Chapter 24

24

Banks knew something was wrong because it felt so right.

That’s how low his thinking had sunk. Up was down. Black was white. Nothing made sense anymore.

Morning had finally come, not that he’d slept much. But he managed a couple of fitful hours after the last time he checked his phone, about 4 a.m.

Now she was wrapped around him, her tiny, fuckable body finding countless ways to creep into any space available. One slender arm around his torso. A dainty hand gripping his shoulder. Her knee slotted between his thighs.

She’d buried her face into his neck, her lips a dick-raising suction against his throat.

And the heat? The covers were half off, so he should be freezing, but not with Georgia giving off nuclear levels of thermal energy.

He managed to shift his head slightly, just so he could dip his gaze down his body. As suspected, he was standing to attention, his dick tenting his briefs, daring him to move and find delicious friction.

Using the hand not trapped by the temptation in his bed, he pulled the cover up and over his erection. Not that it solved anything but at least it wouldn’t look so bad.

Sure, because appearances were what mattered right now.

He did a check-in with the rest of his body. His pulse was running a sprint, his skin burned with sensation, but apart from his irrepressible cock, his biggest problem was her shoulder.

It was right there within a whisper of his lips. All he had to do was turn his head and brush his mouth over her skin. He could play it off as an accident. As if her shoulder had pushed its way into his mouth and that sweet patch of flesh was his for a brief second.

But he didn’t have permission to do that. As things stood, he didn’t have permission to even be thinking about doing it.

He needed to get out of here. A cold shower, a double shot of espresso, ten hours in the gym. This was not the way to prepare for Game 1 of the series.

He shifted an inch. Then another. But that was a mistake because it got her body’s attention. Her knee bent further and came perilously close to— fuck , it brushed his dick and made him jerk. (Not the jerk he’d have preferred, but a body spasm that rocked the bed.)

Her eyes fluttered open, and she took far too long, but not long enough, to realize where she was.

“Oh—oh, hi!”

“Morning,” he gruffed out.

Any second now she’d move away, taking all that heat and softness away from him. Any second now, he’d groan because of what he couldn’t have, which was for the best. Because if she stayed in this position, pretzeled around his body, he might not be responsible.

She didn’t move. It was like she was frozen in place, terrified.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean—” he said at the same time she uttered, “No, it’s okay.”

She stayed still, as if knowing a millimeter either direction would detonate the bomb of desire in the bed.

She turned her head slightly, seemed to burrow in even more. Fuck.

“This is what it was like before.” Her voice was tiny, almost timid.

“Before?”

“The morning after.”

That before.

He swallowed. “I don’t remember. You were gone when I woke up.”

“I know.”

Silence, but also not. Volumes were spoken, as they said.

“Why did you leave?”

He already knew the answer. She’d awoken in the arms—he assumed—of a stranger, a man with muscles that could crush her. Who was far too old for her. Of course she was going to bolt.

“I was scared.”

Well, that confirmed it. Still, he couldn’t resist probing for more evidence against him.

“Of me?”

“No. Of me.”

She still lay against his neck, so he moved to get a better look at her.

“Georgia, what does that mean?”

“Look what we’d done. What I had done. This crazy thing. And I figured that it was just one more example of Georgia screwing up and pulling another innocent into her web.”

“Innocent old me, you mean?”

Her eyebrows slammed together. “How else do you explain what happened, Banks? I have a reputation, mostly well-earned, of making trouble. And usually that’s only harmful to me. But here I am, dragging you into my nonsense, and I thought it would be best to get out of there.”

“Instead of sticking around to fix it?”

She blew out a breath. “I never said this self-awareness came with good problem-solving skills.”

That made him chuckle. He thought about last night, how she admitted she wanted to start her own charity, separate from her parents’ sphere of influence. Something for her.

None of this meant that Georgia had wanted more from their mistaken marriage. After all, she’d put it down to grief over Dani. But he felt like he understood her a little bit better than before.

Plus there was the added bonus: she was still in his arms.

Yep, he’d adjusted his free hand to slide over and curl around her back. Now it rested, palm-down on her lower spine, just a skosh above the rise of her sweet little ass. No harm, no foul.

“No more apologies, okay? We’re making it work for … reasons.”

“Hmm. Reasons.” She gave a raspy chuckle and that sound—God—it did things to him. Not just to his dick. “Is this great act working?”

His grandmother liked Georgia. His mom, too. That was all that mattered.

“Well enough.”

She squirmed a fraction, and it reminded him of how close she was. How exquisite it felt to be on the edge like this. In the last few moments, his hand on her back had started to move in tight, soothing circles. To comfort her , he said. To put her at ease .

Now he coasted it down her back, grazed the top of her ass, and came back again.

She didn’t pull away. If anything, she moved infinitesimally closer, enough to have him make an embarrassing sound of what could only be termed as pleasure.

“What?” she whispered. “Did I hurt you?”

“As if you could.”

