by Bethany-Kris
He said it like it should be obvious.
Maybe it was.
She was still a little stuck on staring at him, drinking all of him in because it was the first time she had laid eyes on him in two weeks. Sure, they chatted at night when he called from a number she didn’t recognize. Those ten-minute phone calls weren’t nearly enough to satisfy the need she had for her husband, though. Not that she ever told him that.
August didn’t want to make Beni feel like there had to be a choice between them and his work. After all, he never did that to her.
“So just to fill you in,” Beni said as he grabbed the handle on the shades for her office window, twisting them to shut out the view from the outside. “I only have a couple of hours in Chicago. Nobody is even supposed to know we’re here before we head out again. I managed to get away while I had the chance ... and here I am.”
His gaze was back on her.
Hot.
Determined.
Wanting.
August recognized the lust reflecting in her husband’s stare. She didn’t need to be told what he was feeling or needing when he moved toward her. She could sense it in every one of his steps, in the way he reached for her when he was close enough, and how it soaked from his aura to hers the moment he had her in his arms.
His lips locked over hers, those hands of his sure and knowing as they skimmed over her braids and down her back. The flick of his tongue against the seam of her mouth had her parting her lips for him before he could even ask for it.
Then again, maybe that was him asking.
She had more questions.
When would his business trip be over? How long would they get together before one of them had to run off again for something else? Was life ever going to slow down?
But his kiss silenced her.
It ripped away those thoughts and instead, replaced them with a hunger that was never too far from her mind whenever she was close to this man. The same way the ache started up between her thighs couldn’t be abated even when he lifted her to the desk.
“Open up,” he growled against her lips.
August grinned but did as he said, widening her thighs for him to step in between. Before she could even blink, he had her skirt yanked higher, wrinkling the silk fabric. And without a single care, too.
Not that she minded.
Beni was already working apart his belt.
His impatience had her laughing.
“You came here today just to get laid, didn’t you?” she asked.
He grabbed her chin, tipping her head back so that she was forced to stare up into his eyes. Leaning in, he placed one sweet kiss to her lips, and then another. “You fucking know it, babe. Been missing you—and this—for weeks. Now shut up and let me fuck you while I have the chance.”
She didn’t blame him.
Not one bit.
The second his hands were between her thighs, pulling her panties down her legs, August knew this was the best way to end her workday. It certainly wasn’t how she expected it to end, but that was just fine too.
Once he had her panties discarded to somewhere—the floor, the desk, did it matter?—he was back between her legs. He kissed her while his fingers worked her into a wet, breathless mess. It took so very little for him to work her up and get her crazy.
Beni knew her body. Like an instrument made just for him.
He had her singing his name in mere minutes, catching every single one of her breathy moans with his kiss to muffle the sound while his thumb toyed with her clit, and his fingers filled her full. A stroke, then a twist of his digits, another circle of his thumb and ... God, she was going to fall apart.
Right there on her desk. Spread open for him. Definitely not her usual workday.
“There ... right there,” August gasped, her orgasm coming on fast as Beni smirked knowingly against her mouth. “Don’t you dare stop—”
“Wouldn’t ever,” he murmured. “Give it to me. Come for me. I want it.”
She did.
Entirely lost to him.
She barely felt the loss of his hand between her thighs before he was fitting himself at her hot, wet slit. His grasp was back on her chin, but now a little lower. He held her head back to watch him while he took her. One inch at a time until she was full of him, trembling, and trying to hold onto the edge of her desk for any support.
She found none.
He fucked her like that, too. Fucked her crazy and wild. In her office with the door closed, hiding all her sounds so that no one knew what was happening just beyond the shut blinds. He always had to make things fun ... even sex.
It was kind of perfect.
She truly did love this man.
30.
Beni
“BENI?”
The call of his name followed the click of a closing door. He didn’t answer his wife’s call, still hoping he might be able to surprise her even if she always seemed to know whenever he was near.
“I gotta let you go. August’s back,” he told his twin.
On the phone call, Bene laughed. “Yeah, better let you go, then. Wouldn’t want to hear what’s about to come next, huh?”
“Fuck you, man.”
Bene’s laughter still rang in Beni’s ear long after he hung up the call and discarded the phone to the bedside table. He still called his brother once a day—or more if he had time. Otherwise, if he didn’t make time to call his twin, then Bene sure as hell did. The asshole could blow up a phone like any clingy female. Not that he dared tell his brother that.
But his trips to Toronto had become more and more sporadic over the years as business picked up, and the mafia took higher priority in his life. He truly understood all those warnings from his father. Gian tried to make them all recognize and respect the sacrifices of made men.
Yes, they had wealth.
Privilege.
They were feared.
Adored, too.
But they also sacrificed more than anyone knew to be these men. Not that anyone cared to hear their complaints because at the end of the day, did it matter when they were only criminals?
Yeah, Beni finally got it.
