Page 57 of A First Sight

The wild look in Drake’s eyes made me wonder if he heard me, but after a moment, he reached over and fumbled in his bedside drawer. He held the condom out to me, and I quickly took care of it, resisting the urge to tease him by rolling it on slowly.

Hell, it would’ve been teasing me too. I was aching. Adrenaline was rushing in a good way. Rockets of hot, lusty pleasure shot through my body. I desperately wanted him inside me.

I held him steady as I moved into place and then lowered myself onto him. Gradually, I guided his cock inside, the sensations of stretching and filling sending my eyelids fluttering. I put my hands on his stomach for balance, keeping my eyes closed until I settled with him completely inside me.

I rocked back and forth, letting my body adjust. Drake’s hands caught mine. Fingers laced together and with gazes locked, we found our rhythm. We chased our pleasure together, as natural as anything I’d experienced. Something I wanted to experience again and again and…

FORTY-TWO

MAGGIE

Ben and Stellanwere two of the most charming men I’d ever met. I wasn’t sure how old Ben was, but I could clearly see what Drake would look like at that age. They had the same chiseled jaw and tall, lean build, the same smile. And the same kind of spirit. Stellan wasn’t much taller than me and stocky, with dark eyes and pale hair. A native New Yorker, he seemed to delight every time one of the others slipped into a bit of Scots.

I didn’t know if Drake had told them to avoid talking about Dale and the circumstances that had brought Drake and me together, but I was grateful for whatever the reason. Instead, we discussed Stellan’s work in the LGBTQ+ community and my involvement in the arts. Ben told me how he came to be in New York as a young man and the company he started. And we talked about my family.

As we finished up, Ben mentioned my brother Brody.

“I always like to have a glass of whiskey at the end of a meal, and I’ve recently discovered a new label that I think you might know.” Ben smiled as he got up and went to a bar on the far side of the dining room. “I believe your brother created Shannon’s?”

I smiled as I saw the familiar bottle and nodded when he asked if he could pour me a finger or two.

“Shall we move into the living room with our drinks?” Ben looked at me with the question.

I nodded. “I just need to use the restroom first.”

“Of course,” Stellan said. He pointed. “Down that hallway, the second door on the left.”

“Thank you.”

I couldn’t miss my reflection and noticed a small hickey close to my collarbone as I washed my hands. The blush in my cheeks flared at that last notion. I had enjoyed sex in the past, sort of, but with Drake, it was explosive. No other experience could match it.

I stepped out of the bathroom, and light from across the hall caught my attention. Curious, I crossed to the partially opened door and pushed it open. The room was an office. Based on the diploma hanging on the wall, it belonged to Stellan. The light I saw was from the moon coming in through a large window behind his desk. It seemed our cloudy evening had cleared, at least a little.

Not wanting to intrude more than I already had, I turned to go, then stopped as my gaze fell on a picture hanging next to the door. Drake and Stellan looked much younger. Both wore tuxedos. The men smiled from where they stood on either side of a pretty young woman.

A pretty young woman with blonde hair almost the exact shade as mine. Blue eyes. About my age. With features eerily similar to mine.

What the hell?

If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought she was a long-lost sister. Except she was in a wedding dress. And with Drake’s arm around her waist, I had a good hunch about who she was.

Or, more accurately, had been.

Oh God, was this a picture of his…late wife?

Feeling dazed, I stepped back into the hallway and made my way to the living room. My mind raced, trying to understand what all of this meant, but I couldn’t seem to lock onto a single thought. As I neared the living room, my steps slowed, and I hung back. I wasn’t sure I could go in there and pretend I wasn’t reeling. I leaned against the wall, just out of sight, and heard them talking..

“I know what I’m doing.”

The intensity in Drake’s hushed tone made me catch my breath. Warning bells rang in my mind. Something was off.

“You need to tell her.”

“And how, exactly, do you propose I do that?” Drake asked. “It’s not the kind of thing that comes up in conversation.”

“You might need to start the conversation,” Ben said. “Otherwise, it’ll be much worse. What happens if she finds out you already knew who she was before you intervened with Dale?”

He knew who I was?

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