She made the same move, testing his limits. Always testing, this girl. He swallowed back a groan, determined she would get nothing from him. This was madness enough already.

“This is nice,” she murmured, a whisper of breath against his chest.

He made an indeterminate sound.

“Did you sleep okay?”

“Eventually.” Shit.

She raised her head, met his tired gaze head on. “You couldn’t sleep? Because I’m here?”

Yes. No. “I’m not used to sharing a bed.”

“At all? You mean … you’re a virgin?”

He smiled. “No, but it’s been a while since I’ve slept in the same bed with someone. Not since …” That night in Vegas. “I was engaged.”

“This Stacy chick. I read about her online.” She tapped his chest with her fingers. “What happened between you two?”

“We broke up. It happens.”

“Yes, but why?”

“We didn’t have much in common. Once the initial attraction faded there wasn’t much to bind us together.” It was too easy to say it was about what he could give her: money, fame, a life of luxury that really appealed to her. She wanted those things, but she figured out quickly that she could get them elsewhere. That he wasn’t the kind of man to make her happy.

“You broke up with her?”

He barked a laugh. “That’s kind of you, Georgia, but no. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t have the self-respect to end it.” He wouldn’t make that mistake again. Once this thing with Georgia was finished, he would ensure the separation was clean with no strings remaining to connect them.

“Sometimes we know something doesn’t feel right but we want to believe so much. That our instincts can’t be so off.”

He turned his head to her. Is that what she thought … about them?

“What do you want to believe in?”

“That maybe I’ll get it right one day. That I won’t keep making the same mistakes.”

Yet this felt right. Holding her, inhaling lungfuls of that sweet floral scent in her hair, this quiet talking before the rest of the house came awake.

Even his painful dick felt right.

But maybe that was because he should ache around her. Georgia was a woman worth yearning for.

“You’re not quite the disaster you think you are, you know that?”

She hummed, the sound reverberating against his chest, and Christ, he loved the feeling. This closeness.

“I’m poisoning you with my food and my cat, disturbing your sleep patterns, and whining about my life.” She peeked up at him. “You’re not denying any of this.”

“It’s all true.”

“Banks!” She pushed up on her elbow, sending her camisole off her shoulder and his dick into a tailspin. “You’re supposed to soothe me. Tell me that I’ve done none of those things.”

“Told you I was poor husband material.”

“Awful.” But she grinned, and his heart went ka-boom . Her leg was still draped over his, her knee so close—and there it was again. That brush against his cock. He shifted and she noticed.

“Oh God, I’m sorry.” She lifted the cover and peeked. “Is that my fault?”

“You’re not to blame for everything, despite your preference for martyrdom.”

“Hey!” She picked up her pillow and thumped him with it.

He quickly returned the favor, and soon Georgia was grappling with him to try to steal his pillow (after she’d lost control of hers and it landed on the floor on his side of the bed). The struggle ended with Banks holding her upper arms to keep her at length. His shoulder ached but nothing compared to his dick.

“Weakling.”

“I am not!”

“Puny as a petal.”

“How dare?—”

She rolled over on top of him, smashing her breasts into his chest as she vainly tried for his pillow again. Angling for leverage, she straddled his hips while he lay back and refused to budge, his head keeping the pillow trapped.

“I’ve got you now,” she panted.

That she did. She leaned over, one hand on his uninjured shoulder, the other splayed on one pec, and pushed as if that somehow signaled victory. Shifting an inch, her ass nudged his erection, the heat of her fabric-covered pussy over his abs an erotic furnace.

She squirmed, and there it was: a reveal of pleasure across her pretty features.

“I’m at your mercy,” he said.

“You are.” Her words were soft, accompanying another slight shift of her body, an ever so subtle grind.

“Take it.”

She swallowed. “What?”

Your pleasure. “Your revenge.”

Her fingers curled around his good shoulder, digging in. “For what?”

“Underestimating you. Calling you weak.”

“You might not like it.”

He had a feeling he would. He had a feeling he’d like any form Georgia’s revenge took. “So what if I don’t? This is for you.”

She moved back another inch, another glance of his erection, the effect obvious. The fabric of her panties felt hot and damp against his skin.

Her lips parted but nothing emerged. She seemed frozen, unsure how to proceed.

“Tell me what you need,” he whispered, and when she still appeared hesitant, he added, “Or show me.”

That seemed to work better for her. Verbal wasn’t in her wheelhouse right now, but she could take his hand and?—

Place it over the front of her panties.

“You don’t have to get too wordy, but I need one thing. A yes.”

“Yes,” she said immediately.

“And you’ll tell me if you don’t want anything. If I do a single thing you don’t like.”

“Yes.”

Reaching up, she placed a hand on the headboard and her body a few inches off his abs. He slipped his hand underneath, in between her thighs, and cupped her.

Christ, she was as warm as the sun right there.

He rubbed along the fabric, getting her used to how his hand felt. Tracing a finger along the lacy edge inside one thigh, he pulled at the elastic and snuck inside. Just a touch. Then out again.

