I felt him growing hard against my abdomen. Heat pooled in my belly, but I had other ideas. “Well,” I started teasingly. “I did have something in mind that requires a bit of… exertion.”
His deep “Tell me” came out like a growl.
I pulled from his grasp and slowly started backing up. “It’ll take a while. It’ll be hard. You’ll definitely build up a sweat….”
“Christ, gorgeous. You’re killing me. I’m hard as a fucking rock.”
I giggled wantonly, then reached behind me and grabbed the extra sanding block off the shelf, tossing it his way. “Get started on that shelf over there. And really put some muscle into it. I want these bookcases stripped by the end of the day.”
Caleb’s face fell and he let out a string of curses as I burst into laughter. Once I got myself under control, I told him, “Do a good job and maybe I’ll let you buff my floors.”
“Oh, I’ll be buffing something, all right. But it won’t be your fucking floors.”
I started laughing again, and both of us eventually got to work. We’d fallen into an easy, companionable silence when a question began nagging at me, leaving me no choice but to ask it.
“We agreed we wouldn’t put any pressure on this, right?”
“Yeah?”
“So, what if we don’t tell anyone we’re… doing whatever it is we’re doing?”
I kept sanding even though I heard him stop. I couldn’t bring myself to make eye contact. Not just then.
“You don’t want to tell anybody?”
The tone of his voice dripped with disapproval, leaving me with a painful, twisted stomach. I felt like I’d just asked him to be my dirty little secret. And I never wanted him to feel like that.
I dropped the block and turned around to face him. He was standing with his hands firmly on his hips, looking as pissed as he sounded. “If Lola or Sophia found out we were sleeping together, it would be a disaster. You could kiss any hope of no pressure goodbye, because those two are the very definition of meddlesome. Especially Lola now that she’s all sickeningly in love with Grayson and stuff. And if you were to tell Grayson, do you really think he’d keep it from her?”
He looked to be giving that question some thought, so I decided to drive my point home. “We want this to be easy, right? Fun. I love my best friends, but they’d ruin that by trying to turn us into something we aren’t. I’m not trying to keep you a secret because I’m ashamed. I want what you do. I want us to enjoy what we have while we have it, and that can’t happen if our friends start sticking their noses in our business.”
His chest rose on a long inhale, showcasing that delicious six-pack he was sporting. Finally, he put me out of my misery with one simple word. “Okay.”
It took a second for what he’d just said to register in my brain. “Okay?” It was too easy. I’d gotten used to everything being a fight between us, so I guess I’d been gearing up for the worst. “Just like that?”
“I see your point, Daphne. And as long as you and I know exactly where we stand, then I agree with you. There’s no reason to let anyone else in our business.”
“I… wow. Well that was simple. I was expecting you to argue or start yelling or something.”
“Why would I do that?” he asked incredulously.
“Because it’s what we do!” I declared, like what I was saying made all the sense in the world. “We fight. We yell. We shout and call each other names. Then we rip each other’s clothes off and go at it like animals. It’s kind of our thing.” And why the hell did I sound so disappointed that we weren’t going to have a blowout that would lead to mind-numbing sex?
He offered me one of those grins that made me weak in the knees. “Sweetheart, we don’t have to fight in order to go at it like animals. You want it like that, all you have to do is say so.”
My pussy quivered, and I clenched my thighs against the sudden desire building in my core. “Really?” I asked breathily.
His expression turned positively wicked as he slowly started advancing like a lion about to pounce. “Is that what you want? You want me to tear at your clothes and fuck you hard and fast? Make you scream so loud the walls shake?”
Oh god yes. I wanted all of that.
I didn’t need to verbalize my answer; I knew he saw it written all over my face when he smiled. “I’ll give you a head start. But when I catch you, you better be naked, or there will be consequences.”
He started counting and I bolted out of the room the instant he said, “One.” By the time he got to three, I was totally ready for him.
Chapter Fourteen
Daphne
Three months. Caleb and I had somehow managed to keep our friends in the dark for three whole months. And they’d been the most exciting, most exhausting few months of my life.
It was as though we were in a race with time, trying to cram in as much sex as humanly possible before the clock ran out—whenever that may be. Some days, just walking proved to be difficult. I hadn’t thought I’d ever meet a man I couldn’t keep up with sexually—I had a pretty healthy appetite—but I was actually starting to worry that Caleb might turn out to be more than I could handle.
My cell phone vibrated on my desk. After a few close calls, I’d quickly learned to start placing it facedown so my girls didn’t see the dirty things Caleb liked to text me in the middle of the day.
I picked up the phone and glanced at the notification, seeing it wasn’t from Caleb this time. It was actually from Fiona. I’d gotten to know her pretty well since the night of the auction, and we’d become good friends.
Fiona: S.O.S. I need your ear and a shitload of wine. Please tell me you’re free tonight.
I quickly responded.
Me: I’m all yours. My place at 7?
Fiona: Sounds good. And I hate to ask, but can we keep it just us?
