Page 34 of The Shadow

“Because every time I kiss you”—I curl my fingers, applying a little more pressure as her body starts to convulse—“all I want to do is fuck you.” Her fingers grip the countertop, her moans growing louder. “Deep and thoroughly over and over again. Shhh.” I clamp my hand over her mouth, her teeth biting down on my palm as she comes.

I’ve lost all track of time in here with her. I have no doubt that our small group of friends noticed that two of us have disappeared together.

“Better now?” I tap her chin gently as I help her off the counter after cleaning her up.

“Thank you.” She sways a little and I hold her to help steady her. “When are we going?”

I stare down at her face. This time her cheeks aren’t flush with embarrassment but desire. Maybe this is exactly what she needed to explore what she wants, a relationship with someone she can trust.

Relationship?

I open my mouth to tell her to march her insatiable ass out to the car so that I can take her home and remedy this situation right now when someone jiggles the handle. I grab it just in time.

“I’m in here,” Aspen says. “Be right out.”

“Sorry, no rush!” Juliette says on the other side of the door.

“Shit!” Aspen mouths the word to me. She’s trying to tell me something else, but I can’t make out what she’s saying. Only the words pregnant and upstairs.

I don’t have the patience to come up with some escape plan and odds are, Jules is standing right outside the door waiting till Aspen leaves because she’s eight months pregnant and not about to climb a set of stairs.

So I do the only thing I can, grabbing the handle and swinging the door open. I step out into the hall just as Aspen’s hands cover her mouth and Juliette’s eyes grow wide in surprise when she sees me.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Aspen says quickly. “I had something in my eye and he was helping me get it out.”

Juliette looks at her, then at me, a knowing look on her face that spreads into a grin. “Yeah, I had something in my eye once. Alex tried helping me ‘get it out’ and look what happened.” She laughs, pointing to her large belly.

“It’s, um…” She looks at me, then back to Jules.

Jules shakes her head. “I don’t need an explanation.” She slides her finger over mouth and pretends to toss a key. “But if you don’t move, I’m literally going to pee my pants and I’m not responsible if it splashes onto you two.”

We jump out of the way and she runs into the bathroom. I don’t want to ruin the mood by asking her why she wants to keep things so hush-hush between us. I’m not an idiot. I’ve been around long enough to know it most likely means it’s not a long-term thing or she doesn’t trust it has the potential to be that.

“So back to what we were saying.” She laughs when I turn her around to face the kitchen and swat her ass.

“Not a chance in hell we’re getting back on that subject right now.”

Chapter 13

Aspen

“How are things going at your job? Are you enjoying the new position?”

I glance across the deck at Harvey, our eyes meeting for a brief second. “Good.” I smile reassuringly back at Harper. “It’s a lot more busy than I expected but it makes the day go by faster.” The guilt of lying isn’t missed. I try to comfort myself with the reality that I do actually enjoy my job. It’s my dream job; it’s the boss I hate working for.

“Whatever you’re doing, you look fantastic,” she adds. “Seriously, you’re glowing and you just seem so much happier.”

“That’s what I told Jules,” Blaire agrees. “You look like you have more of a pregnancy glow than the two of us.” She elbows me. “Is there something you need to tell us?”

My face flames. I can feel Harvey’s eyes burning through me right now, but I refuse to look at him.

“Not unless we’re talking immaculate conception.” I laugh, then my voice catches in my throat, a memory of that night with Connor flashing across my brain. I flinch. An image of him standing over me while I lie on my bed. He’s saying something but I can’t make it out. It sounds garbled, like a microphone being held under water.

An eruption of laughter from the group burst through my memory, bringing me back to the present. I smile, joining in the laughter. I glance around, trying to understand what was said when I see Harvey staring at me. His face is twisted slightly, like he’s upset. His hands are folded in front of him.

“The crazy thing about Aspen’s job is, we’re currently working a private security contract for the CEO of her company, her old boss.” Jimmy says.

Blaire looks at her husband. “Why does he need security?”

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