Page 59 of Point of Contact

He cupped her pussy, holding it tight as she continued twitching intermittently. He smoothed back her hair, pushing it away from her face before pressing a kiss to her temple. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

She groaned again as he got up. "I don't think I could move if I had to."

He adjusted the line of his cock, trying to find a comfortable position as he went to the closet, looking for anything that might be useful. He snagged a bottle of her lotion before going to the cooler and pulling a bottle of water free. When he got back to the bedroom she had actually listened, and had not moved.

"Up on the bed." He grabbed her around the waist and hefted her fully onto the mattress, ass still in the air. He settled down beside her, squeezing a little lotion onto each cheek before gently smoothing it into her reddened skin. "Did I hurt you?"

Courtney's face was pressed against the pillow, the pressure smashing her lips into a protruding pout. "Yes, but in a good way."

He carefully finished rubbing the lotion in before working her panties into place and resting the water bottle on one cheek. "I didn't know there was a good way."

Her brows pinched together, face still distorted from how she laid. "Really? Because you're pretty fucking good at it."

He moved the cool bottle to her other cheek. Offering her a smirk. "You should probably keep that in mind before you give me shit."

Courtney sighed, looking relaxed in spite of what just happened, or maybe because of it. "I absolutely will."

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

COURTNEY

"DOES IT LOOK the way you remembered?"

Courtney peered out the windows at her new hometown. It was dark and snowy and frigid. "It looks better than I remembered."

Last time she was in Fairbanks, she didn't appreciate the freedom it had offered her. The ability to be whoever she wanted to be. Free of judgment and expectations.

Sort of.

The man beside her had offered up plenty of both. But now she understood why, and that changed the way she viewed it in hindsight. Hopefully he'd learned enough about her that his own views of their past had changed a little.

It certainly seemed like they had.

Because while Reed hadn't touched her in any sort of sexual way since the unbelievably hot interlude after their slightly scary shower incident, he had done plenty of touching in other ways. Ways that she almost liked more.

Almost.

Reed brought Bernadette to a stop at a traffic light and turned her way, reaching across the gap between their seats to curve her loose hair behind one ear. "Are you warm enough?"

She nodded, leaning into his touch. "I think the trip here gave me plenty of time to acclimate to the cold weather." They'd made fantastic time, and part of her had to believe it was because Reed wanted to be home. Back where he felt comfortable. Back where he could make sure his parents were as okay as they claimed to be during one of his many phone calls to them.

She felt the same way. Even though each day made it more evident no one was following them, Fairbanks still felt like a safe haven. A place she wouldn't have to constantly be looking over her shoulder. Worrying that the men who blew up her house and killed her father would decide they needed to finish the job on principle.

"I know you're tired and probably want a real shower and some decent food, but we have to go to the offices and meet with Pierce first." His expression was apologetic. Like he knew just how unexcited she was about facing down the owner of Alaskan Security.

Hindsight hadn't only changed her view of Reed. It had also made it a little more difficult to come to terms with her past bad behavior. Were there reasons she acted the way she did? Absolutely. Did they still feel like as great of excuses as they once had? Definitely not.

"I would feel better about meeting with him if I could throw some money at him to make this all better." It was yet another thing she was going to have to get used to. Up to this point her life had revolved around her ability to pay for the things she desired. Clothes. Makeup. Fancy meals and late-night drinks.

Also friends and for people to give a shit about her well-being. Her past was a double-edged sword, but she was tired of being cut to achieve any sort of happiness.

Reed held her gaze. "It will be okay."

She nodded even though she didn't quite believe him.

Pierce was even more intimidating than Reed had once been. With Reed she felt like she had a little bit of footing because he was single, and single men were usually swayed by flirting and sexual opportunities. Pierce was as unsingle as it got. He was madly and desperately in love with his wife Mona, but even if he hadn't been, she was pretty confident his interest in her would have been zilch.

She couldn't really blame him. The feeling was mutual. Pierce did absolutely nothing for her. Never had. Just like most of the men who'd been charged with babysitting her.

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