His baby blue eyes didn’t waver. “I’m staying with you.”
“Look, if you think I’ll kick her when she’s down—”
“Of course I don’t. But I want to be there for you. Okay?”
I let out a breath, not knowing what I’d done to deserve someone like him coming into my life, but very grateful for his presence. Giving him an appreciative smile, I nodded. “All right.”
Brittany seemed incredibly young and sad when I slid into the back seat. “I feel so horrible about this, especially if I interrupted your party.”
I handed her a tissue out of my clutch as more tears tracked down her face. “It was already winding down. Are you doing okay?”
She went on to tell me much the same story Will had recapped for me a few minutes ago. At the end of it, I still felt no joy in her misery. But I also didn’t know why she’d come to see me, of all people. I wasn’t uncaring, but the man she was engaged to was my ex-husband. For the first time since the divorce, I could honestly say I was ready to put him completely in the rear view mirror.
I chose my words carefully. “I’m terribly sorry that you’re going through this, Brittany, but I’m not sure what it is I can do.”
She sniffed. “I don’t know. I thought maybe you’d have some advice. If maybe he’d ever flaked out with you like this?”
Will’s eyes met mine, and I knew what he was thinking. Yep, he definitely had. But when he’d freaked out with me, he’d told me he was leaving and wanted a divorce. However, sharing my marital and subsequent divorce history with an emotional, pregnant woman wasn’t going to do her any good. Maybe the thought of becoming a father, regardless of with whom, was a freak-out point for him.
“If I were to guess, losing his mother has a lot to do with what’s happening right now. As for advice, the most important thing you need to do is take care of yourself and your baby. Can we drop you off at your friend’s house?”
She nodded. “I guess so.”
“What about your parents?”
“If I told my father about the way Michael has been acting, he’d never forgive him, and I really do want to work things out.”
I sighed, deciding to give her the best counsel that I’d once followed. “Brittany, I don’t know you or your family, but let them be there for you. You don’t have to tell them anything other than that Michael is going through a difficult time with the loss of his mother and that you need to give him some space to be alone with his grief.”
“I know you’re right. They live in Queens, so maybe I’ll catch a taxi and go home to them instead. The bed is sure a lot more comfortable there than with my friend.”
“My driver can take you.”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” she protested.
“I’d feel better if you’d let him.”
“I’ll ride with you since I live in Queens, too,” Will offered.
I should’ve been relieved by the respite from our earlier awkward conversation. And I should’ve been more grateful that he was offering to see Brittany home. But instead I was left on the curb, feeling both unsettled and emotional as I watched the man I’d confessed I had feelings for accompany home the fiancée of the man I no longer did.
***
After taking a taxi home, I stripped out of my beautiful gown and, on a whim, took my engagement and wedding rings out of my drawer, setting the opened box which held both on my nightstand. I had no clue why I’d hung onto them longer than my wedding photos, but for some reason, tomorrow didn’t seem soon enough to ban them from my life forever. First thing in the morning, I was calling about an auction house and then donating the money I received to charity. It seemed only right.
Feeling good about taking that step tomorrow, I climbed into a warm bath. The only thing missing was a glass of wine. But considering the headache I was already nursing from the evening, not to mention the few glasses of champagne I’d already consumed at the party, I opted for water and two Motrin instead.
Although I wasn’t happy with the way the evening had gone, I was proud of myself for having the guts to tell Will how I was feeling. The very last thing I wanted to do was avoid questioning the elephant in the room for fear that he’d get up and leave. I’d come too far in my emotional awareness to go back now. Becoming attached to someone as quickly as I had become to him wasn’t something I’d planned on. However, now that I was aware of my tendency to become so easily involved emotionally, I would be better prepared for the future.
Hearing my phone ring where it sat on the bathroom vanity, I ignored it. But whoever was calling wasn’t giving up because it started to ring again. Stepping out of the tub, I steeled myself for talking to my ex, but I saw Will’s number instead.
