by Nash, Willa
“One of these days, I’m going to see you bare. I’m going to put a mark on every one of your curves. Highlight every line. Then I’m going to sink into your tight pussy and fuck you all night long.”
Her breath hitched.
I dipped into the palette once more, not caring what color my fingers found. Then I dragged my fingertips down the column of her throat, leaving three streaks, each a different shade, as she closed her eyes and let her head loll to the side.
Her ragged moan went straight to my dick.
“Fuck it.” I shoved the remaining canvas, the stallion, aside and hoisted Everly up to the table’s edge
Her legs widened, instantly wrapping around my hips to grind her center into my hardening cock. Then she looked up at me with those eyes and grinned. “Do your worst, babe.”
I ripped the top off her body and yanked at her bra, freeing her gorgeous breasts. My mouth latched on to a nipple, sucking hard and earning a little gasp.
Her hands dove into the short strands of my hair, tugging as her nails bit into my scalp.
My wife loved a rough fuck.
We didn’t bother with foreplay. We didn’t bother with a kiss or a shared look. We stripped one another bare and by the time I had the condom from my pocket in place, the paint from the palette had been smeared onto our bodies.
Everly looked beautiful, colorful and erotic and . . . mine. For the time being, this body was mine.
“Hux,” she panted, squirming closer on the table for me to fill her.
One thrust and I buried myself to the root, feeling the pulse and squeeze of her inner walls as she stretched around me. “You feel so good.”
“Move.” Her hands gripped my biceps, holding tight for what was to come.
I took her hips in my hands, squeezing so hard her eyes widened. Then I pulled out to slam back inside. Stroke after stroke, I pounded into her, taking pleasure and giving it with every piston of my hips.
“Look at me,” I ordered.
She obeyed, her eyelashes fluttering with every slap of our skin. “Faster.”
I gave her faster.
She widened her legs, her ass barely hanging on to the edge of the table. “Harder.”
I gave her harder.
“Yes,” she hissed.
“Touch yourself.”
Everly reached to where we were connected, but instead of obeying my command, she hitched a leg to make more room and slid her hand lower to cup my balls.
“Fuck, babe.” I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to come.
She rolled them in her palm, driving me wild.
Christ, I wasn’t going to last.
“Touch yourself.”
She shook her head.
I fisted her hair in my grip, forcing her eyes to mine. “Touch. Your. Clit.”
A shiver rolled over her shoulders and this time she obeyed. She brought her hand up and circled the hard nub.
The flutter of her inner walls sent a surge of heat down my spine. I started moving again, fucking in and out, hard and fast as the color bloomed in her chest, coloring that perfect skin above her breasts with a rosy pink flush.
She was close. So damn close.
And I was about to explode.
So I let go of a hip to grab her face and slam my mouth onto hers, slipping my tongue between her lips to plunder and swallow her moans as her entire body spasmed with an orgasm that triggered my own release. An orgasm so powerful it blanked my mind and consumed me entirely.
It took minutes to come down from the high, the aftershocks draining us both.
“Damn.”
“Wow. I like your studio,” she murmured, falling into my shoulder. Her hair draped down my chest as she went limp.
I took her head in my hands, tipping it back to study the streaks of paint.
It was perfect. Except . . .
“Would have been better with some blue.”
She giggled. “Next time.”
Chapter Eleven
Everly
“That went well,” I deadpanned, blowing out a deep breath. “Wow.”
Hux had overestimated Katie’s willingness to take on a coworker. Or her supportiveness for his new wife.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
I blinked. “What do I mean? Uh, you were in the room.”
“Yeah. She said congratulations. Said she’d show you around the gallery.”
Seriously? That’s what he’d heard?
Men.
Yes, Katie had said congratulations. She’d said it with her nostrils flaring and a glare aimed my way from behind those damn glasses. And her offer to show me around the gallery had been a bold-faced lie, muttered through clenched teeth.
“Hux. Honey. Your girl Katie hates me.”
“She’s not like that.”
My husband was as clueless to the subtleties of women as his fellow males. “Yes, she is. All women are like that. I’m the new lioness in the pride and she’s not happy to share the den.”
“Huh?” His forehead furrowed.
“Forget it.” I waved him off and went to the couch in his office and moved some blank canvases away to make a space for me to plop down. “We’ll figure it out.”
Eventually, Katie would come around, right? If I were in her position, I’d be irritated if my space were invaded too. Except this didn’t seem much like an overprotective friendship or a claim to the gallery.
This seemed a lot like jealousy.
Katie appeared so meek and mild. Sweet. But the attitude she’d sent my way had been ugly and green.
I’d bet the last dollars to my name that she was in love with him.
And my dear Hux was oblivious.
“Has anything ever happened between you two?” I’d tiptoed around their relationship when I’d asked about her on Friday. But Hux liked blunt so I might as well dive into the deep end.
“No.” He scowled and took the chair behind his desk. “I told you that already.”
“I just want to know what I’m getting into here. She’s clearly got feelings for you and—”
“Katie doesn’t have feelings for me. It’s not like that.”
