Page 90 of Riding the High

I answer Chris’s question about how my summer is going, telling him about working with Mabel and everything we’ve achieved in the garden. Then I turn to Avery and we talk about everything she’s been up to during the past year.

We’re only interrupted when CeCe’s “aunt,” Jo’s friend from school, decides that, after three glasses of wine, she wants to say a word to the bride. Cole leans back in his chair beside me in our dark little corner of the wedding party table and welisten to Aunt Daisy drunkenly ramble on as CeCe flashes her best fake smile at her. Jo sits with Wyatt’s sister on the other side of the tent and I can see the grimace she’s giving her longtime friend from here. Mabel is sleeping inside the house while Nash’s extended family’s kids play video games and eat snacks in the next room. Everyone in the tent is clearly itching for this woman to stop talking so we can get to drinking and dancing.

“Who is this woman?” I ask Cole in a whisper. “I’ve never met her before.”

“I don’t even thinkI’vemet her before,” Cole jokes quietly as he sips his whiskey.

He places his hand on my thigh as he speaks, and just this simple touch ignites me. And, even though they’re blowing air conditioning into this tent, I’m suddenly very warm as he slides his hand up under my dress and rests it between my thighs.

“At least she’s stopped Chris from doing his best to get you to sleep with him for the time being,” Cole says under his breath.

I nudge him with my elbow. Aunt Daisy finally stops talking and everyone claps. Cole removes his hand from my thigh to join in.

“So, Ginger, did I tell you what I’m doing for Harvest Fest? Will I see you there? I was so glad when Nash and CeCe asked me to help out …” Chris starts talking to me again but I can’t focus on his words as Cole’s hand lands back on my thigh.

My heart pounds in my ears as Cole’s grip creeps slowly higher. I should want to shoo him away, but I don’t. He’s doing this on purpose and I’m sure he’s getting off on the fact that Chris is trying to keep my attention, even though he’s the one commanding it. As if there is ever any competition.

My mind wanders back to the first night Cole and I spent together as his fingers trace the sensitive spot just under my hip bone. The memory resurfaces in flashes: how we barely madeit into the hotel room before he was pressing me up against the wall; how the texture of the wallpaper felt against my skin …

“And in New York we helped out with the Fourth of July celebrations at St Jude’s. That was my favorite. The kids were adorable and the way their faces lit up when …” Chris rambles on while I nod politely.

Cole’s hand meets the apex of my thighs. The tablecloth reaches right down to the floor and the flickering candle is our only light. My back is to the tent wall, which means Cole can touch me without anyone seeing a thing.

Jacob grabs Chris’s attention momentarily and Cole uses the moment to lean down and whisper in my ear. “Should I make my wife come while she plays nice with the guests?”

His hand slides higher. I start to shake my head, but my body has other ideas because I open my legs wider. Cole’s lips turn up in a smirk and practically graze my ear as he pushes my thong aside. It’s loud in here but his voice is level and clear.

“Don’t fight it. Open right up for me,” he groans as his fingers skim over me. “You’re fucking soaked, Vixen.”

I stifle a moan, but do as he says.

His middle finger finds my clit and he starts to strum in tight circles using the perfect amount of pressure. Just the thought of us doing this here adds a certain buzz to the already charged atmosphere. I drown Chris’s voice out as he tells me about a teenager he helped mentor. His words and face fade away, replaced instead by the image of Cole driving into me the night we got married, both hands tucked behind his head, his eyes holding mine.

I fist the tablecloth as Cole continues his rhythm, fucking into me with two fingers in a slow steady roll, his broad palm adding delicious pressure to my clit. It takes everything in my power not to cry out when my orgasm begins to build within me.

“Nash and CeCe say you offer free tutoring throughout theyear for any kids that are behind. That’s so sweet of you,” Chris says, bringing my attention back to the here and now, right at the same time that I come over Cole’s hand.

“Yes!” I cry out. “Yes, I love it.”

Chris laughs at my outburst, shaking his head at me.

“Helping others really excites her,” Cole says as he pulls his hand away and squeezes my thigh one last time. I offer Chris a sweet breathless smile as I tug my dress down under the table. I see my phone light up as I start to regain my composure.

AVERY

You have a lot of explaining to do at girls’ night tomorrow.

I look up at her; her arms are folded across her chest, and she wears a smug look on her face. I shrug before I look back up at Cole, ready to shoot daggers into his soul for making me come apart like that in the middle of Nash and CeCe’s wedding reception. He knows I’m about to read him the riot act.

He bends down to whisper in my ear. “Don’t look at me like that. You wanted it. This pussy ismine.”

A chill runs down my spine, and I can’t figure out if it’s a wish or a memory that suddenly comes crashing down around me. A hazy vision of Cole on the night we got married, long before we crossed any lines sober, fills my mind. His molten eyes bore into mine and I swear I hear him whisper,“You’re mine Ginger. You’ve always been mine.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Ginger

35 days to go

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