by Ali Parker
But it did end.
My headlights lit up the garage when I pulled inside and turned off the car. Piper got out of the car herself and lifted the takeout bags out of the backseat. I joined her at the door to the house and opened it up for her. She slipped her sandals off and padded barefoot down the hall to my living room, where she knelt in front of my coffee table and began unpacking the bag of tacos.
“I’ll whip us up some drinks,” I said.
“Perfect.” She smiled as she pulled napkins out of the bag and set them aside.
I blended us up some margaritas and brought the blender and two cups into the living room with me. I poured us each a glass and set them down. Piper reached for hers and lifted it to her lips before pausing.
“Here’s to us,” she said, lifting her glass up over the coffee table and toward me.
I lifted mine as well, and we tapped the edges of them together. “I’ll toast to that.”
We held gazes as we each took a sip.
Piper licked her lips. “Damn. That’s good.”
We dug into the tacos. I hadn’t sat like this with a woman in my living room to enjoy a meal before. I couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else and having it be so comfortable, so effortless.
But Piper was like that. She made anything and everything feel right.
When we finished eating, she packed up the bag of garbage and moved to my side of the coffee table to snuggle into my side. I wrapped an arm around her waist and held her to me.
Fuck, was I ever going to miss her when she left. I wondered if this was how the Canadian felt. Had he fallen for her the way I had? Had they developed a connection like this?
Was that even possible?
I felt so close to her. I felt like she and I were the only ones in the world who understood each other. And I was fairly certain she felt the same way about me, at least a little bit. She felt something at the very least.
Was that a feeling she would be able to duplicate for more than one man throughout the course of this journey with the Casanova Club? Would she fall in love with one of us? What if she fell in love with more than just one?
“What are you thinking about?” Piper asked, tipping her head back to look up at me while she rested one hand on her chest.
I moved my hand from her waist to her hip and then lower to the bare skin at the hem of her shorts. “Just you.”
“What about me?” she whispered.
I squeezed the flesh on her hip. “About how much I wish you could stay.”
Her eyes shifted back and forth between mine. Sadness washed over her features, and she looked down at my chest where she played with the collar of my shirt. “I know. It’s hard. But I’m thankful for the time we’ve had. And for the time we still have.”
“We should probably make the most of it, shouldn’t we?”
Piper nodded and leaned deeper into my side. She stretched up, lifting her lips to mine, and her eyes closed at the last minute, right before our lips grazed one another’s. She let out a soft sigh when I nuzzled her cheek to the side and moved in to plant kisses along her jaw and the side of her neck.
I slowed to nibble on her earlobe and whisper sweet nothings in her ear. “I’m happy to treat you like you’re mine and only mine while I have you. You’ve made me a very lucky man, Piper James.”
It was just too bad she was also going to make other men equally as lucky.
Bastards.
Piper wrapped her fingers in the front of my shirt to draw herself closer. I leaned against the sofa at our backs and drew her into my lap, loving the way her ass fit perfectly there, like we were made for each other.
She twisted around to face me, planting her knees on either side of my legs, and then rocked forward, rolling her hips so that she ground herself against my cock.
“You tease,” I said.
Piper let out a breathy laugh and ran her tongue along her upper lip. “I like teasing you.”
“Clearly.”
“Should I stop?” she asked. Her hips went still.
I put my hands on her waist and flicked the button of her jean shorts open. “What do you think?”
She pursed her lips with false thoughtfulness. “Hm. Well, I think you and me are going to have a really fun night. All those people out there got autographs, but me? Well, I’m the lucky one.” She rocked her hips again. I reached around and squeezed her ass. “I get all of you.”
She leaned in, cupped my face in her hands, and kissed me deeply. I could still taste the margarita on her lips and tongue. I savored her flavor as I wrapped my arms around her and held her to my chest.
Chapter 22
Piper
Easton held me tightly. I rolled my hips, and my knees took the force of it on the hardwood floors. I didn’t care. Being in his lap like this made me feel safe and special. And loved.
Which was a terrifying thought.
Even though I really liked the idea that Easton might be falling in love with me, I hoped for his sake that he wasn’t. And yet, maybe…
No.
The million dollars was still dangling at the end of the line like a carrot on a piece of string. And I was the stupid bunny rabbit hopping desperately toward it, using good men like Joshua and Easton to get there.
Would either of them ever forgive me if they knew this had been my plan all along?
Easton squeezed my ass and crushed his mouth to mine. His deep breath had me losing myself in our kiss, and I unzipped the fly of my shorts to untuck my shirt. I pulled it free, and he helped me pull it over my head.
Easton broke our kiss to worship my breasts. He pushed them together and rained kisses over my cleavage. I caught my breath and arched my back, letting him do what he wished with my tits while I braced myself with my hands on his quads.
He pulled my bralette down. Then he showered my nipples with kisses and nibbles and gentle suckling. I watched him, and he gazed back up at me with those big brown eyes of his that I was sure had opened many doors for him in his lifetime.
