by Nina West
My hands slide all over him—over the stubble coating his jaw, over his broad, strong shoulders, tensing with his exertion, over the ridges of his sweat-slicked back—as my head falls back and I revel in the feeling of being joined with such an attractive man.
Of Michael wanting me.
“Oh, fuck! Yeah!” Next to us, James yells as he comes for a second time tonight.
A few hard, quick thrusts and Michael follows his roommate quickly with a deep moan, pulsing inside me.
That’s it?
“Shit. I’m so sorry,” he whispers against my mouth, his words between ragged breaths. “I tried to hold off, but I couldn’t help it.”
“That’s okay.” I swallow my disappointment, the heaviness in my belly still there but quickly morphing to a dull ache.
“Finish her off, man!” James hollers. “Come on, let’s race. Winner gets to watch.”
“Fuck off,” Michael growls.
“Fine. But still, race you.”
Michael chuckles. Planting a deep kiss on my lips, he whispers, “Just relax,” and then calls back, “You’re on,” as he slips down my body, taking the covers with him once again.
Oh my God. This isn’t happening, is it? They’re not actually going to—
A gasp escapes my lips as Michael’s tongue swirls around my clit for the first time. A second later, the girl echoes me.
This is actually happening.
Michael pushes my thighs apart as far as they can go and then, slipping both hands under my body, he angles my pelvis up, opening me up even more. I can see the glint in his eyes as he pushes his tongue into me.
As much as I want to stay quiet, I can’t. I revel in his talented mouth as he alternates between sliding it through my seam and sucking on my clit, the sound echoing through the cabin along with my whimpers and moans.
That now familiar burn begins to build in my lower belly again, the one that tells me I’m going to come soon, the one that makes me no longer care about who can hear or see what. I reach down to run my fingers through his short hair, using the leverage to pull his face tighter to me.
He answers by slipping first two, then three fingers in me, turning them sideways to stretch me, rubbing my inner wall, while his tongue laves over my clit, over and over and over again.
I’m moments away from coming and I’ve spread my legs wide. I wouldn’t care if we lose the race and earn an audience as James threatened. I buck against Michael’s face, my orgasm coming hard and fast. I let myself cry out, I let them all hear me come. Because there’s no point hiding it. And because I’ve already heard all of them come so we’re in this together. And because tonight, I just don’t care.
The girl orgasms seconds after me, maybe from sheer luck, or maybe because hearing me set her off.
Either way, all is suddenly and eerily quiet in the cabin.
Michael pulls his fingers out and kisses the insides of my thighs. He reaches for a tissue from the ledge. I quietly watch him slide off the cum-filled condom from his still-erect cock. “I’ll be back in a sec.” Tugging his pants up, he slips off the end of the bed, pushing the curtain open a touch. I listen to his feet pad softly along the floor to the powder room directly across. Light floods over me a second before the door shuts, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
And a sudden onslaught of guilt, something I don’t understand. Henry doesn’t care, so why would I feel guilty?
Maybe it has nothing to do with Henry. Maybe it has everything to do with becoming this person I never thought I’d be, who has casual sex, who listens and watches others having sex.
Who am I becoming?
I pull Michael’s t-shirt over me and tell myself that this isn’t a big deal. That Michael is a good guy who Mama would probably approve of, and if I was going to have sex with anyone tonight that wasn’t Henry, it should be Michael.
It’s really not a big deal.
The toilet flushes and a moment later the door opens again, giving me a great view of Michael’s taut stomach.
“Leave the light on,” James calls out. I hear his bare feet hit the wood floor.
“Dude! Come on!”
“What?”
A second later I see get my first look at James. Or, James from the waist down and buck naked, his semi-flaccid dick bobbing with his step. I close my eyes. I’ve seen three dicks tonight. Three!
James’s voice drops to a soft whisper, but I can still hear him when he asks, “Who?”
“Good night.”
“Fuck. Come on!”
“Night, Lorraine! Always a pleasure.”