He’d tell his dad that but then Gian would get into one of his I told you so attitudes and nobody needed that. Especially not him. Besides, he figured this was one of those lessons that really didn’t need more discussion after it was learned. It just ... was.
“Beni, are you home?” his wife asked the quiet house, her footsteps echoing up the stairwell.
He resisted the urge to answer August back if only because now she was closer to finding him anyway. Not that he intended to hide but when he got back from the business trip, he headed straight to their bedroom to empty his bag. But the bed looked really fucking good, he dared to sit on it, and the next thing he knew, he was on his back, arms behind his head, and staring up at the ceiling.
Ready for a nap.
Almost.
There was something about his bed. The bed he shared with his wife.
And their home. They bought the place in Melrose a little over a year earlier. Sure, they were fine living in the penthouse apartment, but he couldn’t deny there was something appealing about the whole house thing. A house with a yard, a little fence all the way around the property, and the way August lit up when he suggested they start looking at properties.
Anyway.
Whatever it was, it called his name until he was there and happy. What else needed to be said?
“You couldn’t answer me or what?” came the sweet voice from the bedroom doorway.
Lifting his head up just enough that he had August in his line of vision, Beni offered her one of his signature smirks and replied, “Thought you might like a treasure hunt, that’s all.”
Her dark eyes glittered when she lifted one eyebrow in response. “Oh? And what treasure is that?”
He could have said a lot of things.
Better things.
Instead, what came out of his smartass mouth was, “The t
reasure in my pants, babe. Obviously. Let’s be real, we know why you married me.”
He was still foolish.
He had too much fun.
At least, he had a wife that didn’t mind and let him be as stupid as he wanted to be. August’s laughter was the only warning he got before she chucked her purse in his direction. Beni barely managed to catch the leather bag to keep it from hitting him square in the face. Tossing the bag aside, he found his wife was already coming his way.
Opening his arms, he caught her when she fell on top of him in the bed. Instantly, they were a tangle of limbs and hot kisses that made him forget how tired he had been only an hour before when he first crawled into the bed. Not that he was mad about it.
Or about to complain.
August rained her sweet kisses over his lips and jaw, her fresh manicure dragged teasing lines against the pulse in his throat where his heartbeat gave away the truth of exactly what she was doing to him. Not that he could hide the length of his erection, either, once he had them rolled over on the bed. Fitted tight between her wide thighs, he ground against her center, his tongue darting beyond her parted lips for another taste while her soft groan filled the bedroom.
“Missed you,” he told her, pulling away just far enough to stare at her.
Sometimes, he wanted that.
Just to look at this woman.
She was perfect.
Entirely his.
What more could he want?
August’s brown eyes watched him under her lowered lashes. “I think you know very well that I missed you, too.”
“Could still tell me.”
“Like I need to feed your ego anymore than it already is Mr. Treasure In My Pants.”
Beni couldn’t help but laugh.
And damn, it felt good.
“But was it a lie?” he asked, grinning.
She just shook her head. “You’re terrible, and I am not encouraging that nonsense. Trust me, I have learned my lesson. And for the record, your dick was only part of the reason I married you.”
Well, wait a second ...
“What was the other reason?”
August winked and as fast as he had rolled them over to be on top, she changed their positions. But then she climbed off of him, too!
“Where are you going?” he demanded, half-embarrassed at how high his voice turned when he was staring at her back disappearing into the attached bathroom. She just left him there with a raging hard-on like he could take care of it himself and hell no. “August!”
“I gotta pee!”
“Oh.”
He shut up, then.
While his wife did her business in the bathroom, he heard her ask, “How did the trip go?”
“Good. Theo made the deal. Not that I expected anything else. We’re just waiting on a call to confirm some dates, and we’ll be making a run.”
“Huh. Good. Right?”
“Yep, it’s great, babe.”
That was the extent of the conversation, and August didn’t press for more even as she came out of the bathroom while drying her hands on one of their white towels. She never asked for more details than what he gave when it came to his work and the mafia, although sometimes he knew she wanted to. He appreciated that she didn’t all the same.
“So,” August drawled, her tantalizing grin coming back as she tossed the towel to the bedside table and leaned over Beni’s form on the bed. “When are you heading back out?”
“Anytime.”
She made a face. “Really?”
“Anytime this month.”
“Are you still coming to New York with me to see my parents?”
“I’m gonna try,” he returned.
It was the best he could do.
“As long as you keep trying, that’s what matters to me,” she whispered.
Then, she was back in bed. With him. Wrapped in his arms. Taking every single one of his kisses. Letting him strip her bare, so he could climb between the heaven that was her thighs and love her the way he did best. The way that had them both seeing God.
Shit wasn’t always great.
It was, however, still perfect.
Like August had said ... that’s what mattered.
31.
August
AUGUST tried to keep her irritation in check as she packed her carry-on bag that she would take on the flight with her to New York, but it was easier said than done. So to speak. And it became obvious that she wasn’t hiding it well between her current phone call, and the man leaning in the bedroom door with his apology written all over his face.