I plunged my fingers into his hair and held him to my chest as I continued to roll my hips in his lap. His cock was rock hard beneath me, and my body was ready for him. My pussy was already wet. My heart pounded. Every fiber of my being wanted him to take me now.
Easton wrapped an arm around me and flipped us over, pinning me on the floor beneath him. He straightened up and shimmied my shorts down my hips, over my thighs and knees, and then pulled them off completely. He threw them across the room before doing the same thing with my panties. Then he took my bralette off. It got caught up in my hair, which was knotted and tangled from the ride home in the convertible, but neither of us cared.
He dropped low onto his elbows and framed my head between his forearms. I gazed up at him, hooked my legs around his waist, and held him there.
He kissed the tip of my nose. My cheeks. My forehead. Then my lips.
I opened my mouth for him, and he slipped his tongue inside. Our kiss started off slow and steady, and it grew into something hotter and faster as our bodies pleaded for more. So much more.
I started popping open the buttons of his shirt. Easton continued kissing me, distracting me from my work. He smiled into the kiss as I fumbled with the buttons, and once I finally managed to get the shirt undone, he didn’t help me as I pushed it off his shoulders and down his biceps. I finally managed to get it off him, and then I went to work on his shorts. I got them open relatively quickly.
Easton caught my wrist and shook his head while clicking his tongue. “Slow down, baby girl. Let me do my work first.”
He moved down the length of my body until his face was level with my hips. Then he shifted to settle between my legs. He pushed me back down, forcing me onto my back again on the hardwood floor. Then he licked me up and down, nice and slow, soft and light, and I stared up at the ceiling high above and let the pleasure roll through my body.
Easton dipped his tongue inside me. I gasped and pressed my shoulder blades hard ag
ainst the floor. He continued to roll his tongue upward, swirling over and around my clit in slow figure eights. When he had me good and ready and sloppy wet, he gave me a finger. And then another.
“Yes,” I moaned, squeezing my eyes closed.
He curled his fingers up toward my G-spot. Stars exploded behind my eyelids.
Easton flicked his fingers quickly, rubbing the sensitive spot inside me with his fingertips while he licked and suckled at my clit. It was all too much. Too good. Almost magical. I came in seconds.
My whole body gave in to muscle spasms, and a cry of euphoria ripped from my throat.
Easton pushed himself up onto his elbows between my legs and gave me a proud smile. “Thatta girl.”
I giggled and gazed up at the ceiling. My body was floating and my mind drifting. It was heavenly.
Easton went to his knees and yanked his shorts down. Then he rummaged around in his pocket for a condom, which he apparently did not have. “Damn it. We have to take this to the bedroom.”
“In a minute,” I said. Then I motioned for him to come closer.
He obliged, dropping low.
“No,” I said, hooking a finger in the waistband of his boxers. “Come here.”
His eyebrows crept up his forehead, and he got the hint. He shimmied up to me, trapping me beneath him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pushed my hands into the backs of his thighs as he pulled his boxers down to free his cock.
I looked up at him as he stroked his shaft and angled it down toward my mouth. Then I licked my lips and parted them. Easton lowered his hips, and I took him in my mouth. I held my tongue to the base of his shaft to guide his length to the back of my throat. Then I held him there.
Easton groaned above me and hung his head back.
The view from down here was magnificent, and it was one I knew I would never get tired of if I had more nights like these with him.
I pulled myself off and then went back down. Easton let out a primal growl and gazed back down at me. He gathered my hair off my face and held it up to use it to guide me along his cock. I moaned with him deep in my throat, and the vibrations nearly sent him over the edge.
“Fuck, Piper,” he grated, his voice thick with lust. It turned me on.
I pushed deeper and kept worshipping his length until he pulled away, out of breath and wary looking. He tore his pants and boxers the rest of the way off his legs and then scooped me up in his arms. I didn’t need to ask where we were going.
He carried me across the living room and down the hallway toward the bedroom. We took a quick break halfway there, where he held me against the hallway wall and kissed me like our lives depended on it. I moaned softly, and he growled into my mouth. His cock rested against my pussy, and it took everything I had not to reach down and slip him inside me.
It would be worth the wait.
Easton reached over my hip and rubbed my clit as we kissed. I purred between him and the wall, and then he slipped a finger inside me.
“Oh God,” I breathed.
“You’re so fucking wet.”
“I want your cock inside me.”
His arms trembled around me. I stroked his cheeks, and he fucked me with his fingers.
“Please,” I begged.
He pulled me off the wall. I hooked my legs around his waist, and we kissed all the way to the bed, which he threw me down on roughly. Then he flipped me over on my hands and knees and turned me around so my ass was in the air in front of him. I didn’t expect him to slap me, but he did, and I liked it. A lot.
I dropped forward and looked back at him over my shoulder to wiggle my ass in the air for him again. He slapped me once more then rubbed his hand over my stinging ass cheek.
“Stay where you are,” he said huskily as he walked around the bed to his nightstand. He tore it open and searched for a condom. I obeyed and stayed there with my cheek down on the sheets and my ass in the air.
