“Sit,” Ava commands as I roll it on. “I’m going to ride you.”
I place myself in the center of her sofa, slump down so she has complete access to my cock, and let her climb on. Just watching her move sets my skin on fire. She places my throbbing cock at her entrance and teases me by circling her hips.
I groan, curl my fingers around her hips, and slide her onto my dick. She’s so wet and hot that another shockwave riots through me. We both pull in a desperate breath at the sensation of me filling her completely. I’m so deep, so fully encased by her, and it’s pure ecstasy.
“Ride me, sweetheart.” My voice is rough and ragged. “I want to watch you fuck me to an orgasm because it’s so goddamn beautiful.”
She places her hands on my shoulders, lifts herself to my tip, and sinks again. Her lips part, her skin flushes, a glistening sheen of moisture appears around her neck because she’s so worked up that she’s starting to sweat.
She licks her lips and keeps her eyes anchored to mine. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“’Course.” We’re getting too damn good at secrets, and that causes something to niggle at the back of my mind.
“I still want you to call me Rookie sometimes.” She lifts again and sinks onto me, taking me in so deep that I practically see stars. The niggle is forgotten. “But I love it when you call me sweetheart, too.”
Her rhythm increases, and I cover her tits with my palms. My fingers flex into them as I knead and massage them into two granite peaks. She’s riding me like a naughty cowgirl now, moaning and gasping out sexy little sounds. She’s hot and flushed, so her fingers slide into her own hair, and she lifts it off her shoulder in the sexiest gesture.
Her breathing becomes erratic with the first signs of the release she’s searching for.
“That’s it, sweetheart. Come for me. Come all over my cock.” It’s all hers for the taking. It belongs to no one else but Ava.
Her body starts to quiver, and she grabs onto my shoulders.
“That’s it. You’re at the edge.” I’m not asking her. I know that she is. I’ve learned every signal and cue in just a few days with her. I flex my fingers into her hips again and grind into her with each of her thrusts.
“Yes.” Her voice is a desperate cry as her climax pulls her closer and closer to the brink.
I let my open palm glide over her flat belly into the honey-blonde triangle of curls between her legs, and I circle her throbbing clit with my thumb. That pushes her over, and she cries out my name.
I love the sound of it so fucking much that something in my chest tightens around my heart. I rise up and bury my face in the nook of her neck as I find my own release. My arms close around her tightly, and I can’t imagine ever letting her go. She’s become my whole world. My whole heart. My whole reason for existing.
She wraps her arms around my head and holds me just as tight. Our pounding hearts mix and mingle, and I’ve never felt more complete than I do at this moment.
Our friendship has grown over time, but as lovers, we’re new and untested. I can only hope that how much we mean to each other can overcome all the obstacles in our path.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I’m running late Monday morning, mostly because Ava and I spent the entire night having roof-raising sex. Then I had to dart to my apartment to get cleaned up before going to the office.
As I’m about to leave my apartment, Leticia calls for a rundown of details I want her to take care of before I leave New York this coming weekend. When I hang up, I grab my jacket and head for the elevator. I send Ava a text before I step inside.
Running late. I have to skip coffee. Meet you for lunch instead?
This sucks. I’ve only got a few days left in the city, and skipping morning coffee with Ava is like a kick in the balls. If I can’t go a day without our coffee appointment, how am I going to survive away from her for months at a time?
I nod to the doorman, pull on my wool custom cut coat, and step out into the crisp autumn air. The sidewalks of Manhattan are bustling, and a city bus roars past. A cab honks, and a traffic cop blows a whistle from the intersection just down the street.
I breathe the cool air into my lungs and look up, taking in the magnificence of this city as I button up my coat. Something washes over me. Something familiar I used to feel growing up in New Jersey. Loneliness has already started to settle into my soul, and I haven’t moved yet.
My heart thuds against my chest. I don’t want to go back to that dark place I grew up in, and something tells me I will when I leave this city that’s become my home. When I leave my close friends that have become my family.
