“Good girl,” I watched to make sure the piece wasn’t too big; I wanted her turned on, not to choke. “Another?”
Piece by delicious piece, I fed her, brushing each mouthful against the honey before holding it to her lips. The lips I wanted to kiss, but first, I had to do more.
“I love banana, do you?” I watched as she squirmed on the bed. “It’s colder than the honey, but do you mind?”
How long had we been here? The waffles were no longer hot, and the honey didn’t drizzle as easily as it had. And I either needed to speed things up or risk literally blowing things at her first touch.
After covering both perfectly pink nipples with smearing blobs of banana, I set aside the tray.
“What the—” I yelled. Carlynn had taken my moment of distraction to hitch up and link her feet in my waistband. I could either remove my jeans or get kicked away. “Fine. You want it, come and fucking get it.”
I undid the belt and zip while Carlynn’s feet helped me push down each leg until I was more naked than her.
If I was going to hell with teasing Carlynn, she was already there. I could see peaks through the banana, she wanted me to hurry up and take her. I hadn’t even touched her slit but every part of her was ready. Still, I had to be a bastard and start with her toes. Massaging and sucking her big toe until she pulled away, linking her ankles around my neck.
I allowed her to pull me closer. Until the only place I wanted to be was inside her. I swiped some banana from one breast and smeared it along her slit. One finger and then two. Then my tongue.
Fuck, she tasted good. Not just the banana, but of her. With each nibble, each suck, her legs tightened, holding me in place.
“Don’t worry, baby, I’m not going anywhere,” I gasped in between breaths. Before diving down, again.
Lashing and lashing until her moans became shrieks. Her cries became my call to action. Diving deeper, thrusting harder. Working my fingers, even grinding my stubbled chin across her clit. Anything to drive her wild.
“Ahhhhhhhh,” she cried, gripping onto her ruined thong while her heels dug into my back.
I felt her cum. I tasted her juices intermingled with sugary fruit.
I could have given her anything in that moment. Forgiven her anything. If only she’d asked.
A quick sheath and I was ready to take her, take us, to the next level.
Teasing my cock at the entrance of her slit, I sucked away the banana, small bites to her nipples. Cleaning her. Teasing her.
Her moans destroyed me. Destroyed the fabric of any self-control I thought I had.
My hands gripped her wrists. Fighting the urge not to slam her into oblivion and send myself straight to hell.
“Do it,” she croaked. Defying my instructions with her eyes and lips.
I crushed her. Mouth on mouth, tearing her apart. The sweet seduction be damned, as our sticky bodies slid together. Her legs latched around my hips. Pulling me closer, inside.
“Fuck—” I moaned, finding my way home. Sliding into heaven as Carlynn’s lips took control. Biting me with every thrust. Pushing me to go harder.
I slid a hand down her chest. Tweaking the hard pebble before scratching my way lower. Loving how she gave her pleasure in kisses when I’d taken away her words.
Loving this woman.
No!
I shoved away the thought. Show, not think. Show, never tell.
“Ahhh,” she cried when I pinched her clit. “Again.”
I didn’t need any more encouragement. Thrusting, rubbing until I felt her change, again. Spasm again. Clenching tight around my cock, heels kicking at my back.
Timing for her pinnacle, I unleashed. Giving into the woman who could fuck me seven which ways to Sunday. In bed and out.
Giving in, knowing this time and this woman couldn’t last. Deciding to milk this moment and then spend the rest of my life holding onto the memories. The scent, the touch. Everything about GG-Carlynn-Rush needed to be imprinted within my DNA.
So, after she left, I’d still have something left.
“Scott! Oh, yes, Scott!”
One more thrust, and she destroyed me.
“Well, that was one hell of a conversation,” I panted, untying her wrists and gently massaging her arms until they fell to her side. “Anything else you want to say?”
“Are you ready to listen?” GG laughed, feeding me torn pieces from the cold waffles.
“Possibly, depends on what you want to say.”
“How about, I’ve got us tickets to go away for the weekend.”
Carlynn, to her credit, had timed her offer perfectly. My hands were distracted by her naked ass, my mouth full of waffle and her lips wrapped around one of my nipples.
Now wasn’t the time to explain I hadn’t decided whether my return was permanent—to Sydney, Softli or her.
“Where are we going.” It couldn’t hurt to ask.
“The snow.”
“Fine, Snowy Mountains or Victoria?” Not that I wanted to go near Melbourne again for a while, but the world was still full of other possibilities.
“Pack your passport because we’re leaving tomorrow afternoon.”
“You mean this weekend?”
“We’ll be back Monday morning, just in time to go to work.”
“I have a breakfast meeting with Mason.”
“Tell him your flight home got changed.”
“He doesn’t even think I left the state.”
“Then he’ll be pleasantly surprised you left the country.”
“Are you going to give me a hint?”
“New Zealand. One weekend in one room, what have you got to lose?”
The only answer was in her body and I proved, yet again, I could go all night without sleep.
“Morning.”
Carlynn had coffee ready for me by the time I got back upstairs from the gym. Wearing nothing underneath my shirt. Not her torn thong, and not even her boots. What a fucking goddess.
