Page 38 of Bargaining

Of course I wouldn’t. What did I care about Cole’s brother when I had Cole touching me like this? Reuben was lovely. He was gorgeous and charming in a bumbling, sincere way, but golden retriever men weren’t my type. My type had always been Cole. Only Cole. I looked him squarely in the eyes. “Reuben who?”

“Good girl.” He drove two fingers back inside of me, filling me, curling upward. His thumb played with my clit in unyielding, deliberate strokes.

“Stay away from him. Stay away from my father.”

“I didn’t even know your father was there.”

“Good.”

He tugged down the zip at the back of my dress and freed my breasts. He groaned as he pulled my bra cups aside and buried his face in my cleavage. The indecent slippery sound of his fingers pumping into me as he sucked on my nipples made my face hot.

“Dripping all over my hand. You needed this, didn’t you, Charlotte?”

Yes. I needed it. But it’s too much. Not enough.It had been so long. Too long since I’d felt any pleasure in my body. His lips found mine again, and he kissed me deeply, smothering my moans. I’d forgotten this kind of unbearable, raw aliveness. The sparking heat of skin against skin. He latched onto my nipple with his mouth and sucked hard. Release ripped through me, sudden and overwhelming, like a river bursting its dam. I was coming. Coming harder than I ever had in my life. A stream of indecipherable sounds left my lips. I cried out and buried my face into his shoulder. His masculine scent filled my nose, and I breathed him in.

“Eyes on me,” he commanded. “See who makes you feel this good.”

I gripped his shoulder tightly and lifted my face to meet his gaze. His inscrutable eyes held mine as I shook with release. He didn’t stop soothing my clit until every tremor left my body and I collapsed limp against him, still quivering and panting.

The contract had been ridiculous, but it was important. We both knew where we stood. This shouldn’t have happened. He stepped away, still watching me intently. I yanked my dress down from around my hips and smoothed it. Orgasms complicated matters that could have been straightforward. I really shouldn’t have let that happen.

What had just come to pass wasn’t funny, but a dark humor gripped me, and I couldn’t help myself. It was ridiculous. My life had become ridiculous. I had to find the humor in it or I’d fall to the floor and weep. A laugh bubbled up and burst out of me. It echoed around the still entrance hall.

He raised a dark brow. “Something amusing?”

“I was just thinking that was a good effort, but we might need to tone it down for the big day.”

“Agreed.” He arched a dark brow and smoothed his shirt. “It’s going to need some work.”

Chapter 17

Cole

Music has always soothed me, and after what had just transpired, I needed to calm the fuck down. At the piano, my fingers moved over the keys. Schubert’s “Ave Maria” began to take shape—a favorite of my mother’s. I surrendered to the tender melody as though it was something organic that could reach inside of me and untangle the anguished knot that had tightened since laying eyes on my father.

I’d lost control with Charlotte. The look on her face when I’d had her writhing on my fingers would be emblazoned in my mind forever. I’d never forget the feel of her slickness. The smell of her. I’d just made myself come so hard in the shower, but it wasn’t enough. My body was fevered. It wouldn’t be enough until I could sink into her and feel her bucking and clenching around my cock.

I felt her presence in the doorway before she’d said a word. My body always had a sense of her in a room. My eyes were always searching for her.

I stopped playing. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Not long.” She drifted closer. “You play so beautifully.” Her hand hovered over my shoulder before she withdrew it quickly. “Don’t stop on my account. Please. I’d love to hear more.”

I twisted on the piano stool to drink her in. A lilac silk gown wrapped around her curves, and her dark hair fell damp from the shower in a cascade down her back. I never played for an audience, but I couldn’t deny her anything. It wasn’t a particularly difficult piece, not the kind I’d play to impress someone, but I carried on with it regardless.

I let my fingers caress the keys. The music wound around me in invisible threads. Every note so intense in the stillness. Memories of a time when life was simple rushed over me.Charlotte and me riding our bikes in the woods. Sun dappling through trees. Charlotte’s laughter ringing in my ears. Pure freedom.

The song reached its gentle climax, a break in the tension, before I finished the piece. Silence swept around us. Charlotte’s head bowed low. She looked as sad as the day of her father’s funeral. I’d brought her here to soothe her sorrow, but tonight I’d made it worse. A heavy weight compressed my chest.

“I overreacted earlier. I apologize. Reuben pushes my buttons.” I patted the seat next to me on the piano stool.

She sat. Her shoulder brushed mine, and her floral fragrance hit my nose. She kept her gaze fixed on the keys. “He seems harmless enough.”

“He’s in my father’s pocket. I don’t trust him.”

She shot me a tentative look. “You don’t talk about your father. You went to work for him, but you don’t anymore?”

“That’s right.”