When I leave Ava.
I flip up my collar and start walking, bracing myself against the chill. I’m lost in thought about my future and completely forget that I should be in a hurry.
By the time I get to the Checkmate building, I’m an icicle.
The receptionist greets me and picks up the phone as I pass through the grand rotunda. No doubt, she’s alerting Leticia that I’ve arrived so she can leap into superhero mode as she always does. That woman is amazing, and Checkmate couldn’t survive without her.
As if on cue, Leticia is waiting for me when I step off the elevator. “A partners meeting is scheduled for tomorrow to discuss tightening the budget until the expansion is off the ground. Magnus is sending someone over to your apartment this week with new clothes you’ll need for work and to pack all your favorites.” She falls in beside me as I turn toward my office. “I’ve lined up only hotels with a dry cleaning and laundry service, and in the cities where I’ve managed to secure flats on such short notice, I’ve secured a valet service that will clean, stock the fridge, do laundry.” She cuts a hand horizontally through the air. “Anything you need, they’ll take care of it for you.” She taps on the iPad that is permanently cradled in her arm. “I’m emailing the details to you now.” She keeps going without taking a breath. “And Ava’s waiting in your office.”
Since the inside-facing walls of every floor at Checkmate are mostly glass, I know that Leo is on the phone with his feet propped on his desk. I stop and wave to him. Then I look at Leticia. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?” Her eyebrows scrunch together.
“Rule the world with a tablet and one finger,” I say, and I’m totally serious.
She waggles her brows at me. “It’s a really, really talented finger. Just ask my husband.” She turns to stroll to her desk in front of Leo’s office. “Besides, I’m Leticia. Do you not know who you’re dealing with yet?”
I shake my head.
“Oh,” Leticia says. “A friend of Ava’s called first thing this morning. Said you gave her your card in Weatherton this weekend.”
Ah. Kendall Tate from the diner.
“I’ve scheduled her for an interview. Good call, by the way. You need your own assistant.”
“Not for me. For Oz,” I say.
Leticia turns with a brow raised so high it’s disappeared behind her hairline. “Does he know about this? And does she know what she’s getting herself into with Oz Strong for a boss?”
I chuckle. “Better to keep both in the dark for now. At least until you see if she’s right for the job.”
When I get to my office, Ava is sitting on my sofa. No surprise that I find her even more gorgeous than I did last night.
The bracelets I gave her are sitting on the sofa next to her, and she’s cradling her wrist.
“What happened?” I ask.
“I hurt my wrist on the way to the coffee shop this morning. It hurts like hell. There’s your coffee.” She nods to the to-go cup sitting on my desk.
I ignore the coffee for now. All I want is Ava. Maybe I can kiss her wrist and make it better.
“Morning.” I walk to her and she stands. “Again.”
She breathes me in. “Conquest.” She nails my Checkmate cologne.
“Give my girl an O.” I move closer and step into her personal body space without thinki
ng. All thought of hiding our relationship is gone, and all I can focus on is that she’s mine. I’m just about to dip my head and kiss her when her eyes widen, and she skitters away from me.
“Thanks for the coffee, Sis.” Leo is standing in the door and lifts his cup. He eyes us. “What’s going on?”
“I was just going to check Ava’s wrist. She hurt it,” I say.
“Are you okay?” His expression is worried.
“I’m fine.” Pink seeps into her cheeks. “I just need some ice from the break room.” She darts past him.
He looks at me with a grin. “Late night? You’re always here early.”
I shrug out of my coat and toss it on a chair. “A lot to do before this weekend.”
“Leticia says everything’s coming together for the move,” Leo says.
“Yeah,” I say. Because, you know, I’m so fucking smooth with words.
Leo keeps holding up the doorframe, drinking his coffee. He glances at my sofa, and he laugh-whispers, “Dude.” He goes to my sofa and picks up Ava’s bracelets. “You had the girl from the photo here last night? That’s why your ass is dragging this morning?”
