I felt his impending orgasm as surely as I felt my own. He thickened inside me, the hard planes of his stomach dipping and his legs trembling. He mashed his mouth to mine when his thrusts became uneven, and when I felt him pulsing, I was done for.
I flew over the moon and kissed the stars before finally, grudgingly coming back to earth. Cyrus had his damp forehead in the crook of my neck when I did, his hips still moving as he drew out every last drop of our orgasms.
“We’re definitely doing that again,” he said, his heart racing against my skin.
I only replied when I found my voice, buried somewhere between bliss and another plane of existence entirely. “Yeah, this is going to be fun.”
His breath ghosted across my heated skin as he chuckled, but I felt him nodding. “Agreed. It might not be so bad to plan this wedding after all.”
I giggled because why the heck not? I wasn’t looking to marry this man, and frankly, I didn’t give a darn how he felt about weddings in general. “Should we make this our official reward for successful days?”
“Yes.” He hadn’t paused or hesitated for so much as a second. “Abso-fucking-lutely. I need to take care of the condom. I’ll be right back.”
As his weight lifted off me, I didn’t even yearn to have it back. This arrangement we had going probably didn’t include cuddling, and I was okay with that.
My limbs felt loose and languid, my mind already shutting down for sleep. Cyrus had been a lot to deal with for my poor, very deprived body—as April had called it—and I was ready to sink into my mattress and not even think about moving for the next twelve hours.
Eyes already drifting closed, I heard his low chuckle before I felt him press a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll get what we need from the bride and come by the shop soon, okay?”
“Okay,” I murmured as I rubbed my cheek against my pillow. “Let me let you out.”
“Just come lock the door when you’re ready. I’ll close it behind me.” I listened to his footsteps as they moved away from my bedroom, then forced myself to get up so I could go do as he’d asked.
There had been nothing awkward between us after the sex, none of those “I’ll call you” lies that only ended in despair and self-doubt. No, things with Cyrus had been easy.
At this point in my life, with all the troubles at the shop and the uncertainty about how I was going to be able to keep it, easy was exactly what I needed. One day, I’d meet the guy I was going to marry, but that guy wasn’t Cyrus, and I was completely, one hundred percent okay with what I had with him in the meantime.
Chapter 12
Cyrus
“Hey, bro, you got time to go to lunch?” Peter asked when I opened my front door.
I had the penthouse in an exclusive apartment building that had excellent security, but I still frowned at the sight of my brother at my door. “Peter? Why aren’t you at work? You haven’t taken a day off in forever. Everything okay?”
The doorman at my building had a list of exactly one person who was welcome anytime, who he didn’t have to call ahead about, and that was my brother. Logically, I knew this meant that the man I was looking at who wore Peter’s face had to be him, but I was confused as fuck as to why or how he would be here in the middle of the day.
He chuckled as he walked into my place, shooting me a grin over his shoulder. “What? Does a guy need an excuse to see his brother?”
“If that guy is you, then yes.” I let the door slam shut and ran an eye up and down the length of his body. “Are you injured? Because I gotta tell you, I don’t like blood.”
“I know.” He lifted his shirt with the grin still on his face and gestured at the unmarred skin of his torso. “See? No injuries. I’m good.”
“Why are you here then?” A quick search of recent memory revealed that this visit was unprecedented. I felt the blood drain from my face. “Is it Jenny? Is she okay?”
I didn’t know why he’d be smiling the way he was if she was the one in trouble, but I was genuinely confused about his presence. His expression sobered and he dropped his shirt. “Chill, dude. She’s fine. Why are you so worked up?”
“I’m not worked up. I’m concerned about why you’re here in the middle of a fucking work day.” I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans to keep them still. “The last time—”
Understanding dawned in his eyes and he shook his head hard. “No, this is nothing like the day Mom had her accident. Jenny said you’d been sending her a bunch of questions about the wedding and I took the day off to answer all of them.”
Relief pounded through my veins, leaving me slightly dizzy. It took me a second to fight off the deluge of memories from the last time Peter had appeared at home when he should have been working, but I gritted my teeth and got through it.
“That’s why you’re here? Wedding stuff?”
He nodded with a contented smile spreading across his lips. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be? I told you, Jenny and I both take this very seriously. We might not be able to get days off all the time for wedding stuff, which is why we’ve asked you to help, but the least I can do is to take one day to make sure you’ve got it all.”
“So, lunch, huh?” Blood had resumed its flow through my limbs, making me able to move again. Grabbing everything I needed, I opened the door again. “A little warning would have been nice. How did you even know I was available today?”
“Your calendar is still synced to mine, dumb ass,” he said, smirking as he walked out into the hall again. “I’ve told you a hundred times to undo it since we’re no longer living together, but you never did.”
“That’s because you’re the only person I have left in the world, dumb ass,” I joked as I jabbed the button for the elevator. “Between you and my virtual assistant, I’d rather you know where I am than that guy.”