She squirmed. “Tease.”

Again, he traced the edge, only this time he stretched the strip of cotton back to reveal soft, wet flesh.

She moaned, which had him practically hissing with pleasure. With a seeking index finger, he rubbed along her slit, then took his other hand and pulled her panties aside for better access. Still not enough.

“Take ’em off.” His voice sounded gruff, bossy.

She adjusted enough so he could roll her panties off, then hold her steady while she pulled them down one leg, then the other. Positioning her back over him, he palmed the soft thatch of blonde curls before delving between her folds with one thumb. Her entire body shivered at the intrusion.

Taking two fingers, he stroked through her soft, sensitive flesh, relishing all the wetness he found there.

“Fuck, you feel good.”

She sawed her body over his fingers, evidently desperate for more friction. “Oh please, oh God, yes. Please.” She was so wet, so hot. So perfect with her pouty bottom lip being dragged by her teeth and her hard nipples poking through the camisole. He had no idea where to look: her body undulating over him, her gorgeous lips parted in ecstasy, her sweet little pussy just begging for his cock.

That bad boy was dying to get in on the action. But this was Georgia’s show—his perfect, sensual peach of a wife. How fucking lucky was he?

But she’s not your wife. She’s here because of some fucked up quid pro quo, not because she wants you.

Yet her body wanted this. Her hot little ass wanted it. Those nipples and her dripping pussy needed it, and while he couldn’t take what he wanted, he was happy to give her the best his fingers could provide.

He circled her clit, spreading moisture, and there it was again—that shiver of pleasure, followed by Georgia’s raspy moan. She hitched back and forth, her movements agitated to the point that she rubbed against his erection. His cock was so damn hard, and that was the last straw—or would be if he didn’t switch her position.

He had a choice: get her on her back, finish her off with his fingers, or pull her over his mouth and get a taste that might keep him going for a while.

His body made the call for him. Shifting down, pulling her forward, spreading her to give his mouth the best possible access. For a moment, he hesitated, wondering if he was about to cross a line, go to a place from which there was no return.

“Dylan.” His raspy name on her lips was the push he needed. One hand on her sweet ass, the other on her inner thigh, and then heaven. Soft, heated flesh on his tongue, the tang of her like nothing he’d ever tasted. He held her still as he licked inside her, savoring each sweet drop that dripped down his throat. She started to shake. He speared harder with his tongue, then continued in long, languorous licks of her pussy.

She shook more. Moaned his name. Tried to get more friction, but he knew what she needed. His mouth eating her out like the best treat. He licked her little clit, sucked on it, alternating between licking and sucking and tongue-fucking until she came with clenched thighs and something like a squeak.

Of course, his wife’s orgasm sounds would be different than any other woman’s.

Immediately she lifted her body to give him air while she rested her arms on the headboard.

He squeezed her ass. “You okay?”

“No.”

His heart sank. Had he gone too far? Should he have sought further consent to put his tongue inside her like that?

“Georgia, I’m sorry.”

She pulled her leg over and settled at his shoulder with her legs tucked under her body. “For what? Giving me the best orgasm of my life?”

His heart soared. “Maybe?”

“Banks, I’m only mad because I’ve been missing out all these years. I had no idea it could be that good.”

He’d surprised her. Well, of course. No one who knew him would think he had those kinds of skills.

Her face was flushed, her pupils dilated, and her lips—Christ, he wanted to kiss her so badly. She was staring at him, and with the way her chin dipped, he thought that maybe she felt the same way.

She traced a hand over his chest, careful to avoid his bruises. “Thanks.”

“Any time.”

Her gaze moved down his body to where his dick was saluting the royalty in the room. His wife. He’d just been intimate with his wife.

And it was nowhere near enough. It wasn’t just an ache to be satisfied, his cock inside her, the crushing desire for release—it was more. It was a need for connection. For purpose.

This woman was feeling like his reason for … he didn’t know yet.

Tentatively, he reached for her, knuckles first, a brush against her naked hip.

She didn’t object. She moved her hand down to cup his cock, still encased in his briefs.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“He says hi back.”

A lovely laugh erupted from her as she palmed him with more pressure. “You’ll have to translate for me.”

A knock sounded on the door, making Georgia jump and unfortunately drop her hand from his dick.

“Breakfast is up, lovebirds!” His mother’s voice crashed the party. “And we need to get ready for your sisters.”

“Your sisters.” Georgia’s eyes reflected terror. “And the game! Oh my God, you have so much to do today and here I am, interfering with your prep again.”

Squeezing one out would work perfectly for his prep, but it looked like that was no longer an option because Georgia was busily scouring the bed for her panties. Far too quickly, she found them, and had them on before he could spend any significant time enjoying the sight of her gorgeous, round ass.

“Okay if I use the bathroom first?”

“Su—” But she was already gone.

He took a gander at his aching dick and sighed. Looked like he’d be heading into the series, frustrated as ever.