Page 59 of Making It While Faking It
I snicker, cupping the side of his face. It takes everything within me to not guide his mouth to my chest to do that again. Everything he does to me feels so damn good. But we find different ways to touch each other. We haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other since our sexing began. His warm, strong hand slides up and down my inner thigh as he lies on his side, head propped up by his forearm and resting in his palm. My fingers are wedged between his strong thighs. His muscles are so solid. And he’s not an overly hairy guy, either, which I love. And he smells so good. Achilles has impeccable hygiene, which is such a bonus. There’s nothing like a man who knows how to clean his ass.
But he’s asked about a day I never wanted to remember, and since I’m falling for him and Orion is his brother, I know I should tell him what happened between us.
I start by telling him that Orion and I have run in the same circles since we were teenagers. Every summer, our friends have parties at their parents’ vacation mansions on St. Barts. I rarely go, especially since my dad cut me off. I didn’t want to explain to a bunch of superficial people why I had to be thrifty while they spent frivolously. I don’t share that part. However, that year, our friend Anna Chase was holding her twenty-fifth birthday bash, and she practically fell on her knees and begged me to go.
It was day three when Orion and I spotted each other on the beach. He hugged me so tight and said that he missed me. I said that I missed him too. After that, we would see each other at pool parties, chat about the old days. He would constantly flirt with his eyes but, while in public, never touch me. Although, his words were penetrative enough.
“It never occurred to me how odd it was that he was keeping his distance when others were around,” I say.
“Skylark,” Achilles says.
I gasp in awe. “Yes. He was involved with Skylark. How did you know?”
His eyes narrow a pinch. “You said your incident with Orion happened five years ago. It’s my job to know who my brothers are involved with.”
“Jeez, you said that with a straight face.”
His airy chuckle makes me want to kiss him. At some point, we’ll have to discuss his tendencies to rival Max Grove in the he’s-so-controlling department. However, for the time being, I wonder if I should say more about the day I vowed to never become romantically involved with Orion Lord, ever. Maybe Achilles won’t look at me the same after he hears what happened. But I did nothing wrong. On the contrary, I did everything right when the time came to do the right thing. So I summon more courage and continue explaining why his brother puts a sour taste in my mouth.
“Then you know how sweet of a human being she is.”
He nods decisively as he clenches his jaw.
Cutting to the chase, I tell him how one night, Orion and I agreed to meet at his villa while everyone else attended a clambake on the beach. I leave out the part about how easy it was for Orion to lure me into bed. We still had a lot of sexual chemistry back then. That night, we pledged our love to each other after taking a trip down memory lane. He had said he missed me and never stopped thinking about me. He was willing to go to the ends of the earth to have me. Then I let him inside me. The sex we had was not even close to being as spiritual, satiating, and gratifying as what I just had with Achilles. If I knew I would one day end up making love with Achilles Lord, then I would’ve never had sex with a man before him. Today, I was graced with the ultimate sexual experience.
But Orion and I clawed at each other like wild animals, fucking hard. I was on my knees with him behind me, doing the dirty, when Skylark walked in on us. Sweet Skylark with the disposition of a dove stormed into the room and pounded on Orion.
“Then she threw an engagement ring at him.” I shake my head, remembering how embarrassed I felt. “Did you know he was engaged to her?”
“He wasn’t,” Achilles answers.
My jaw drops, and it takes me a moment to process that Achilles hadn’t answered my question in the way I thought he would. “You didn’t know? I thought…” I thought he knew everything about his brothers. Then I’m struck by illumination. “Of course! Orion was lying to her, playing her, because that’s what he does. What the hell is wrong with your brother?”
Now it’s Achilles who smashes his forearm over his eyes. “I don’t know,” he says in a strained whisper.
“Why would he make her think that he’s engaged to her if he wasn’t going to marry her?” I insist, feeling the same distress I felt back then.
Achilles releases a drawn-out sigh. “He liked Skylark. He really did. But Orion is a saboteur. Do you know how I found the two of you together on my grandfather’s island?”
I answer by intensifying my frown.
“He called me and told me where he was and who he was with as if he was daring me to do something about it.”
“Wow” is all I have to say. I pinch my hand over my mouth. That felt like a gut punch and has rendered me speechless.
“I’m sorry, Treasure,” Achilles whispers.
His hand stroking my thigh feels so delicious. His touch is wooing me back to our moment, this lovely moment between me and another Lord brother, whom I am contracted to marry.
Jeez… how screwed up is that?
“Where do you see yourself in six years?” I ask Achilles. I know my question isn’t fair, but I still want to know what he plans to do with me at the end of all of this.
“I don’t know,” he says with a sigh. “What about you?”
I flip onto my side, head resting in my palm, to look at him.
His eyes are searching mine too. At this very moment, I want to be with him forever. But is that realistic? We let silence prevail and adjust our mood. We can’t let the past or future ruin our present.