“Babe, I’m sorr—”
August held up one hand, quieting Beni while she finished up the call with her editor. “So, everything is definitely a go for Hayden’s story?”
“Absolutely. Are you okay? You’re very ... short.”
That was a nice way of saying her tone had been a little too snappy for the entire conversation. It wasn’t like Trisha was at fault or the cause for August’s current mood, but she also didn’t share more details about her private life than she had to. She thanked a rather large social media presence—and the constant trolls—that liked to glom onto any detail they could to spin it in their hateful ways. She tried not to feed the trolls. Even if that meant she kept a distance and a barrier between her work and her private life.
Then, when she did the same thing online, no one expected anything different. It wasn’t like she needed to see photos of her husband and his family splashed across her social feeds again with attached headlines like Viral Reporter Paid by the Mob.
It wasn’t good for her.
Or Beni.
Well, it wasn’t good for anybody.
Honestly.
“I’m fine,” August said, tampering her tone as much as she could even though the anger in her heart was still very present and flaring with every word she spoke. “I’m just running a little late here to catch my flight. I’ll get a hold of Hayden and let him know we’re set to run the article next week—email me everything to send over to him as well, please?”
“Absolutely,” her editor replied. “I will get my assistant right on that. You’ll have it in the next ten minutes. How does that sound?”
“Perfect. Thanks.”
“Have a good trip, August. You deserve the break.”
Right.
Except the trip wasn’t going as planned, and it hadn’t even started yet. That didn’t make the rest of it look very great. Not that she told the woman on the other end of the call any of those details.
“Thanks again,” August replied. “Bye.”
She didn’t bother waiting for Trisha to reply in kind before she hung up the call. Tossing the phone aside to the bedspread, she continued packing the carry-on bag because she really was running late and if possible, she didn’t want to have to run straight from security to her gate at the airport. She enjoyed finding a place to sit, grabbing a drink, and maybe listening to a few minutes of an audiobook just to relax.
Flying wasn’t her favorite thing.
Especially when it was commercial.
“Aug—”
“Beni,” she said sharply, giving her husband a look from the side that screamed for him to shut up. The smart man he was, he did exactly that in the doorway, even going as far as putting his palms up in surrender. “You promised you were going on this trip with me.”
“I said I would try. And I did. I can’t help that they just called me an hour ago. If I could head to New York with you for even a day, then I would. Theo isn’t letting me do that. It’s not like I can tell the asshole no or something.”
“Can’t you?”
Her question was pointed.
Heated.
A warning if she ever heard one.
Beni didn’t miss it when he sighed heavily and replied, “You know it doesn’t work that way. I can’t just tell people no, August. And what’s really going on, babe? This isn’t like you. You don’t get pissed when plans change. It’s no
t like this is the first time we’ve had to change shit last minute. I’m sorry. I am.”
She knew he was.
And he was right, too.
This wasn’t like her at all. In fact, leading up to the New York trip, he had repeated on more than one occasion that it was possible he might have to pull out for work. Despite that, she still hadn’t expected it to happen when they were just hours from getting on the plane.
“I only wanted to have a week,” she muttered, reaching for the hardcover paperback that she would read on the plane if the audiobook was trash. It was always good to have a backup, right? “You know, without work, and ... your mom is even coming to spend a couple of days, Beni. With us, but now it’ll just be with me, and I’ll have to explain why. You know I hate doing that even if Cara never says anything one way or another.”
Not bothering to say more because she figured her disappointment was clear enough, and there really wasn’t much her husband could do at this point, August finished her packing. Just as she zipped the bag, a ding from her laptop sent her across the bedroom to check the email that had just come in. Likely from Trisha’s assistant with all the details and a finalized spread to send to Hayden in Los Angeles. His legal recourse would begin the day after the article went live. Everything was looking good for that.
If only the rest of August’s life would follow the same path.
She couldn’t be so lucky.
What was with her emotions? The damn things ping-ponged back and forth faster than she knew how to handle them. Dragging in a breath that she hoped calmed her nerves, August clicked into her email while Beni crossed the room to stand behind her. She said nothing as his arms wrapped around her from behind and his warm, soft mouth found the back of her neck.
He gave her a soft kiss.
Then, another.
She loosened up in his hold.
“I am sorry,” he murmured against the shell of her ear.
“I know.”
“How about we figure something else out when I get back ... and you’re back, too, I mean.” Each of his words accompanied another hot kiss to a spot on her neck. While she loved it, entirely too much, they also didn’t have the time for what Beni was trying to start. She was too lost in what he was saying to care or tell him to stop, though. “We could do a trip to Toronto, make it a weekend thing. Shit, Bene’s been talking about wanting to go to the Maldives this winter, too. We could do that? I promise nobody will step in the way. Okay?”
