Page 67 of Cross-Checked

She increases the speed while she uses her good hand to circle her clit and rests her splint on my shoulder in order to tug at my hair. The slight amount of pain pushes me closer, and I feel the telltale signs of my orgasm. But I don’t want to come before she does.

“Now, Alessandra,” I growl between clenched teeth.

“I’m not there yet,” she says breathily.

“Like hell you’re not.” I pull her nipple back into my mouth roughly, sucking hard and leaving her moaning. Then I adjust one of my hands that’s holding her up and press my middle finger against the opening of her ass. I meet her gaze as I apply a light pressure, not entering her, but wanting to make sure she’s okay with being touched there.

Her mouth parts with a sharp inhale, her eyes widening as she stares down at me. As I press a bit harder, her eyes widen even more. She’s breathing hard, her hips moving into me at a frantic pace, and she gives me a little nod. So I slip my finger into her, just barely, and her mouth drops open as she pushes her head back into the stone wall so hard her back arches. I feel her pussy clamping down on me as a choked cry escapes her, her muscles moving in rhythmic waves as my orgasm simultaneously moves through my body and nearly has my legs buckling from the intensity.

Faint voices ring out in the distance, and I lift my head, taking her mouth in mine and kissing the hell out of her as she works through her climax. Not only do I not want to risk hermaking a sound, but also, I’m feeling emotions I’ve never felt before.

It’s not just the desperate need to be with her, to be inside her. It’s also the realization that I never want to feel this with anyone else. And that thought is both terrifying and reassuring at the same time.

Chapter Twenty-Five

AJ

Nicholas’s name pops up on my caller ID right as we’re driving back into Philly. I debate not answering it, but I don’t want him to think anything’s wrong.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I ask, pressing the phone to my ear so I can hear his response over the noise of the traffic and the wind whipping around us.

“Nothing. Abby’s down for a nap, and I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

I glance at McCabe, who’s focused on the road. With his aviator sunglasses on and his dark hair blowing in the wind, he’s relaxed in a way I rarely see. Is this just a side of him I haven’t seen because of our boss-employee relationship, or is he loosening up and showing me who he actually is?

“I’m doing great. Big win last night, which we really needed,” I say, and next to me, McCabe chuckles. He’s probably thinking aboutafterthe game because getting me to come with him inside me, after also giving me a mind-blowing orgasm with his mouth—that was abig wintoo. “And then I did some sightseeing today.”

“Oh yeah, where’d you go?”

“Valley Forge. There’s a national park there, so I walked around for a bit. And then I stopped at a huge mall near there and did a little dress shopping.” I still can’t quite get over the mental image of McCabe following me around, holding all the gowns I picked out to try on. He didn’t complain once, not even when I’d loaded him down with twenty different dresses. And then he humored me when I wanted to buy Abby some adorable pink high-top sneakers that we saw in a shop window, helping me find the right size so she could wear them now.

“You’re really going to go to the gala?” Nicholas asks. His voice is disapproving at best.

“I mean, I kind of have to.”

“No, you don’t. There’s no need to spend one second with those assholes, especially since you know Chet is going to be there.”

My childhood was far from perfect, but it was still much better than what Nicholas got.

“It’s more work tonotgo, you know? I can suck it up and show up for two hours since I’m going to be in St. Louis anyway?—”

“Oh, you’rethatconfident about this series?” Nicholas teases. Yeah, we’re down 2-1, but we plan to rectify that tomorrow night. We’re a better team, and I’m confident we can beat Philadelphia in the end. I’m equally confident that St. Louis is going to win their current series, given their current standings, which will put us in a position to be playing them two weeks from now.

“Pretty much. If I’m there anyway, what’s my excuse for not going?”

“Work. It’s your excuse for everything else.” There’s an edge to his tone that has the hair on the back of my neck standing up.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Next to me, McCabe reaches over and rests his hand on my thigh. I know he can only hear my side of the conversation, but I appreciate that he recognizes my defensiveness and the subtle way he tells me he’s here for me.

His palm presses into me, his fingers giving me a supportive squeeze along my inner thigh—right where we’d had to use my thong to wipe up his cum as it dripped out of me only an hour earlier. The memory has me letting out a sigh, forgetting I’m even on the phone.

“You don’t need the big sigh, AJ,” Nicholas says into my ear, jolting me out of my stupor.

That jerky movement has McCabe chuckling next to me again, like he knows exactly what his touch does to me.

God, this relaxed version of him—the way he takes things in stride, the smile he reserves only for me— he’s like an entirely different person, and it’s addicting.Hecould be addicting.

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