I hear a muffled “Night,” and my mouth drops open. Lorraine? My roommate, Lorraine?
Michael pulls the curtain closed behind him and crawls into bed with me, resuming our precoital spooning position with a kiss along the back of my neck. He clearly wants me to stay the night. And, truth be told, I don’t want to be alone tonight.
“Did that make you feel better?”
I smile, and nod.
And close my eyes as the heavy weight settles on my chest once again.
~ ~ ~
I wake, my body draped over Michael’s, my head resting against his chest.
“...the fucking guy was so damn drunk, he pissed all over himself. And me!” A guy complains. “He couldn’t even remember his name. We had to carry him to his room. Fucking guy reeked of piss. So, yeah. Shitty night. I hate working foot security at these events.”
“Don’t blame you,” another guy mumbles, and I instantly recognize the Australian accent. That’s Andy, the guy assigned to be liaison to Roshana.
Damn her. Between Tillie cleaning her room and now Andy, Michael’s roommate and her liaison, I feel like I’m always two degrees of separation between knowing what she’s doing with Henry.
The security guy chuckles. “What the hell happened to you, anyway? She lock you up all weekend?”
“Dude. I don’t even know where to begin with her and her multiple personalities.”
“Yeah. Jerry said she’s prime-grade bitch. She returned a hard-boiled egg three times, yesterday? Something like that, anyway.”
Andy groans. “I think I’ve slept all of five hours since Friday. She made me sit in that little room and listen to her fuck all night on Friday.”
“Who?”
Andy snorts. “Who do you think?”
“Of course. Chick like that goes straight for the top dog.”
The top dog would be Henry Wolf.
I flinch, the brutal reality opening the emotional gash wide again. I feel sick. But not just sick. Anger is stirring deep within me. He had the nerve to deny it! To make me feel like not believing him would be my fault!
“At least you could tug one off in the privacy of your own little room, unlike this fucking place.”
Andy chuckles. “Yeah, there’s that. Still, she should have let me go home.”
A zipper unfastens somewhere in the cabin. “Maybe she was hoping you’d go a round with them. She looks like the type that’d take two dicks at once.”
“Two of something, anyway. Last night she came home with this smokin’ blonde and the boss, and—hey...” Andy’s voice drops. “Did Aspen finally hook up with someone?”
Aspen. It takes me a minute to clue in that he’s talking about Michael, who works at the Aspen Wolf during the winter.
Andy must have seen my clothes on the hanger.
The curtain shifts at the foot of the bed and Andy’s handsome face peers into our space. Thank God the covers are pulled over me to cover my naked bottom half.
“Fuck off,” a groggy Michael calls out. I didn’t even realize he was awake.
Andy ignores him, grinning at me. “Oh. Hey.”
I feel my cheeks flush. “Hi.” Great. Now Andy knows I slept over. How long before this gets around?
Andy climbs the ladder. The frame creaks as he stretches out in his bed. “I’ll be sleeping ’til Tuesday if anyone needs me.”
“Yeah. Hittin’ the showers
. All this fucking piss,” the other guy mutters. The door opens and shuts, and all is silent in the cabin once again.
“Hey.” Michael’s fingers slide under my chin, lifting my face to his. He lays a light kiss on my lips, and his arm tightens around my body. “Are you feeling better, today?”
I offer him a weak smile.
No, I’m not. This all feels wrong. Being here, in Michael’s bed. In his arms. I should never have slept with him last night. I used him. Like, really and truly used him, and he doesn’t deserve that. He’s a nice guy, and I think he may like me.
His fingers graze over my cheek, pushing strands away. “What are you thinking about?”
Henry.
Going to Henry’s house at 1:00 p.m. Telling him... what? He demanded an answer today on whether I’m staying or going. I don’t know yet. All I know is that I can’t work for him anymore.
Why is he doing this to me? Isn’t it better for him if I’m not there every day? Maybe he doesn’t want to outright fire me, though. Me quitting to go back home would probably look better than him firing me and looking for a new assistant.