“I forgot to ask how the report went? Did you finalize it?”
“There’s a couple of numbers I have to check, but it’s almost finished.” Carlynn held my stare, “Do you want to read it?”
“As your lover or as the CFO?”
“As my lover, you have no right to even ask; but the CFO has every right to make sure I’m not mis-representing the facts.”
“And are you?”
“Am I what?” She sounded insulted, but at least the coffee cup found its way to my hand without being thrown at me.
“Are you mis-representing the facts? I’ve asked you before—is there anything I should be worried about?”
“Scott, I’m doing my job and you’ve seen the draft report.”
Again, there was the tell—her poker face hid all emotions and her answers were precise. If she had nothing to hide, her face would be alive and in the moment.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Just once, I wanted her to be honest. Allow me to see her honest reaction, hear words without trying to read the full truth. Anything, to put my suspicions to rest.
“A lot,” she admitted. Drawing her hands up my bare chest. Finally, there was a glimpse of truth. “But nothing that I think you should be worried about.”
I wanted to believe her.
But the only truth was the way she made me feel in my arms.
Like I’d be ready to call, all in.
“Are you coming out to the slopes?”
Not even a broken thumb wasn’t going to stop me from spending every waking hour out on the snow. The Australian snow was good for practice, but New Zealand ski runs in Queenstown were spectacular and I couldn’t get enough. “The bus to Coronet Peak is leaving in an hour.”
“I’ll stick to the beginner runs—when do you want to meet up?”
Carlynn looked up from the fur-skin rug on the floor. We’d started on the rug, made it to bed but in the early hours of the morning, she’d found me back in the living area. Unable to sleep, I’
d been keeping busy by stoking the fire. Wordlessly, she’d pulled me down to the rug before falling asleep in my arms while I watched the flames burn and then die down.
I should have known better than do something stupid over a woman, again. Falling in love with GG or Carlynn had been crazy at best, insane and completely fucked up at worst. My world of cards or my career.
“How about I book us a table for dinner.”
“That sounds great, but if we get back early, we can get dinner delivered to our room.” Carlynn rolled onto her stomach. Her perfect ass showing off the love bites from last night. “If we get an early night, you might have just enough energy for a couple of runs tomorrow on the slopes before we head to the airport.”
“You want me to sleep?”
“I want you.”
Knowing I shouldn’t, knowing I’d regret it and being able to stop myself from falling in love needed my brain and heart to agree.
As I drowned in Carlynn’s warmth, I mentally promised to allow us this one weekend of perfect loving before reality and the truth could kick my ass to the curb, again.
GG
I could cry until glass broke.
I could scream until my vocal cords broke.
It wouldn’t make any difference.
One incredible weekend of making love and connecting as a couple only half worked. In bed or on the floor or wherever we found each other, the sex was perfectly in sync and I’d never felt more loved.
Scott’s eyes were open and honest, his loving was passionate and generous. Not once did he give me any reason to suspect he didn’t feel the same.
Until clothes went on, we left the room and the world intervened.
Scott had found a group of friends in the bar and disappeared on the slopes—even deciding to give snow-boarding a go with men half his age.
“C’mon, GG. Hire some gear and have some fun.”
“I’ve never been much for skiing.”
Yes, I’d picked the destination, but with Scott in mind. At cards and at Softli we were competitors, rivals. Here, on the snow, he could take charge. I’d hoped by being in his environment, we could press reset, on everything.
“This weekend was your idea.”
“You go, have fun. I’ll be keeping the fire burning.”
There were two reasons I didn’t want to go skiing on the advanced slopes with a group. One, because I didn’t want to look like a fool in front of the man I wanted to impress. Second, because I didn’t want Scott to compare me to the designer dressed snow-bunny ski instructor who had been making her presence felt.
Either she smelt money, or she wanted my man.
I could compete with her in the bedroom, boardroom or at a card table. But on the slopes, we weren’t even in the same league.
“You should try ice climbing—a man like you—it’ll blow your mind.” The bitch ignored me, purring her unnecessary encouragement entirely in Scott’s direction.
“I’d love to, but the only way I’d get the time is by chucking in my job.”
“Life is for living, why waste it on working.”
“Pretend I became unemployed, where should I check out first?”
Scott leaving Softli? We’d never talked about why he suddenly needed a week off work, but I had assumed it was a break in deadlines.
“Share my chair lift and I’ll give you all my secrets.” The blonde linked her arm through Scott’s before giving me a triumphant sneer, “You don’t mind, do you?”
“GG? Sure, I can’t tempt you?” At least Scott pretended to care.
“Enjoy the slopes, tempt me later.”
Pushing the woman aside, I gave Scott a kiss that was part show and part—a promise for temptation later.
He never cashed in on the promise.
We never spoke about his future at Softli.
By the time we boarded our flight back to Sydney, we were all talked out—at least of anything unimportant. The important stuff had been pushed aside, for now.
Sydney.
Reality.
Yes, Scott had agreed to come away for the weekend, but once we got back to Sydney, I’d somehow find the courage and insist on clearing the air. With Scott, Mason, Jarryd and anyone else who needed to know.