“You know you could and probably should get a real assistant, right? Like a flesh and blood person who could help you.”
“This person is flesh and blood. I just don’t have to see them twenty-four seven. Besides, Scott’s great. I don’t need to see him to know him.”
Okay, so maybe I was a bit reclusive, but it wasn’t like I was a hermit. Having people around constantly just wasn’t really my thing.
I’d done fine by myself. Leased office space with a receptionist and conference rooms whenever I needed them worked well enough. My business was all done online, so all I needed was my laptop and I was good to go. Even Scott had only been hired as a matter of necessity.
“Trust me, if I’d had a real assistant, they would be dealing with your wedding,” I said as a digital ding signaled the arrival of the elevator.
Peter rolled his eyes at me, shaking his head. “In that case, I’m sorry you don’t have a real assistant. They might have been more enthusiastic about all this.”
“It could have been an octogenarian who would have seen you married before you’d spent a night together or a millennial who might have created an overly complicated wedding hashtag for you.”
He groaned as he put his head in his hands. “Scott’s great. You should keep him.”
“I was planning on it.” I smirked at my brother as the elevator descended. “But hey, if you want an overly complicated wedding hashtag, just let me know. Also, you’re welcome to move in with me until the wedding if you want the no-sex thing.”
“You’re insane.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “And unusually chipper now that you’re over your freak out. You’re not a chipper kind of guy. What gives?”
A night of unadulterated pleasure with the woman helping me plan your wedding. “Nothing. I’m just in a good mood.”
“I’d say.” He gave me a suspicious side-eye, then started laughing. “You got laid, didn’t you?”
“I did, but that’s not exactly something I’d be in a good mood about. Stop making me sound like I was celibate before.”
“Dude, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say this woman had to come glitter for you to look like this the day aft
er.”
She didn’t come glitter, but she might as well have. Fuck, one night with Luna and I already knew I needed a lot more of her. I was borderline addicted to the way her body writhed beneath mine, to the way her beautiful face contorted in pleasure and she looked almost guilty about it.
I didn’t tell Peter any of this, though. He was riding the high of being in love and planning his wedding. A few words out of my mouth and the pussy-whipped fool would be suggesting we make it a double.
“It’s no big deal. We had fun and that was all there was to it.” The elevator let us out, and as we made our way out of my building, I realized I had a problem. “I need to stop so I can get a notebook.”
“What for?” His face screwed up. “You have your phone, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but handwritten always feels better.” I could write faster than I could type. Plus, I had a feeling that with Luna by my side, whatever list I made today was going to have babies. It was always easier to keep track of those on actual paper. “What? You could take the day off but you can’t spare two minutes to buy a fucking notebook?”
“You didn’t even need a notebook at school,” he grumbled, then threw his hands up. “But okay. Let’s stop for a notebook and pretend there’s nothing weird about it, even when the guy who wants it made his fortune off electronics.”
I shrugged as we slowed near a stationery store. “Yeah, let’s do that.”
A few minutes later, I emerged with a pitch-black, faux-leather notebook with the words Nothing like planning a wedding to make you want to punch every person you’ve ever met in the throat emblazoned across the front of it.
Peter took one look at it and burst out laughing. “I kind of feel like you ordered that off the internet especially for today and that was what the whole notebook thing was really about.”
“If only.” I shrugged, but I really should have thought about doing just that. “I think it was the universe just knowing what I needed and giving it to me.”
My brother stopped laughing and dragged his hands though his hair. “The fucking universe? What is with you, man?”
“Nothing. I just feel like karma won this round, putting this particular book in that particular store right when I needed it.”
We kept talking shit as we made our way to our favorite bar, ordering a pitcher of beer and some wings before taking up residence in our booth. I spread the pages of my brand-new notebook and took my newly purchased pen out of my pocket.
“Okay, so you said Jenny talked to you about the questions I’ve asked. So why don’t you start by going through them and giving me the answers?”
Peter lifted his ass to get his phone out his pocket, but his eyes never left mine. “You’re taking this really seriously.”
“You took the day off work, so you are too.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but it’s my wedding. You didn’t want to be involved at all, but now this?”
“If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it well. You know me. I don’t waste my time.” It was true enough, but it only made him more suspicious.
He held my gaze for another minute before he blew out a breath and rubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, bro. I know you didn’t want to do this, but I appreciate that you’re putting so much effort into it.”
“Whatever,” I said gruffly. “Just answer the fucking questions.” Peter already knew that I’d do anything for him. I mean, case in point. I didn’t need to spell it out for him. “Start with those I sent you, but feel free to add details you think I might need.”
The words came this fucking close to choking me, but I said them anyway. Luna had told me that we needed as much detail as we could get to make their day perfect, and since that seemed to be up to me, I was going to make sure I got everything she could possibly need to give my brother the best fucking day of his life. It was nothing less than he deserved, even if I didn’t agree with how he was choosing to get it.
