Page 57 of Adrift

“It was so good, dear. It was nice to see my sister again after so long.” Mom settles Arman down near the window. He has a toy car in his hands that he wheels over the sill and it drops to the ground. He wobbles to it on his own and picks it up, then holding the sill to steady himself, he does the entire thing all over again. I see the little amounts of progress he makes everyday, and I can tell he’s determined to become more and more independent.

“How is she doing?” Rani asks.

“She’s doing okay, but you know, each healthy year after eighty is a blessing.” My mother’s expression becomes grave. “She has severe osteoporosis–it clearly runs in the family for us–and arthritis, so it’s hard for her to be too mobile.”

Rani nods, turning back to me when she hears me place the bowls on the table. She has a questioning look in her eyes as she walks over to see what they are. “Is that for me?”

I nod, handing her her coffee.

“Thank you,” she whispers, taking a sip. Her eyes stay glued to mine, and I wonder if she’s thinking about what happened between us last night.

Because I sure as hell am.

That’s all that’s been on my mind from the moment I fell asleep–after jacking off so hard that my dick almost fell to the shower floor–and again the moment Arman woke me up early this morning.

If I’d had fantasies of seeing Rani come on my fingers, what happened last night blew those out of the water. The way her skin flushed–tiny droplets of sweat forming over the base of her neck–the sounds she made as I helped her find the perfect rhythm, and the sheer amount of wetness I felt dripping from her. Sweet Jesus. I think I’m going to need to excuse myself and go take another fucking shower.

She was mind-blowingly sexy as she came over my pants from the mere touch of my thumb on her. If that’s what she looked like–if that’s how responsive she was to my damn thumb–then I can only imagine what she would look like coming on my tongue.

I clear my throat, sitting with my smoothie and my parfait before taking out my phone to distract myself. Rani takes her breakfast to the living room and chats with my mom for a little longer before Mom gets up, heading to the door.

“So, I’ll be here around seven-thirty tomorrow morning, then.” Mom kisses Arman on the cheek before placing a kiss on Rani’s cheek as well.

Huh? That’s interesting. Not that my mother showed affection to Rani, but the fact that over the course of our ten years together, that was one of Sonia’s primary complaints against my mother–that she didn’t show a whole lot of affection toward her, even though she showed it to other people in the family. The fact that Rani has garnered my mother’s adoration so quickly is something I can’t help but notice.

“What do you mean you’ll be here tomorrow morning?” I hear myself ask, pushing away my observations to be pondered upon at another time.

“Karine’s coming over tomorrow because I’m going to work with you,” Rani states.

“You are?” I might have said it like a question, but I know there’s only one answer for it because once this woman has made up her mind on something, she seems to be hellbent on doing it.

Not that I object to her coming to work with me, and even if I did, I’m positive my objections would be dismissed as nonsensical complaints. Since the minute she showed up at my house, she’s taken charge of things without my input–whether it was encouraging me to take her help with Arman or practically forcing me to take her help with the school.

She nods enthusiastically. “Yup! I want to come take some pictures for the newsletter. I already have a really great idea for a new series we can send out. And I got a chance to create a mockup of the new Truckee Sports website, so I want to show that to you.”

I squint at her. “You already have a mockup done?”

“Yeah. And I looked at the ad space you have and the subscriber flow to sign up for the newsletters. I think we can optimize that, too. I figured I’d give your mom a chance to hang out with Arman for a day since she hasn’t started her therapy sessions again yet and I’d come help you.” Rani’s brows fold. “Unless you have meetings and you can’t tomorrow . . .. I didn’t even think to ask you.”

“Tomorrow’s fine,” I say, waving to my mom.

Rani shuts the door behind my mom and checks on Arman to see him happily playing with his toys. She walks into the kitchen to place her dishes into the dishwasher, and I lift off my chair. I amble up behind her, caging her in with my arms. I place a featherlight kiss on her bare shoulder, listening to the soft pant that escapes her mouth.

She turns around and I press my lips against hers, relishing the fact that I can finally do that without feeling pulled in different directions about it. Her mouth opens, welcoming me like it’s come to expect me, and I happily dive in. A groan leaves my throat as I delve deeper into her mouth, tasting the honey from the parfait on her tongue. My hands white-knuckle the edge of the counter. I’m trying hard to not touch her yet, because once I do, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop.

Her arms curl over my neck and I can’t resist. My hands find their way under her crop-top, gliding over the smooth skin of her torso. God, there is nothing I like better than her curves and her skin. I like them even more than her luminous hair, which is saying a lot because I love her fucking hair.

Feeling her warm skin underneath my palms, I slide a little further up, skating the tip of my thumb under her breast. A shiver travels through her as she opens her mouth further for me, letting my tongue snake inside again.

Her arms tighten around my neck and she arches into me as we kiss, deep and long. Her lips move against mine and she moans into my mouth. I pull her closer, digging my erection into her again, leaving no doubt as to how much I want her.

I break away to kiss her jaw, moving down her neck. Jesus, I want to turn her around, pull down her tight leggings, and smack this voluptuous ass before fucking her into oblivion.

I know how wet she’d be for me. I had a front and center seat to that show last night, and she’s wet again for me now. I can tell just by the way her body shimmies against mine, like she’s trying to sink into my skin.

She has no idea that she already has.

And fuck, I’d be ready to give in to her need–the same as mine–but I promised to take things slow. I just don’t know how long I can be a fucking gentleman about it because my restraint is at the sheer end of its rope.

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