Page 4 of Taking Denver

“Fast… faster—” I beg, fully aware of how pathetic I sound, fully prepared to hate myself for it later.

He covers my mouth, his palm pressing against my lips, and I breathe quickly through my nose.

“You better keep your voice down,” he whispers, his thrusts still slow enough to tease and torture me. “Or do you want people to come in here and see you taking my cock?” His words heighten the sensitivity between my legs, his voice dangerously low in my ear. “Is that what you want? To be watched while I fuck you?”

I press my fingernails into his biceps as I cry out into his palm. Who the fuck is this guy? With his dirty words, perfect dick, and?—

I gasp as he uncovers my mouth, his lips meeting mine, and then he gives meeverything.

He starts fucking me jackhammer fast, and I can’t remember when I last had any thoughts in my head. My back slams against the wall. My head is filled with nothing but the moment. It’sstrangely peaceful, like hurtling off a cliff and feeling only the freedom of falling.

The tightening between my legs intensifies, goosebumps scatter across my skin, and my orgasm hits me. Hard. Fast. It’s almost painfully beautiful.

My mind scatters. My body follows. I’m no longer in his arms but weightless, drifting beyond sensible thoughts or decisions.

He bites into my neck as his orgasm follows, and the sound he makes is enough to make me want to go again. Precise, hot, and vocal? What a shame he’s a total dick.

He slows. He stops. He holds onto me, his face in my neck, my legs still tight around his waist.

“Are you okay?” He lifts his head to meet my eyes, and I search his face, unable to hide my surprise that he’d asked.

Why does he look like he cares?

“Can you put me down?” I wriggle in his grip, and he nods, placing me on my feet.

To my total mortification, my knees dip. He grips my elbows to keep me upright, and I resist mumbling a thank you.

I pull my leggings up as gracefully as possible. “I believe these are mine,” I say breathlessly, snatching up my earbuds and bag and leaving.

With my sneakers dangling from my fingertips, I try to remember how I normally walk. My legs tremble, my knees lock, and the dampness between my thighs has me already aching for more.

For those glorious minutes he was inside me, I forgot what I was running from, and I wonder how many random hook-ups it would take until I forget that night. My rationale tells me that guilt doesn’t ebb away with orgasms, and adding notches to my bedpost isn’t a sensible distraction from bloodstained hands.

I finally release a breath once I’m inside the elevator and heading back down to my room. The mirrored walls show awoman thoroughly fucked, and I know, without a doubt, that if word gets back that I’ve slept with someone, all hell will break loose.

I’m already running out of time, and I’ve likely just made things ten times worse for myself. The clock that is my life is closing in on the end. So is everyone’s, I suppose, but mine has picked up speed since I had a choice between life and death and chose wrong.

My phone vibrates, and I take it out of my bag.

DO NOT ANSWERis calling. I close my fingers over the phone, staring at the contact photo. The dark eyes, sharp suit, and handsome face that took my breath away the first time I saw it.

I stare at his face until the phone stops ringing, his missed calls ticking from seventy-six to seventy-seven.

By the time I step out of the elevator, my head is high, my shoulders are squared, and I resign myself to shower away the guilt and the man from between my thighs.

Chapter 2

Ethan

Itighten my tie and barely hold back a gargled choke. I loosen it again, roll my shoulders, and frown at the dark material like it’s personally responsible for everything that has ever gone wrong in my life.

“Ethan, we’re on vacation, not going to a wedding,” Sebastian says as he appears from the bedroom and walks into the living area of our small suite. My friend’s blond hair and navy button-down shirt with matching suit pants are immaculate, which only makes me hate my tie even more. “We’re only going out for dinner. Relax.”

I want to relax, but I can’t stop thinking about this morning.

When I fucked a random woman in the hotel gym.

It isn’t how I thought my vacation would start. This is a boys’ trip, the first in years where me, Sebastian, Zeke, and Ace can catch up. After Sebastian’s wife sucker-punched him with divorce papers a year ago, it seemed like spending time with my friends was long overdue.

---