What the hell is he talking about? And then I remember. I fucking remember that Ava’s bracelets are visible in the picture that showed up in the City Scoop. Yeah, that picture. The one of me fucking her on the hood of my car.
I haul in a breath. “Listen, there’s something I need to talk to you about. Can I come over tonight?”
“Oh, thank God.” Ava walks in again, a baggie filled with ice cubes on her wrist. “You have my bracelets.” She goes to Leo and takes them from his hands. “I’d go ballistic if I lost them. Dex brought them to me from Dubai for my birthday.”
My eyes slide shut to block out the cluster fuck that’s unfolding right in front of me.
Ava’s bracelets jingle.
“You sorry bastard,” he says. And he’s probably right.
I force myself to open my eyes and meet my best buddy’s lethal stare. Force myself to watch as more than a decade of friendship and loyalty vanishes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“What?” Ava’s gaze shifts between me and Leo, confused that her brother just called me exactly what I am—a sorry bastard.
I’ve finally managed to live up to my parents’ low expectations.
Leo’s breathing is heavy, and betrayal and scorn roll off him. This guy that I’ve admired for having the balls to do what he wanted with his life instead of what was expected. Checkmate was his brainchild, and he cared enough about me to encourage me to follow him and his dream. So that my life would be more fun and interesting. So that I could live the adventure with him instead of being locked into the boring existence that my parents had mapped out for me. So that I could be my own person and not a robot.
I’ve repaid him by doing the one thing I knew would hurt him the most.
“Leo, I’m sorry,” I say.
I don’t think I can feel any more ashamed, but then he turns his crushing stare on his sister. My self-worth plummets like a sinkhole. The way Leo is looking at Ava tells me he’ll never trust her again.
“What’s there to be sorry for?” Ava asks, still not realizing we’ve been outed.
“You…” Leo runs his fingers through his hair as his stare drops to the stack of bracelets in Ava’s hands. “How long have you been lying to me?”
Ava’s eyes widen. “Dex told you.” She looks at me. “Here? Now?”
“No, Dex didn’t fucking tell me!” Leo’s voice raises several notches. “I saw the picture in the City Scoop. The bracelets are a dead giveaway.”
Leo turns his scorching gaze back on me.
The room grows hot as his laser stare burns through me. I’ve let my three best friends down, because not only is this going to tear apart our partnership at Checkmate, but it’s also going to damage a brother and sister’s bond.
I hate myself for what I’ve done, but I despise myself even more for what I’m about to do. My lips part as I start to stutter out an explanation. An admission of guilt that will put the blame squarely on my shoulders so Ava and Leo can hopefully find a way past this mess that I’ve created.
“How long?” Leo asks again. His voice is a whisper, but his tone is as sharp as nails.
“Just since this weekend.” I’m such a damn liar. I may not have slept with Ava until this weekend, but I’ve been fucking her in my mind for two long years. While pretending to look out for her like a brother.
“I thought you were my friend,” Leo says. So many emotions are threading through his words, none of them positive. “I trusted you to take care of my sister. I asked you to look out for her this weekend. You do that by putting her in a compromising and embarrassing position on the hood of your car, which ends up in a fucking gossip rag for all of New York City to see?”
“Leo,” Ava says, and tries to lay a comforting hand on his forearm.
He jerks away from her, and her icepack falls to the floor.
“I fucked up,” I blurt. “It was a mistake.”
I want to close my eyes when Ava looks at me. I’ve just called her a fuck up. A mistake. Hurt and betrayal shimmer in her eyes, but ending our short-term love affair is the only way Leo and Ava can salvage their own relationship.
“I’m sorry, Ava.” It’s all I can do to look her in the eye because I know I’m driving a knife right through her tender heart. On the surface, she’s tough and bold. Oh, underneath she’s still strong, but she’s also got a soft heart, which makes her vulnerable to people with shady intentions. That’s why I understand Leo’s unrelenting drive to protect her since the loss of their parents. “I shouldn’t have gone with you upstate. I shouldn’t have kept meeting you every morning for the past two years.”