But, heck, I’d think he’d want to appease me. I’m a risk to him now, all emotional and hurt. He has that mess with Kiera to deal with. The last thing he needs is me around, telling people that he screwed me, too.
A thought strikes me.
Maybe I need to remind him of that.
I wriggle free of Michael’s arms. “I’ve gotta get to work.”
Chapter Fourteen
My mind is lost beneath the stream of hot water as I weigh my options.
Am I insane for even considering staying? I’m hurt, and angry. Probably as hurt and angry as Kiera was when “they decided it best that she resign.” That’s what Henry said. Did he give her an ultimatum, too?
Maybe that explains why she’d blackmail him, why she’d want to hurt him back for the pain he caused her. Thinking back on it, the e-mails noted her leaving Wolf Hotels three months earlier, and the severance offer coming only a month or so ago. Plus, there’s the “incident” that led to her having Henry’s DNA on her panties three or four weeks ago. That can only mean one thing—that Henry slept with her as recently as three to four weeks ago. Why did he sleep with her then?
Was it because something was still going on between them? Or because he was trying to convince her to sign the gag order? Did he tell her all kinds of things that night? That she was special, and they were different, and he just had to be careful because of his father. That they needed to wait until Henry had control of the company?
Who knows anymore.
All I know is that I don’t think I can be that vindictive as to try and blackmail Henry to get what I want. And honestly, I don’t want anyone knowing what went on behind closed doors while I was supposed to be working. While some women around here would revel in having everyone know they were sleeping with him, I’m not one of them.
“We are so, so, so sorry, Abbi.”
I jump at the sound of Katie’s voice directly behind me. She’s wrapped in a towel and standing in my shower stall. Again.
At least this time she’s not getting a full-frontal view.
“We were so drunk and caught up in the moment, and Rachel thinks Ronan’s hot. Tillie and Lorraine were partying in the lodge, and Autumn texted to say she was on shift until midnight.” She’s rambling, her pretty face scrunched up with a pained expression. “Honestly, we should have at least locked the door or something, but we really weren’t thinking. Those parties go until late and we figured Wolf would make you stay.” She finishes the rant with, “I’m sorry. Please don’t hate us.”
I stick my face under the hot stream of water again, acutely aware that she could be staring at my ass right now. Does that even bother me anymore? Being naked in front of Henry and Michael has definitely shed some of my shyness. “It’s okay.”
“Seriously? You’re not mad at us?”
Oddly enough, I’m not mad. In fact, a part of me envies them for their freedom. It doesn’t seem like they’re weighed down by the kind of guilt or confusion that I woke up feeling this morning.
“No. Not at all. Just... maybe next time give me a heads-up, if you can?” Even if I were mad, I wouldn’t say a word. The last thing I want is for there to be tension in a cabin of six women. That would make for a long summer.
“Definitely.” She hesitates, dropping her voice to a whisper. “And it’s okay, you know.”
“What’s okay?” I glance over my shoulder at her again, to see her biting her plump bottom lip.
“I mean, if you want to watch. Or more. It’s okay.”
“I... don’t,” I stutter, feeling heat crawl up my face. Her perfectly manicured brow arches, as if she’s calling my bluff. She knows I was hiding in my little corner, spying on her and Rachel. “I like guys.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t like to watch.” She shrugs playfully. “You’re curious. And we’re hot. And Ronan is really hot. It’s normal.”
Is it?
I heave a sigh of frustration. Nothing feels normal about Alaska.
“Just thought you should know that we’d be okay with it.” She winks and ducks out of my stall, humming softly.
~ ~ ~
It’s two minutes to one when I approach the service entrance of Penthouse Cabin One, this odd mixture of guilt, and hurt, and anger, and dread weighing down each step.
I still have no idea what my answer is going to be—go back to Greenbank? Or face Henry, day in day out. Feel this every day as I approach this door. Will it get better?
I’m ten feet away from swiping my key card when the main door flies open. Scott barrels out, the back of his hand testing his mouth where his lip has been split and blood trickles down his chin. More blood leaks from his nose, and his left eye is red and puffy, the beginnings of a bruise already evident.