“Oh, I think it is.”
“Don’t.” Hux pounded a fist on his desk. The move was so angry, so startling, I gasped. “Don’t do this jealous woman bullshit.”
“I’m just—”
“Just don’t,” he barked. “Katie has been my friend for years. Since we were kids. She was one of the only people in the world who didn’t turn their back on me when I got put away. She loves this gallery as much as I do, maybe more, and she’s given it her all. When I need her, she’s there. When my life blew up, she was there. Give her some fucking slack, yeah?”
“Okay.” I held up my hands in surrender. The urge to scream, or maybe cry, clogged my throat.
Of the women in this gallery, his loyalty was to Katie. That cut. Deep.
“I should have told her.” Hux sighed. “It wasn’t fair for her to find out from anyone but me. If she’s pissed, she has every right. If she’d gone out and gotten married, I would be angry too.”
So he hadn’t completely missed the ice in Katie’s voice. He’d just misinterpreted it.
“This isn’t her fault.” His jaw clenched as he shoved some papers aside.
“I’m going to go.” I stood. “We can do this a different day.”
“How are you going to get home?”
“I’ll walk.” It was only ten blocks or so and the weather wasn’t all that miserable today.
Last night, a chinook had blown in with the first of March and melted some snow.
“I thought you were going to help me here.” Hux crumpled a receipt and threw it toward the trash can.
He was angry with me. Katie was angry at my existence. On a normal day, I’d call Lucy. But I hadn’t talked to her since the basketball game on Friday. I wasn’t sure what to say after my announcement.
Which made me the asshole this time.
; I’d find the words, and a really big apology, but at the moment, it was too daunting. Dealing with a grumpy Hux was the lesser of two evils.
“Where do these canvases go?” I flung my hand at the piles. There were double the number he had scattered around at home.
“Ask Katie.”
I held back a smartass retort and plastered on a smile. “With pleasure.”
Then I marched from his office, slamming the door behind me, and took a fortifying breath before making my way down the hallway to her desk in the showroom.
“Hey, Katie.”
Her eyes shifted away from the laptop screen but not another muscle moved in her body.
Oh, Katie. She wasn’t going to make it easy, was she? “I’d like to clean out Hux’s office of the extra canvases. He said you could show me where to put them.”
She blinked.
I smiled wider. Katie was important to Hux so if I had to bulldoze my way into her heart, then so be it.
Katie’s gaze returned to her screen as her fingers flew across the keyboard. “Storage.”
“Storage,” I repeated. “Which is . . .”
Nothing.
“You’re busy.” My voice dripped with sugar. “Sorry to bother you. I’m sure I can poke around here and find storage on my own.”
I was sure she’d stop me, either because she knew she was acting like a child or because she didn’t want me sniffing around her territory. But as I walked away, Katie kept on typing, the sound growing distant as I approached Hux’s office.
With my shoulders squared, I pushed through the door, refusing to look at him as I gathered up five canvases. Then I walked out and took a right to explore the corners of the gallery I hadn’t been in yet.
There was a small, windowless room beside Hux’s office. When I flipped on the light, the dusty, bare lightbulb in the ceiling caught streams of dust mites floating through the air. Paintings were all stacked against the walls, some covered with canvases, others leaning at odd angles. In one corner, the spiders were building an empire of webs.
“Oh my.”
This place was a disaster.
Katie looked like a stuffy librarian, complete with Mary Janes beneath the cuffs of her jeans and the white collared shirt poking out from beneath her gray sweater. But those clothes might be hiding her true colors.
She was as disorganized as my husband.
The showroom was spotless and her own desk clear of clutter. But behind closed doors, this place was a masterpiece of disarray.
“Not exactly how I’d keep track of inventory,” I muttered, setting the blank canvases down. “But it has potential.”
I left the door open to chase out some of the mustiness and continued on my self-guided tour.
Beside the storage room was a bathroom. It didn’t shine but it wasn’t filthy. Beyond it was a narrow staircase that led to an open loft above the gallery. If the storage room had been dusty, this was downright dirty. I crossed the floor, my footsteps leaving trails in my wake.
But like the storage room, this space had potential. It was unfinished but spacious. A perfect rectangle, the entire size of the building. On the walls, puffy pink insulation had been stuffed in between the studs.
Much like my apartment had been above Kerrigan’s gym space, the wall facing First was full of windows. The glass had been covered with translucent white plastic to stop anyone from looking inside. They weren’t nearly the size of the windows Kerrigan had put into her building, but they let in plenty of natural light.
This could be a studio apartment, much like the one Kerrigan had finished above her upcoming gym. Though it would require an exterior exit be added to the building. I couldn’t see Hux agreeing to either.
The space would be great for a new office too. Or he could even put another painting studio up here. He could paint me head to toe here if it came with an orgasm.
I took a slow lap around the room, imagining possibilities and sexual positions, then shelved it all because today was not the day to pitch a renovation to Hux.