Scott
“You never answered my question,” Mason greeted me less than ten minutes after I’d opened the door to my office. Bastard took no time making himself at home, even offering me a bottle from my own stash of water.
“Either you already know the answer, or you’re only asking to answer a different question. Why don’t you stop fucking me around and just accuse me or get over yourself.”
Our flight from New Zealand left shortly after nine on Sunday evening and didn’t arrive until nine Monday morning. All the hours I’d watched Carlynn sleep and I still wasn’t any closer to getting answers about trust. The fact that Mason hadn’t missed a beat grilling me only seemed ironic. Pathetic but ironic.
“I’m wondering how you covered six months of losses.”
“How much do you think I lost?”
Invoking my poker face, no way I was giving the bastard anything to work with. If I hadn’t kept track, Mason wouldn’t even be able to come close.
“Try your annual salary, lost at cards within six months.”
Shit, it might not be accurate, but closer than I expected.
“How’d you figure that out?”
“I did some credit checks.”
“Is that why you got that consultant to go through my employment contract?” I tossed Mason a baited line. Only a hunch, but what if—no. Surely, Carlynn hadn’t been involved in the witch hunt?
“Don’t take it personally, I asked her to look at all my senior executives.”
“What did she find?”
“On you—nothing that wasn’t public. Which made me want to look deeper.”
“I lost at cards, so what?”
“Where did the money come from?”
“Not having kids, ex-wives and anyone else in my life to stop me. Are we finished here?”
“Not even close.”
“Mason, I’ve got a hundred or so emails that think they are urgent. Either sack me or leave me to do my job.”
My poker face came in handy. Mason didn’t have a fucking clue how close I was to handing over my pass and getting the hell out of Dodge.
“It doesn’t need to be like this. Just answer the bloody question.” Mason waited, as I knew he would. Two minutes of silence, maybe three before my boss gave up. Turning, with a sigh Mason gave me the look that said we weren’t done, before heading back to his own lair.
After he left, I couldn’t concentrate on numbers or emails. After telling Layla to hold all calls, I stood in front of the window, trying to draw the answers from the Sydney skyline. Not even the swirling clouds could decide which way to go.
“Hi.” Carlynn knocked on my open door. Dressed in the same blue suit she’d worn the first day at Softli, only I knew firsthand the softness of the teal lace that framed her breasts beneath the satin blouse. “Layla said you were busy, but I thought—”
“What did you find in my employment contract?” I watched her eyes hide behind her poker face.
“When you read the report, you’ll see I made recommendations to align performance bonuses with Softli performance and not just sales targets.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Because you didn’t ask a real question.” Carlynn shut the door before Layla had a chance. Nothing about this conversation needed to be shared across the floor.
“I kept asking if there was anything I needed to know.”
“You asked if I was keeping anything from you and I said, yes but I couldn’t tell you.”
“Since Mason seems to think that my gambling is beyond my capacity to pay, how about you tell me how he came to that conclusion.”
“Scott, please.” Her voice pained, as if I had done her the disservice. I brushed away her hand. “We’re bo
th tired and need to talk. How about I come over to your place tonight and I’ll answer every question.”
“Forget it, I’m about to tell Mason that my week’s leave has been extended.”
“Please don’t.”
“There’s a game of cards in Melbourne with my name on it.”
“No!” Her shriek had Layla knocking at the door. “No, you can’t.”
“Boss?”
“It’s fine,” I called out. “Tell Layla!”
“You can’t go, not to Melbourne.” Her shrieking refused to be calmed. It was as if Carlynn hadn’t heard Layla or me.
“Miss Rush, are you okay?”
I opened the door, giving Layla the visual proof, her boss was an asshole but not violent or threatening. I wanted to go back to Melbourne. Not kill puppies or pull wings off butterflies.
What the fuck was Carlynn’s problem?
Closing the door, I turned to Carlynn. “Why the hell not?”
“Please, stay here and let’s talk. Last weekend was perfect, and I know you felt the same. Don’t do anything drastic until you’ve given us a chance.”
“Why are you so hung up on Melbourne?”
“My ex-husband is there.”
“Out of a couple of million people, I doubt I’ll run into him.”
“Please,” she begged again. “We had such a fantastic weekend, now that we can talk about everything, don’t you want to see if we can make things work?”
“Really? Now you want to try being honest?”
“Don’t you think we deserve a chance?”
“I’ll think about it.”
This time when I opened the door, she left. “Not a word,” I growled at Layla. “Not one fucking word.”
All day Carlynn’s reaction stayed with me. No matter how I pulled it apart, I couldn’t understand. Why the hell didn’t she want me to go to Melbourne. Maybe, Jarryd had told her about Basilio’s? Maybe, based on my previous self-destruct, Carlynn was only wanting to protect me from my own recklessness.
To hell with Melbourne, if Carlynn was ready to spill the truth, I’d be prepared to listen.
“Do you know where that consultant is based—there are a bunch of new grads in her office?” I asked Mason’s secretary.
Reckless Gamble: a billionaire high stakes suspense romance (City Sinners Book 4) Page 18