Fiona had managed to infiltrate my girl circle with an ease no other woman we’d ever met had been able to do. But even though she was close to all three of us, I’d formed a bond with her that was even tighter than the one she shared with Lola and Soph, so I knew that whatever she had to discuss was pretty serious if she didn’t want the two of them to find out.
I couldn’t judge her for wanting to keep them out of the loop considering I was basically doing the exact same thing with Caleb.
Me: You got it. See you then.
Before I had a chance to exit out of my texts, I got another notification.
Caleb: Listened to the show this morning. I found your topic of discussion quite entertaining.
I giggled as I stared down at the message. We’d had a woman call into the show that morning because she was worried there was something wrong with her. It took us a while to talk her off the ledge and explain that the fact that she’d never experienced multiple orgasms wasn’t something she needed to seek medical treatment for. I’d given her a list of some of my favorite sex toys and suggested she mention using them with her partner.
Me: I’m sure you did, you pervert.
Caleb: You love my perverted side. I’m hard as a fucking rock after listening to you. Meet me in our spot.
I clenched my thighs as my clit began to pulse and throb with desire. A few weeks earlier, after a business trip had taken Caleb out of town for several days, both of us were more than a little desperate to see each other. We’d snuck off to the stairwell for a midday romp between our two floors, and ever since, that place had been referred to as our spot.
Me: I can’t. It’s the middle of the workday!
His message came instantly, like he’d been expecting me to argue.
Caleb: It’s been over twelve hours since I was inside your sweet pussy. If you don’t meet me in the stairwell, I’ll have no choice but to come down there and GET YOU.
I let out a laugh, knowing his threat was anything but empty. We’d just been together the night before, but every time the man touched me I got the distinct impression that it still wasn’t enough for him. That feeling of being desir
ed was the most euphoric thing I’d ever experienced. I was quickly growing addicted to it.
“What’s so funny?”
I let out a startled yelp and spun around in my chair, clutching my phone to my chest. Lola and Sophia walked into our shared office, studying me peculiarly like I was a specimen under a microscope that they couldn’t quite figure out.
“Oh, uh… I was just watching some of those cat videos on YouTube that Lola likes so much.” The lie slipped easily past my lips. Too easily. I’d gotten so good at deceiving my friends these past two months that the guilt was beginning to wear on me. I was just having too much fun with Caleb to stop.
“Funny, right?” Lola asked, moving to her desk to grab her purse. “Those damn videos get me every time.”
“Yeah, they’re great.”
“We’re heading out to lunch,” Sophia said. “You in?”
“Actually, I got a dress at Nordstrom’s a while back that doesn’t really fit right. I was going to use my lunch to return it.” See what I meant? The lies just came easily. I did have a new dress from Nordstrom’s, but I totally rocked the hell out of it.
Sophia studied my face like she was searching for the meaning of life or something. “You okay? You’ve been a little weird lately.”
“Weird? How have I been weird?” I asked in a suspiciously high voice.
“Yeah, I’ve noticed too,” Lola chimed in. “You’ve just seemed a little distant. Is everything all right?”
Talk about the mother load of guilt being hurled at me. I felt like the world’s worst friend. I was going to lose my woman card for sure, and probably my lifetime membership to the sisterhood. I was lying to my best friends because of a guy. The penis-wielding enemy. Okay, so that was slightly dramatic, but when all three of us had gotten our hearts stomped on, that was how we started referring to men.
But I couldn’t help it. The sex was just that good. And if I were being honest with myself—which I totally wasn’t—it wasn’t just the sex. It was him. My feelings for Caleb were growing even though I’d told them to knock it the hell off.
Stupid feelings. I hated feelings. They were such jerks.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t meant to be distant.”
“Aw, don’t apologize, honey.” Lola came up and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I’ll admit that I’ve been a little too preoccupied with Grayson lately. I guess we’ve all been a little busy with our own lives. Let’s just make a deal right now that we’ll get some quality girl time in this weekend.”
And just when I thought I couldn’t feel any worse, Lola took some of the blame for me being an asshole. “It’s a deal.”
“Ooh, girls’ night!” Sophia cheered.
“Perfect,” Lola declared, backing toward the door. “We’ll look at our schedules for a night when we’re all free and get everything set.”
“Okay. Enjoy lunch, guys.”
They headed out with waves in my direction, none the wiser, and I quickly shot off a text to Caleb.
Me: Five minutes.
“Ah, fuck! Yeah, that’s it, baby. Take it deep. Jesus Christ, you’ve got the perfect mouth.”
His whispered words were such a turn-on. I had one hand wrapped around the base of his cock as I sucked him with abandon, and I slid the other up my skirt and into my panties, hoping to alleviate the ache building in my core.
I moaned when my fingertips hit the right spot, causing Caleb’s dick to twitch in my mouth.
“Fuck, sweetheart. You have to stop. I’m about to come.”
So was I. And I was too drunk on the feeling to stop. I took him as deep into my throat as I possibly could, sucking hard as I bobbed up and down. The closer I got, the faster I moved. I was seconds away from detonating when I was suddenly airborne.