I can’t keep my mouth from dropping at the shocking sight. Someone has punched the hell out of him.
Did Henry and his brother just get into a fistfight?
Scott slows when he sees me, a glower filling his eyes. “You may want to come back in an hour or so,” he mutters, passing by me and heading down the path toward the main lodge.
I frown after him. Why?
Oh my God. Did he hurt Henry?
Panic hits me as I rush through the entrance, visions of him lying in a pool of blood by the dining table making my heart pound in my chest. The interior door is propped open this time, so I don’t hesitate to run into the cabin, holding my breath for fear of what I might find.
I quickly zero in on Henry. His back is to me and he’s standing in front of his desk, his focus beyond the window
Relief overwhelms me. He appears fine.
“Fuck!” He explodes suddenly, picking up a glass and whipping it clear across the room. It hits the fireplace and shatters. Countless pieces of glass scatter in every which direction.
A small shriek escapes me, pulling his head slightly to the left, toward me. But he doesn’t turn to acknowledge my presence with a glance.
What the hell happened in here?
One of the side table lamps lays in pieces, scattered over the hardwood. The crystal decanter has been knocked over too. It’s not broken, but amber liquid has spilled everywhere, and the pungent sweet smell of liquor hangs in the air.
Finally I gather enough nerve. “Henry?”
He looks down to his right hand, flexing it open and closed. “Get me some ice.” After a pause, he adds in an unsettlingly calm voice, “Please.”
I grab the ice bucket and fill it with ice from the freezer compartment, then snatch a towel from the powder room, and bring it over to him.
The softest “thanks” slips from his lips. He still hasn’t met my eyes, his calm and somber mask unexpected given he just delivered a pummeling to his brother and threw a glass in anger.
Uncomfortable silence hangs.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore. “I just saw Scott.”
; He sticks his hand into the ice bucket, a slight wince curling his lip. “It’s been a while since I’ve hit anyone.”
At least three times, from the looks of it. “Do you want to talk about it?”
His jaw tenses and I figure he’s not going to answer. “The last time I saw Kiera, we left things on good terms. I told her she could come back to Wolf and work elsewhere, but she thought it best to start fresh somewhere else. So I was... surprised that she’d be so vindictive.” He finally turns to settle a cold blue gaze on me. “Scott’s the one who convinced her to go after me with the false accusations.”
My mouth drops open. “Are you serious?” His own brother, trying to get him thrown in jail? “How do you know?”
“When you told me about what he said to you in the elevator, I started to wonder how low he’d go to have me cut out. So I had the PI that my lawyer hired to deal with Kiera look into his corporate phone records and the jet travel logs. Turns out he was in New York about a month ago without any of us knowing. He went to meet her, and start filling her head with bullshit. A lot of the same shit he fed to you, about how I had used her all along, how I was fucking around with other women.
“It was right after that Kiera asked me out for a drink and seduced me in my car. It was a moment of weakness on my part, because we had ended it months before. That’s how she ended up with my DNA on her panties. The ones she decided to hold on to.”
That answers my question about why they’d slept together so recently. “Are you sure?”
“She’s admitted to it all. She told us everything. About how, when Scott visited her that first time, he told her I was looking for another attractive assistant to use in Alaska. She knew enough about Scott to not accept what he was trying to reel her into. Still, she was angry and hurt.
“It wasn’t hard for him to call up Wolf Cove and find out that I’d brought you in as my assistant. That’s when he contacted Kiera again, with your picture and some story about staff speculating that we were basically living together in the cabin. It made her crazy, and upset, and he coupled that with the choice of claiming sexual assault or having her husband find out about the affair. He told her that I’d pay the money in a heartbeat just to shut her up, and that all she needed to do was keep the lie about the assault going until they pressed charges. He knew that was all it would take to force my father’s hand. She could recant after that and wouldn’t get into any trouble because the police won’t ever charge a potential rape victim, for fear of deterring others in future.”