“Hello.”
“Hiya. Can you call down for your doorman to let me up?”
My heartbeat shifted into overdrive. “You’re downstairs?”
“About two minutes away.”
“Uh—okay. I’ll call down.”
“Good. See you in a couple minutes.”
Once I rang the front desk, I threw on a nightshirt, panties, and donned my long robe, pulling it tight. I wasn’t sure what he had to say, but I certainly wasn’t going to dress up to get the ‘I hope we can still be friends’ speech.
Hearing the knock on the door, I took a deep breath and promised myself that whatever happened, one, I would be okay, and two, I wouldn’t cry. At least not until later when I could do so in my bed alone.
I pulled open the door, but instead of being greeted with what I assumed would be an awkward-looking Will trying to figure out how to let me down easy, he stepped inside, reached for me instantly, and shut the door with a kick of his foot. He hauled me flush up against him with his free hand. I vaguely registered him dropping his duffle bag with his other hand before it gripped my ass. Then he backed me up to the edge of my sofa.
His fingers tangled in my hair while his mouth descended and his tongue found mine, coaxing it out and sending heat straight through me. My hands trailed down his muscled back, grabbing his waist and pulling him further into the apex of my thighs. I was hungry for the feel of him despite the inevitable emotional fallout. His grunt of pleasure only fueled me to move faster before my brain caught up and potentially overruled my body. But he beat me to it by pulling away slightly, putting his forehead to mine so we were eye to eye, both of us panting to catch our breath.
“I’m attached to you, too, Cath.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
My response was a moan when he reached under my nightgown and a finger hooked into my lacy thong and swept it aside. He slid a finger, then two inside of me. I clenched my inner muscles, hardly believing my impending orgasm was upon me so quickly. When his thumb pressed on my clit, it sent me over the edge, incoherent words spilling from my lips.
Wasting no time, his hands tore at my robe and nightgown, taking them both off within seconds and pulling down my thong to leave me completely bare to him. His lust-filled gaze tracked up my body as he ran a palm between my breasts and over my stomach. Bending down to my breast, he circled his tongue around my sensitive nipple, bringing it to a peak before switching to the other.
I swore I could come again with the sensation on my breasts alone, but he wasn’t done with his magic fingers, slipping two inside of me again and curling them up to demand another orgasm in that fashion. Only this time, I wasn’t content for him to do all the touching.
Reaching out, I cupped his bulge through his slacks and then fumbled for the zipper, finally freeing him to lie heavily in my hand. His groan spurred me on to wrap my fingers around him. As I stroked back and forth, I could feel him grow harder.
His lips traveled up, fingers grasping my hair and exposing my neck to his tongue and teeth nipping my skin. Then his hot mouth was on mine, his tongue delving inside with the most seductive kiss I’d ever experienced. He swallowed my cry of release as it ripped through me.
Taking my hand, he tugged me down the hallway towards my room, sheddi
ng his shoes along the way and attacking his clothes as if he couldn’t get naked fast enough. “Get on the bed, gorgeous.”
I lay on my back in the center of the sheets, propping up on my elbows to watch him crawl up the length of me. His hot skin coming into contact with mine lanced a shiver through my entire body.
He produced a condom from somewhere, ripping open the foil packet with his teeth and rolling it over his cock with his eyes never leaving mine. Aligning his tip to my opening, he sank into me slowly, as if he was savoring every inch. His hips rolled into mine, setting off a new spark of sensation, curling my toes with the magnitude.
“Oh, God, Will,” I whimpered, grabbing his ass and arching up to meet his thrusts, never having felt so unbelievably possessed. It was almost too much—this raw physical coupling.
“I’m right there with you,” he groaned into my mouth as if confirming he was feeling the overwhelming connection, too.