“Jenny has forwarded all your messages to me, so I figure we go through them point by point.” Peter tapped on his screen. “But it doesn’t make me less curious to know why you’ve suddenly had a change of heart when it comes to wedding details.”
I sighed, wishing I could close my eyes and teleport to anywhere but here. God, the last thing I wanted was for my brother to get married. It couldn’t end in anything other than heartache and destruction, at least not in my experience, but I couldn’t stop him, either.
“I haven’t had a change of heart. I just want it to be a nice day for you. That’s all.” I pressed the tip of my pen into the paper so hard it nearly tore. “Just give me the information, asshole.”
“A nice day for me?” He blinked in surprise, his head jerking back. “Since when do you care about my wedding day being nice? Last I heard, you were raving about how I was making the worst mistake of my life and begging me not to do it.”
“I wasn’t begging,” I scoffed, “and you made it plenty clear you were doing it anyway. If you’re so determined to tie the noose around your own neck, the least I can do is to make sure it’s the best fucking noose there ever was.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Maybe not to you,” I grumbled.
Peter sat back against the leather vinyl of the booth, dipping his head to the side. “Is there some woman helping you with this, telling you what to ask us? Because it sure as shit can’t all be coming from you. Jenny and I went through all your questions last night and there’s a certain… finesse and knowledge to them I know you don’t possess.”
“I have a friend helping me.” It was close enough to the truth.
A friend who made me come harder than ever and become desperate to corrupt that innocent little body, but a friend nonetheless. If there were more rewards like that down the line, I would plan the shit out of this fucking wedding.
Peter scoffed at me. “Bullshit. A friend? As long as I’ve known you, friends have never been a part of your life. You don’t do friends. So who is she?”
“A fucking friend. Do you want my help or not?” I slammed my elbows down on the table and pushed the notebook closer to him. “Because if you do, I need the answer to the fucking questions.”
For a beat, he didn’t respond. Drawing his hands slowly away from the table, he showed me his palms with a smile spreading on his lips. “Okay, buddy. Let’s do this. I’ll answer your questions without asking any more of my own. For now.”
“Just give me your answers,” I said, feeling exasperation scratching at the inside of my chest.
It was amazing how things had ended with no weirdness or need for conversation with Luna, and yet my brother, who was the fucking reason I’d met her, was the one making it annoying. Yes, she was helping me, and yes, we had a great fucking night together, but why couldn’t it be left at that?
We’d agreed there were no strings attached and I’d really believed it. She certainly hadn’t acted like there were, so why should I have to explain anything to anyone?
Thankfully, Peter didn’t press any further. He kept looking at me curiously, but he didn’t ask again. He answered all of Luna’s questions instead and elaborated where he felt it necessary to do so.
By the time our beer was drained and our wings were nothing but a pile of bones, he smirked at me. “If your friend has any more questions, I’ll be happy to answer them, Cy. Tell her thanks, by the way. We really appreciate both of you.”
Chapter 13
Luna
“Adi and I are going shopping for new clothes for summer,” April said when I answered my phone. “You want to come? Please say yes. She’s asked me four times if I thought you’d be able to join us.”
“In that, I don’t think I have much of a choice.” I laughed and drained the last few drops of tea from my mug. “When and where? I’ll meet up with you.”
April gave me the details while Adi sang a song in the background, made me promise again that I would be there, and hung up shortly after. I stood up from
my couch, still smiling over Adi’s antics.
She had me wrapped around her little finger and she knew it. Whenever she wanted me to go somewhere with them, I went. I wasn’t even ashamed about it. I adored both her and her mother. Spending time with them was never a hardship.
Besides, I was in such a good mood today and hadn’t really felt like being by myself all evening anyway. Sunshine warmed my skin when I stepped out onto the sidewalk, and a light breeze lifted strands of my loose hair, but the sunglasses on my head kept it out of my face.
The shopping complex where I had to meet up with them wasn’t too far away, so I decided to walk. Pedestrians filled the sidewalk, all eager to take advantage of the fine weather in the late afternoon.
Since it was Friday, many people were dressed up and probably heading out for drinks with friends. As I walked, I admired some outfits and frowned at some of the more eccentric ones.
Mostly though, my mind was on Cyrus and what had happened between us last night. I still couldn’t quite believe I’d actually gone ahead and asked him, but the lingering soreness of body parts that hadn’t been touched or used for a long time reminded me that I had and that being with him had surpassed every one of my expectations.
Seriously, the man was a God in bed. The end result had totally been worth the anguish and anxiety in the run-up to asking him.
All day long, it had been difficult to keep him off my mind. Whenever I had a minute of spare time at the shop, which unfortunately was pretty often, I’d found myself thinking about our night together and got all hot and bothered again.
On the plus side, the memories had kept an ever-present smile on my face and not even my worries about my debt had been able to get me down. Around midday, I’d realized that the feeling of actually being happy and not worried for once was somewhat freeing and I wanted to hang on to that feeling for as long as I possibly could.
Say You Do Page 9