And the storage room was calling my name.
I stood on the threshold, hands on my hips, cataloging the disorder. Shelves. We needed shelves. So I marched back to Hux’s office. “I want to order some shelves.”
He raised his eyebrows, then went back to the papers on his desk. “Talk to Katie.”
Katie. I swallowed a groan.
Husbands and wives shouldn’t work together.
The grocery store was looking better by the minute.
Steeling my spine for another encounter with Katie, I plastered on my wide smile again as I emerged from the hallway. The front door to the gallery chimed and I looked over in time to see not a customer, but a familiar face storm inside.
By some miracle my smile held. If it lasted the day, I should get a goddamn medal for employee of the year.
I changed my direction, heading for our guest. “Hi, April.”
Her lip curled as she looked me up and down. “Where is Hux?”
“He’s working. Sorry. Is there something I can help you with?”
April’s glare traveled past me to Katie. “Call him. Now.”
Katie didn’t move. In this, we were united. And because of it, I’d give her some—what had Hux yelled at me?—fucking slack.
April sneered and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leaving until I talk to him.”
“Actually, you don’t get to talk to Hux.” I crossed my arms, mirroring her stance. “You can send all correspondence through our attorney.” Saying our attorney instead of his attorney felt like a necessary reminder. To both women in the room.
If April wanted to get to Hux, she could go through Aiden. And me.
“You can tell Hux he will never get what he wants. Full-time residence with him? He’s dreaming. He will never take my daughter.”
“His daughter,” I corrected. “Savannah is his daughter. And he has every right to be her father.”
News really did travel fast in Calamity. Aiden had just texted Hux around nine this morning that he’d sent in the paperwork to the courthouse. It wasn’t even ten.
“He’ll never win.” April gave me a smug grin. “I’ll make sure everyone in this town knows what a deadbeat criminal he is.”
This woman wasn’t afraid to toss out the threats, was she? I guess this time, we’d see if she had the moxie to back them up.
“As you can see, we really are busy here today.” I gestured around the empty room. “Lovely to see you again, April. Please do send any of your concerns along to our attorney.”
The color rose in her cheeks as she huffed, then whipped around and flew out the door.
I sighed as the chime faded, wishing for a redo on this day. But I wasn’t going to get one. Nor was I going to catch a break. Because when I turned around, Katie’s dead stare was waiting.
Not even a little camaraderie, Katie? Damn. She hadn’t thawed to me in the slightest.
“I want to order some shelves,” I said. “Should I put them on a company credit card? Or buy them and save the receipt for reimbursement?”
“Hux has a company credit card.”
Of course he did. But my darling lover wasn’t doing me any favors today either. “And Hux is busy working.”
Katie’s mouth pursed as she ripped open a drawer at her side and pulled out a credit card.
“Thanks.” I took it from her and shoved it in my jeans pocket. Then I started for the hallway, only to get stopped by a pair of blue eyes.
Had he been there the whole time?
“I assume you heard all of that with April.”
He nodded.
“Good. Then I don’t need to catch you up.” I walked past him for his office. The sound of his bootsteps followed as I pulled on my coat.
“Where are you going?”
“The hardware store.” I snatched up my purse.
“For shelves.”
I nodded. “Yes, I’m buying shelves.”
Befo
re I could storm past him and get some much-needed air, he walked closer, taking the keys from his pocket. “Take the truck. Have the guys at the hardware store load up whatever you buy. I’ll haul it all inside when you get back.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, swiping the keys. Even if he offered, I wasn’t letting him tag along. I needed air and space. I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions if he pissed me off while I was in the vicinity of hammers and nail guns.
“Want me to come with you?” he asked.
“You know I don’t.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. The bastard.
I made my break for the hallway, ready to get out of this place, when the gallery’s front door chimed again.
“Welcome,” Katie greeted.
“Hi. I’m looking for Everly. Is she here?”
That voice stopped me in my tracks.
The hits just kept on coming. So much for gathering my wits before facing off with my best friend. I emerged from the hallway, finding Lucy in the middle of the showroom.
“I’m sorry.” It didn’t matter that Katie was watching us like a hawk. I owed Lucy an apology and my pride wasn’t more important than my friend. “I didn’t handle Friday very well.”
“You’re forgiven.”
People should be so lucky to have her in their life. I knew I was lucky to have her in mine. “I have to go shopping.”
“I like shopping.”
I smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Lucy gave Katie a finger wave, one that was met with a kind smile. So Katie could smile, just not at me.
I waited until we were outside and the door was closed behind us before I handed over the keys to Hux’s truck. “Here. You’d better drive. I haven’t been behind the wheel in months and if I crash his truck, he might divorce me.”
Lucy took the keys but didn’t move. “You got married.”
The pain and betrayal in her voice made me feel an inch tall. I wanted to tell her the truth. That it was just a sham and she hadn’t missed anything. That when I got married for real, she’d be my matron of honor and sign as my witness.
But I couldn’t tell Lucy the truth. Not yet.
