn morning. How long had she been in this sexual coma? An hour? Only five minutes? She’d lost track of time after her third orgasm. Or was it the fourth? Definitely more.
Holy hell. She’d never had so many orgasms in a single night. Not even a single week. She’d never been so spent of energy.
Had she ever fallen asleep with a lover? She already knew the answer. Of course not. No lover had ever given her a reason to fall asleep. Mayson had worn her out, but not to the point of begging for her to stop.
Yes. Paige had begged her. To stop? No. Not once had she had to beg for an end. Begged for a beginning, a continuation, yes, but never to stop.
Mayson went way beyond her fantasies of sexual partners. Beyond Vinden. Even beyond her mystery woman.
The thought ticked butterflies to life, and Paige shifted.
Mayson stirred against her, tightened her grip, but didn’t wake.
Fear quickened, fluttering in Paige’s stomach. She shouldn’t be here. Should have never come. God forbid, she should have never had sex with Mayson Montgomery. What the fuck had possessed her to do this? The memory was going to forever burn in her mind.
She had to get out of there.
Paige shifted, pushing against the mattress until she managed to wiggle halfway out from under Mayson’s weight.
Mayson grumbled and opened her eyes. “Where do you think you’re going?” She placed a lazy kiss against her belly button, then slowly moved up Paige’s body.
She wasn’t ready to part with Paige. A monster was churning across the Caribbean Sea, and within days, she could command Mayson’s presence. This game was going to come to a harsh close.
It drove her crazy to think about leaving this town, leaving Paige, especially when the game hadn’t come to a conclusion. When Paige still hadn’t unveiled her.
Or did she want to? Mayson had never considered that Paige might not have any inclination to discover the face behind the mask. The person behind the game.
What if Mayson’s attempts were in vain? What if Paige couldn’t care less about Vinden, or even the masked stranger from New Orleans?
What if she didn’t want Mayson, or a possible life with her? What if she only wanted sex?
The realization stabbed hard. She could tell her, right now. She could give Paige the option of running, before Mayson was ripped away.
Not yet. One more time.
Mayson pushed between her thighs and slowly ground against her. She couldn’t believe how badly she wanted Paige, how desperate she was to hold on to her.
Paige stared up at her.
Was that desire staring back at her in the dimly lit room? Lust? Love?
Mayson kissed her until Paige reacted with a soft sigh. God, those sounds were going to haunt her. She kissed her harder, drove faster, until Paige locked her between those thighs and met her thrust for thrust.
Was this what true love felt like? This sick gathering in the pit of her stomach? She’d never felt it before. Didn’t know its true meaning. Mayson only knew she couldn’t let Paige go. Not yet.
She pushed her hand between their bodies, found Paige’s slick opening, and slowly pushed inside her.
When Paige hissed and arched, Mayson screwed her eyes shut. Without Paige, she might never hear those genuine sounds of pleasure again. Rather, she’d never react to those sounds again. They were torturous. She craved them. Craved making them.
She drove faster, consumed in her want, devoured in those whimpers and moans.
Paige arched into her, dragging her nails along Mayson’s back and shoulders. “Dear God. Mayson!”
The sound of her plea was like a dagger through her soul.
Goddammit. She removed herself from the alcove and rolled Paige onto her stomach. She didn’t want to see those eyes, that expression, for fear of reading all the wrong things in them.
Mayson lifted her hips slightly off the bed and reentered her.
Paige whipped her head back and clawed at the sheets.
Mayson fucked her, driving easily into her slick walls, devouring the sounds of her cries. She reached between her legs and flicked and circled her clit.
With her back arched, Paige drove herself backward, fucking herself over Mayson’s fingers, desperate for the orgasms that shouldn’t be so readily available. She was completely spent, completely drained, yet Mayson had a natural way of making her needs resurface.
How was she doing that? How did she possess that power?
A thumb probed at her ass and Paige froze.
Mayson kissed spots along her back, then licked a wet trail down her spine. “I need to be inside you, Paige.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a fucking plea.
“Yes. Please, God, ye—”
Mayson pushed inside her. Paige screamed out and whipped her body backward into Mayson. S
he reached behind her until she found refuge around a tight thigh. Her nails dug and Mayson bit down on her shoulder.
Tingles electrified her legs and arms and whipped along her insides. Fire shot down every nerve and then Paige came in a blinding rage of spasms.
She clawed, screamed, bucked over those fingers, until she couldn’t hold herself upright a second longer.
With a final cry, Paige fell forward. Mayson fell beside her and pulled Paige into those strong arms, spooning and clinging to her, until the blackness took her down again.
When she awoke, the first thing she felt was the weight of Mayson’s legs over hers and her arm like dead weight around Paige’s waist.
Panic bit hard this time. This wasn’t normal. She didn’t do sleepovers. Didn’t fall asleep at all, ever. Now she’d done it twice. She needed to get out from beneath the binds. Needed to get her damn clothes and get the fuck out of there.
She had no business being there, no business going in the first place. Damn her curiosity and sexual needs.
Paige shimmied until she escaped the cocoon. She turned back to make sure Mayson hadn’t awoken. No damn way she could do that again. Her body couldn’t take any more. Though her mind automatically went there and her insides clenched.
Mayson was sound asleep, her lips slightly parted. She was so sexy. Almost perfect. Paige could honestly say she’d reached the ultimate in sexual partners. Sucked that Mayson was a billionaire. Sucked that she could buy anything, or anyone, she wanted. Sucked that their lives could never intertwine.
Sucked even more that Paige wasn’t looking for the same as Mayson. Mayson wanted a forever. Paige only wanted this, the ultimate rush of sex.
A happy-ever-after could never exist for them.
The stripper and the billionaire. It was a title for Harlequin. Not the ending to Paige’s life story.
Paige stood beside the bed and stared down over her. She took it back. Mayson was perfect. She had everything a girl could ever want.
But she wasn’t perfect for Paige.
Paige tracked through the bedroom and adjacent living room until she’d gathered all her clothing. She slowly donned each piece, a part of her wanting Mayson to wake up and stop her, to pull her back into that bed and into her mouth. The other part screamed that she’d already stayed several hours too long, that she was a moron for letting her sexual needs predict her actions.