His kiss turned wilder now as did his thrusts, and we both clawed at one another until he pinned my hips to the bed and buried himself to the hilt, rotating his pelvis to hit a spot that took me over the edge and owned me completely. I felt his entire body stiffen as he growled my name and emptied himself inside of me.
***
I was unable to sleep even into the wee hours of the morning and lay with my head on his chest, his hands splayed on my back to hold me close. My body was sated. My mind, on the other hand, was not as fortunate as I wondered what this new development would mean.
“Are you making a mental list of why or why not we should keep doing this?” Will whispered in the dark.
Propping myself up on my elbow so I could see his face, I trailed my fingertips down his bicep. “I’m resisting the urge because this feels too good to stop. How was Brittany when you dropped her off?”
His smirk and arch of the brow came instantly. “Nice change of subject.”
“It’s my specialty if you haven’t noticed. I think it’s probably better than, the ‘where does this leave us’ talk.”
“I meant what I said about being attached to you, too.”
I wasn’t sure what that exactly meant, but wanted to clarify one point. “If we’re both attached, does that mean there won’t be any other attachments to anybody else?”
“I would’ve thought that’d be a given, but if you want it spelled out, you’re not sleeping with anyone but me.”
His possessive words surprised me. “Uh, and what about you?” Considering he was the one with more of an opportunity, I thought it an important question.
“There’s no one but you, Cath.” As if to prove the point, he rolled me onto my back, sealing it with a kiss.
“Did we just agree to be exclusive?”
“My little alpha way of phrasing that fact wasn’t clear?” he teased.
A giggle escaped my lips. “It was kind of unexpected for sure.”
He laughed. “Hm, I was shooting for hot. The answer is yes, and maybe I need to work more on my caveman approach.” He moved us both so we were on our sides, legs tangled up in one another.
“You’re still young, so you have time to perfect it. And considering before you came along, my life was boring— Ow,” I squeaked when the flat of his hand spanked my ass, loud and firm. “What was that for?”
“I’ve decided in the interest of improving my alpha male behavior which, admit it, we both know turns you on, and the fact that I’m vehemently opposed to you calling yourself boring, that whenever you say the word boring from now on, I’m going to smack you on the arse.”
Now I was in a full on giggles, and he was making it impossible to stop by tickling my sides, now straddling my legs and looming over me. “I dare you to say the word again.”
“Boring,” I breathed, quite excited for the consequences.
“Something tells me you’re not at all intimidated by your punishment,” he chuckled, turning me over on my stomach and moving down my body before sinking his teeth playfully into the muscle of my backside, then sucking hard.
“What are you doing?” I squirmed, feeling his mouth leave me and two hands massage my cheeks.
“Since you seem to think I’m so young, I thought I’d demonstrate a lack of maturity by giving you a hickey on your arse.”
We both started laughing, but then I sighed in pleasure when his hands moved up and started massaging my shoulders. “Point taken. And the only problem I have with your age is that it reminds me of mine. I’m turning thirty-five soon.”
“Better to be thirty-five and look like you’re in your twenties than the opposite.”
“Your charm is undermining your alpha goals, but I’ll take it. So now that we’ve established exclusivity by you marking my ass, do you think it’s safe to say we’re playing the rest by ear?”
“Are you comfortable with doing that? At least for now?”
He was sincere in his question and not mocking my tendency to desire things tied up in a package with a bow. Although I’d love a guarantee, there simply weren’t any. Not when you said I do, not when you thought you were trying for a baby with your husband, and certainly not when you were still getting to know someone. But what I did have was something I absolutely wanted to explore further.
“Yes.”
He nuzzled the back of my neck. “And if you start to feel like you might not be, will you talk to me about it instead of making assumptions again?”
“I think I can do that.”
“And as far as the matchmaker is concerned—”
I flipped over and held a finger to his lips. “Unless the last half of that sentence is something along the lines of telling Melanie no more matches, don’t finish that sentiment.”