He came back with a condom pinched between his fingertips. He tore it open with his teeth and tossed the wrapper to the floor. Then he stepped in close and ran his cock up and down my swollen slit.
“Please don’t tease me,” I pleaded. It was too much. I could barely stand to wait any longer. I needed him inside me now.
“Are you telling me what to do?”
“I’m asking,” I said, pouting my bottom lip out as I looked back at him.
He squeezed my ass and spread my cheeks, and then he pushed forward, sliding his cock deep inside my wet pussy. I moaned. So did he.
I gripped the sheets beneath me in desperation as he slid back out of me. Then back in. Each thrust brought me closer to an explosive orgasm. I could barely catch my breath as the fire burned brighter inside me.
Easton grabbed a fistful of my hair. He yanked me upright, and I never let go of the sheets. I pulled them up with me as he held me on all fours. I let out a sharp cry as he fucked me harder, driving in deep, hitting all the right places inside me.
And then I gave in to it all.
My orgasm was powerful. I couldn’t control any part of my body. His name was on my lips as I screamed, and at the same time, I heard him growl. He slapped my ass, gripped my hips, and fucked me for all he was worth until he lost his load and we were both huffing and puffing for breath and covered in little beads of sweat.
Easton dropped down onto the bed beside me to lay on his back and catch his breath. I lay beside him on my stomach with my face buried in the sheets. “That was amazing,” I whispered.
He chuckled and closed his eyes. “Yeah.”
I rolled closer and rested my head on his chest. He pulled me in, and I listened to the steady sounds of his breathing and heartbeat.
“Can I ask you something, Piper?”
“Of course.”
He was quiet for a minute. “Is this hard for you? The Casanova Club?”
I licked my lips and looked up at him, resting my hand on his chest and my chin on the back of my hand. “Yes. I’ve caught myself wishing I never joined in the first place.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “Saying goodbye is the worst part. Especially when you know you have feelings and are invested, and you don’t know when you’ll see them again.” I gave him a sad smile. “But I suppose that’s what this is all about, right? Falling for someone?”
Easton ran his fingers through my hair. “I suppose. But…”
“Yes?”
“I wish it didn’t hurt you, too.”
Chapter 23
Easton
Somehow, it was already the twenty-third of February.
Piper and I had just arrived at the football stadium. It was just after ten in the morning, and nobody was there. The place had been locked up, but security let me through, and we made our way down the bleachers and out to the field, where we were currently walking right to the middle to throw a football around for a bit. I wanted her to see what it was like to stand where I stood during a game.
The time had passed in record speed, and there was only one word to capture how it all made me feel. Broken.
When Jerry had first told me about this situation and proposed it as something to consider, I’d nearly laughed him straight out of my living room.
* * *
“Me? A Casanova Bachelor? Get your head out of your ass, Jerry. There’s no way I could commit to only being with one woman for a whole damn year. Who do you think I am?”
Jerry slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans and rocked back on his heels. “I think you need the good publicity.”
I scoffed and dropped down onto my sofa to crack open my beer. I kicked my heels up on the table. “Why? The fans love me.”
“Sure, but your lifestyle is getting ahead of you, Easton. All these photos of you in clubs with these women? It’s going to catch up with you, and it’s not going to end well. You have to guard your career.”
“Who I sleep with and where I meet them shouldn’t matter. Besides, there’s plenty of me to go around. The haters
are probably just jealous women and—”
“Easton,” Jerry said, his voice suddenly sour. “Don’t be an asshole.”
“What?” I asked innocently.
“You know I’m right. No more of this bullshit. This could be good for you. And it will force you to break out of some of these bad habits you’ve developed. Less women. Less alcohol. More stability. I implore you to be reasonable here.”
I sighed and glared at my agent. He’d never steered me wrong before. Why would that change now?
“A whole fucking year, Jerry? Seriously? I can only be with one chick for one month and then no other women for a year?”
Jerry pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll see if I can arrange for her to come here within the first couple of months. Then, if you are incapable of resisting your urges, you can go off and do whatever the hell you want. I won’t stop you.”
I grinned. “That’s more like it, Jerry. I could get on board with that arrangement.”
“I’ll call Jackson Lee and see if that works for him then. Any other special requests?”
“Yeah.” I smirked. “Tell him it had better be a blonde. And I want a list of the other bachelors as soon as they’re finalized.”
“Why?”
“To know what I’m up against.” I shrugged.
Jerry put his hands on his hips and let out an exasperated sigh. “I thought you didn’t give a damn? Why would you care who the other men are?”
“Are you telling me if you were in my position, you wouldn’t be curious? Pull some strings, Jerry. I know you can. You’ve done it for me before. You’re good at that shit.”
“Fine.”
“That’s more like it. Now, enough of this talk. I’m bored. Want a beer?”
“No, I’m all right. I have to head home.”
I stood up and drained the rest of my beer. “All good. I have a lady friend coming over shortly, anyway. You should clear out before she shows up.”
