The sound of a man’s voice—the one I recognize from the answering machine—has irritation sparking hot just below my skin, and it takes every ounce of willpower I have not to shove the door all the way back and stake my claim as soon as I reach them.
Instead, I slink behind the door and lean my shoulder against it, letting my weight fall into her. She clenches her jaw, working it from side to side as if my being here annoys her.
“I’m really sorry, Caleb, I just don’t feel like going out.”
Gratification swells like a balloon inside my chest.
“You never feel like going out,” Caleb says, and I despise the way he talks, like he knows her. Intimately. Clearly, I’ve been too occupied with watching her to notice those around her. “But every time you do, you end up having a great time.”
Grinding my teeth together, I inch closer to her, bound by an intrinsic need to possess her. My hand lifts, grazing the lacy hem of her robe as my index finger slips under, brushing gently over her smooth skin.
She sucks in a breath and jerks her hip, trying to get away, but I go with her. There’s only so far she can move before she inadvertently exposes me, and she knows it.
“That’s true,” she answers her guest, our intruder, and that she’s giving him attention while I’m standing right fucking here has me seeing red.
My palm drags backward, gliding over the soft curve of her ass. I pause, pinching lightly just to hear her gasp again—the sound makes my chest feel light, like a thousand butterflies taking flight inside the cavity.
“I’ll bet you don’t have as great of a time as you did in that tattoo shop with me,” I say, my voice just barely audible.
Riley coughs the second my mouth opens, covering my words while she keeps her attention on the man standing on the porch.
Pressing my lips together, I try again. “Has he made you come yet, angel? Or does he spend all his time talking?”
“Maybe you could ask Jade to go with you,” she suggests, her voice an octave too loud. Even though she’s speaking over me, her insistence that he go alone floods me with pride, loving that she’s taking direction so well already.
Her willingness will eventually make the destruction so much sweeter.
I hear Caleb exhale. “Jade hates art in all forms. She isn’t going to be any help.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Come on, Angel. If I open without the most beautiful girl in town at my side, no one’s going to bother showing up.”
Her chin moves, eyes darting toward me in her peripheral vision. My hand freezes at the dimples in her lower back, my thumb stroking softly over the indentations.
Anger billows inside my throat, making it impossible to breathe as violence surges through me. Limbs twitching, I stave off the urge to throw the door open and let my rings rearrange the skin on his face, and instead focus on the anxious girl beside me.
As if sensing a shift in our atmosphere, she clears her throat and leans harder against the door.
Protecting him.
Nostrils flaring, I let my hand slip over her ass, fingers slowly sweeping between her cheeks. Riley squeaks, rising up on her toes, and grips the door even tighter.
“Jesus, are you okay?” Caleb asks, fueling my rage.
“Angel, hm?” I hiss, curling my fingers so I’m cupping her from behind. She’s dripping, arousal slick against her silken skin, and I bite down on the inside of my cheek until I taste blood, just to keep from moaning out loud.
“Naughty girl, letting someone else call you the nickname I gave you. Very disrespectful.”
She shifts, trying to escape as I probe deeper, delving between her folds until I find her pulse. Swirling the tip of my index finger around her clit once, twice, I revel in the shudder that racks her body, throwing her off balance.
Leaning in, I fit myself against her side and yank the door open wider, ensuring the length of my arm is hidden from where Caleb stands.
He blinks, dark eyes going round as saucers as he takes me in, then reaches up to run a hand over his spirally black hair. He’s wearing khakis and a green button-down, holding two to-go cups in his hands, and I take note of the Jeep parked in the drive, stashing that information for later.
“Oh,” Caleb says, and the disappointment in his tone is potent. “I’m… sorry, Angel, I didn’t realize you had company.”
I continue the sensual assault on Riley’s clit, my movements so slow, there’s no way he can tell what I’m doing.
At least, as long as he doesn’t pay much attention to her.
Beads of sweat sprout along her pink hairline, and she’s sawing a hole in her bottom lip with her teeth. Her breathing spikes as I abandon my current task and move back, brushing her entrance.
I circle it, teasing, reveling in the blush that creeps up her neck, dyeing her skin a similar shade as her hair.
“I don’t,” Riley exhales. “Have company, I mean. Aiden was just leaving.”
Grinning, I push the tip of my finger into her, wishing I could swallow the sound that rips out of her throat. Caleb frowns, squinting at us, but I just laugh and yank her closer.
“Aw, Angel’s being modest. I just got here.”
I’m knuckle deep in her cunt now, the wet, constricting heat of her inner muscles making it hard for me to concentrate as I move in painstakingly slow thrusts.
“Hey.” Caleb takes a single step forward, and for some reason, it spurs me on; I start fucking her faster, adding a second finger even as she clamps down around me, so tight I think I could come just from imagining putting my dick in her.
Her hands ball into fists at her sides as I speed up, stroking against the spot that has her pressing her weight down into me.
She’s soaked, drenching my entire fucking hand, and I hope he can smell her.
Hope the scent of her desire, as wrong and perverse as it may be, follows him to his little art show tonight, and then all the way back home. The same way it’s followed me for years, haunting my fucking nightmares even when I knew better.