His smile could’ve lit up a room before he kissed me thoroughly. “So no more lessons?”
I shook my head. “Now, that would be a shame. We’ll just have to find other topics for you to teach me.”
“Oh, I can think of a few.” He chuckled, pinning me to the bed and kissing me thoroughly before snuggling me into him, spooning me from behind.
“Not to change the subject back to the subject that I wanted to change it to earlier, but did Brittany seem better after the car ride home?”
“Definitely. Telling her to go see her family was the right call.”
“Good.”
“How are you with having to deal with her tonight, with the whole, you know…?”
“Pregnancy thing,” I finished for him. “Surprisingly fine. I feel bad for her, but I didn’t get any satisfaction over her misery. If anything, I’m sympathetic, yet at the same time grateful I’m not in that life expecting a baby with him. Although the divorce was brutal, it would’ve been way worse to share a child and custody.”
“Very true. By the way, I gave Brittany my number. That way, if she feels compelled to talk to you again, she can go through me instead of showing up at your office or at another party.”
“I don’t want it to become your burden, but you’re a complete saint for doing that.” To be honest, I wasn’t sure I liked her having his number at all. But I reminded myself it was in Will’s nature to be helpful, and I did, in fact, trust him.
“I think that title probably belongs to you. I don’t know many women who would’ve been so kind to their ex-husband’s new pregnant fiancée after she ambushed them at a party.”
“Yeah, well, let’s hope in this case a good deed can actually go unpunished.”
***
Thankfully, my first fashion show wasn’t until one o’clock, which allowed me to sleep in. Considering the last time I’d glanced at my bedside clock it had been after three am, I easily snoozed until ten. As I got up, I wondered where Will was and if I would ever wake up with him in a bed. Yawning, I pulled on a robe, liking the way the silk felt against my bare skin, and puttered down the hall. I smelled something good coming from the kitchen.
Seeing him standing at my stove shirtless, with only flannel bottoms slung low on his hips, stole my breath. I wasn’t sure w
hat was sexier, the way he looked or the way he was effortlessly flipping an omelet in my kitchen. When he turned to notice me standing there staring, the playful grin he gave me would’ve melted my panties if I’d been wearing any.
“Hope you don’t mind me making breakfast.”
It took me a moment to recover from his delicious accent topping the erotic sensory overload that was Will MacPherson.
“Uh, no, I’m impressed.”
And because I had free license, I stepped behind him, putting my arms around his waist from the back, splaying my hands on his chest and kissing his golden skin.
“Mm, I’ll make you breakfast every morning for a greeting like this.” With a flick, he turned off the stove, slid the omelet onto a plate to the side, and turned around, suddenly slanting his lips over mine. His hands slid beneath my robe and froze. “Oh, I’m liking this. A lot.”
He lifted me up and set me on the granite island, opening my robe and running a hand down my body straight to my heat. Laying me down gently on the cool stone, he lavished attention on each of my breasts with his tongue before spreading my legs wide and diving into my pussy.
“Ahh, Will, I haven’t showered.” My mild protest was more of a disclaimer because there was no way I actually wanted him to stop.
“As if I care. You taste amazing, and I can’t get enough of you,” he mumbled against my cleft. Inserting two fingers, he curled them up to the right spot while running his tongue down the length of my slit.
Once he fasted onto my clit, I detonated, barely aware that instead of easing his attention, he was increasing the pressure. “I can’t,” I moaned. It was too much, I was too sensitive, and yet he moved his fingers and tongue faster, sending me careening out of control with a second orgasm roaring through my body.
I lay there coming down off my high and only mildly conscious that Will had stepped away and was now back between my legs, pulling me closer to the edge before sliding into me. I tried to sit up, but he wasn’t having it.
“No, like this with your sexy body on display.” His hands lifted my hips to meet his thrusts, angling me so that a third orgasm was already brewing.
Teach Me Something (Something Series Book 4) Page 19