Page 46 of Playing Pretend

“This isn’t right.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re friends.”

“Yeah, we are.” I nod. “Best friends. It’s my job to empower you. To pick you up when you’re down.”

“Not like this.” Her voice fractures, breathy with need and panic. “People are watching.”

“Close your eyes. You won’t see them.”

Her chuckle is a lone puff of air that rushes over my neck. I could fucking come. Five pumps of a tight fist are all it would take to release twenty-plus years of pent-up obsession.

“We’re cuddling.” I drag my mouth along her jaw. “Nothing more. My hands are in plain sight. We’re both dressed. Now ride me.”

I close my eyes. Waiting. Needing. Each passing second is torturous. My desire is held hostage by her insecurities. I can’t push her any further. She has to make the last move. “Have faith in me.”

“I do,” she whimpers.

“Then move, Piper,” I beg. “Prove him wrong.”

A noise carries from the back of her throat. A keening, mournful sound.

I hold my breath. The time ticks by slower than dripping molasses until I feel it. The slightest shift. The weakest slide.

Lust shoots through me, down every limb, along every nerve. “Keep going.” My palms itch to help her. To grab her ass and drag her back and forth. “I’ve got you.”

She does it again. Another slight slide. The most imperceptible roll of hips.

“A little harder.” I match the tiny movements, inching my leg back and forth. “Faster.”

Her breathing increases. “This isn’t going to work.”

“Forget the rest of the world.” I drag my tongue along her neck until I reach her ear, then suck her lobe into my mouth. “You deserve this. You’reowedit.”

She shudders. “This is embarrassing.”

“Why? Gratification is natural. It’s fucking normal. And don’t, for one second, think you’re the only one enjoying this.”

Her movements pause as she pulls to the side, meeting my gaze with wide eyes. “You are, too?”

“You bet your finely sculpted ass I am. I’m fucking throbbing. Julian might not have found the heat in you, but you make me burn.”

She shakes her head in denial, yet her rock and grind starts again. Grows.

“Believe it. There’s never been a woman more perfectly rounded. Not in beauty. Or in intelligence. And, you best start to learn, not in fucking sexuality either. You’re a masterpiece.”

“You know me better than that.”

“It sounds like I know you better than you know yourself.” I latch my fingers against the edge of the pool, my resistance waning. I’m so fucking hungry for her. “Tell me how it feels. Describe it to me.”

She clings tighter to my shoulder. “I can’t.”

“Are your nipples hard?”

She shudders a breath. Rocks faster.

“Does your pussy beg to be filled?”

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