Before I could make a sound, my back was against the wall. Caleb’s mouth came down on mine as his hands pulled at my skirt until it bunched around my waist. He tugged at my panties until they pooled around my heels. “Hop up,” he ordered against my lips. I did as instructed, wrapping my legs around his waist.
Caleb entered me in one hard, brutal thrust. I moaned at the sensation of being filled and stretched so wonderfully.
“Christ. Blew me so good I’m not going to last, gorgeous.”
I bit my lip on a whimper, trying my hardest to silence the cries that wanted to escape from my chest. It was impossible to remain quiet when Caleb fucked me.
“I’m close,” I panted on a whisper. I was already so primed from sucking him that it took no time at all.
He began driving into me faster, harder. “Touch yourself.”
One of my hands slid down between my legs, and the instant my fingers brushed my clit, I exploded. Caleb muffled my moans with his palm as he buried his face in my neck and emptied himself inside me, covering his own sounds of release in the blanket of my hair.
He held on tight until we’d both come down and he was sure my knees would hold. “How is it that every time with you is better than the last?” he asked as he tucked himself back into his slacks.
I looked up at him with a grin as I righted my own clothes. “I don’t know, but the feeling’s mutual.” I looked around the floor for my underwear, not seeing them anywhere. “Where are my panties?”
Caleb shot me a devilish wink and held my lacy thong from his index finger. I reached for them only to have him snatch them away before stuffing them in his pants pocket.
“I felt the need for a little memento.”
“You can’t keep my underwear,” I demanded on a whisper. “They’re part of a set. And they’re La Perla. Give them back.”
“Sorry, sweetheart.” He grinned. “Finders keepers. But don’t worry, I plan on getting the second piece of the set very soon.”
I scowled. “You are not stealing my bra.”
He shrugged and finished straightening his shirt and tie. “We’ll see about that. So whose place tonight, yours or mine?”
I finger-combed my hair so it wasn’t so obvious what I’d just been up to. “Tonight’s no good. I have plans with Fiona.”
Caleb placed his hands on my hips and pulled me into him. “So you’re telling me I have to wait until tomorrow to have you again?”
I let out a baffled giggle. “You literally just came!”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m already thinking of the next time I can have you before I’ve even gotten off. That’s how crazy you make me.”
Dear Lord, I was losing it over this guy if him saying that flattered me the way it did.
I patted his chest and pulled from his hold. “Something tells me you’ll survive.” I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”
Then I made my way back up the stairs to my floor before anyone could see.
Chapter Fifteen
Daphne
I handed Fiona a glass of wine and took a seat on my plush, cushy sofa opposite her. “Okay, so what’s going on?” I took a sip of my wine and waited for her to answer.
Chinese takeout containers were spread out all over the coffee table in front of us from our gorge-fest when she’d first arrived. I’d given her the time she needed to broach the subject she wanted to discuss, but it had already been an hour and all we’d talked about was how creepy the previous week’s episode of American Horror Story was.
“It’s… well… it’s Deacon.”
My ears instantly perked up. According to Lola, Deacon’d had a crush on Fiona since they were kids. Actually, from the sound of it, it had been a lot more than a crush. The guy was head over heels for her, but he never made a move or told anyone, so she and his brother eventually started dating. It got pretty serious, and Deacon reacted like a typical guy with a broken heart and gave Grayson the cold shoulder for years.
It wasn’t until he saw just how serious Lola and Gray were that he finally started to thaw.
Unfortunately, I’d been told all of that under the strictest of confidences, so I wasn’t allowed to scream
at Fiona to get her head out of her ass and see what was standing right in front of her.
“What about Deacon?”
“He….” She chugged down her wine before finishing. “He kissed me.”
“Eeeep!” I screeched excitedly. “He did? That’s awesome!”
“That’s terrible!” she declared, shooting up from the couch.
My head jerked back. “What? Why?”
“He’s… he’s Deacon. He’s not supposed to kiss me, Daph! He’s my ex-boyfriend’s brother. I grew up with him, for crying out loud! He’s one of my best friends.”
I set my glass on the coffee table and held up my hands. “Okay, okay. Just slow down. Tell me what happened from the beginning.”
She sucked back the last of her wine and headed for the kitchen for a refill. “Well, you know he bid on me at the auction, right?” I nodded. A few weeks after the event, she disclosed that Deacon had spent ninety grand to secure a date with her. She wasn’t sure what she felt more, flattered or freaked. “And I told you how we’d started hanging out after that?”
She’d spilled the beans on that as well, so I nodded again.
“It’s been great. Really great. I felt like I finally had my friend back after all these years, you know? I missed him. Anyway, he came over last night, just showed up out of the blue in the middle of the night. He started going on about a bunch of stuff that wasn’t making any sense, like how he should have acted sooner, or that he should have told Grayson the truth, and then these last several years wouldn’t have happened. I asked him what he was talking about and instead of answering, he just… kissed me. Right there on my front porch.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at her flabbergasted expression. “Well, how was it?”
She resumed her spot on the couch. “How was what?”
“The kiss, you jerk! How was the kiss?”
“It was….” She got a dreamy, faraway look on her face.
Enticing Daphne Page 9