“Two years?” Leo says.
Jesus. This is such a fucking mess, but I barrel on. “I wasn’t man enough to resist the temptation. I seduced her. It’s all on me, Leo.”
All of that is true. But I leave out the part about me also doing it because I’m in love with her. I’ve just been afraid to admit it to myself until now.
Ava backs toward the door, the beautiful shine I usually see in her expression completely snuffed out. She sends the stack of gold bracelets sailing across the room, and they scatter over the floor.
“You two deserve each other,” she says to both Leo and me.
Leo’s brows pull together. “Me? What did I do?”
“You’re not a stupid person, Leo, so stop acting like it.” She stops backing up and stands her ground. “I love you. You took care of me when you were little more than a kid yourself. You could’ve dumped me off on a relative, but you didn’t. Instead, you made sacrifices for me that no one else on earth would’ve. But you’re also suffocating me.” She waves a dismissive hand in my direction, and my heart gets heavier. “You’ve built a shield around me by enlisting help from Dex and Oz and won’t let anyone else into our world.” She scoffs. “I mean, my God, Leo. This is New York City, for God’s sake, and I can’t get a date because you chase off every guy I meet. Then you expect me not to develop feelings for one of the only two men who meet your approval.” She waves a hand in the air and then lets it slap against her side. “Why didn’t you just put me in a convent? That would’ve been much easier for everyone. Then at least you wouldn’t be so pissed at your friend.”
She says it with so much contempt that I cringe.
She takes another step back toward the doorway, and I want to follow. I don’t because I owe Leo an explanation.
She cradles her wrist again. “You can stop trying to protect me.” Her stare volleys between Leo and me. “Because I’ve been fucked over anyway.”
She turns and leaves, leaving Leo and me both locked in place. My insides turn to ice and splinter into tiny shards, the razor sharp edges slicing through me.
We’re frozen in place, and if Leo doesn’t go after her in the next two seconds, then I will.
Just as I’m about to move, Leo tu
rns to me. “I want your resignation on my desk by the end of the day. I’ll buy out your share of the company. I’ll pay double if that’s what it takes, but I want you gone.”
He storms from my office and turns in the direction of the elevators, no doubt to follow his sister. I let him go so maybe they can work things out.
I’m alone in my office, staring at an empty doorway. Everything I care about has just walked through that passage. What sucks the hardest and hurts the worst is that I deserve it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“What the hell is going on? I could hear Leo yelling from my office.” Oz screeches to a halt two steps inside my office. He scans the floor, which is still littered with Ava’s bracelets. “Shit. Did Leo find out or did you and Ava break up?”
“Both.” I start picking up the gold bangles.
“Shit,” Oz says again, and grabs for two of the bracelets within his reach.
That has to be the understatement of the year. “No kidding.” I take Ava’s gifts from his outstretched hand.
“Please say you’re the one that told him.”
I shake my head and spin the bracelets around in my palm.
“How’d he find out?” Oz crosses his arms.
I close my fingers around the jewelry. “He recognized these from the picture in the City Scoop.”
Oz lets a heavy sigh slip through his lips. “Shit.”
Third time’s a charm. I give him a look that says “Really?”
“How are you gonna fix it?” Oz asks.
“No idea other than to do what he asked and turn in my resignation.” I’ll gladly step aside if it means Leo and Ava can salvage their relationship. I walk around to my chair and push the intercom button. “Leticia, can you bring me a couple of boxes so I can pack up my office?” The line is thick with silence. I guess she’s confused because I hadn’t planned to pack a damn thing before I move overseas. We planned for everything to stay exactly as it is, so it would be waiting for me when I returned. “Leticia?”
Rookie Moves (A Checkmate Inc. Novel Book 2) Page 15
