Page 64 of Royally Benevolent

“Oh, God, Wyatt, yes. Fuck yes!”

He chuckled, then kissed me sweetly. “You are a lot of fun. I’m sorry I came before I could warn you.”

“It’sfine,” I said.

Wyatt grabbed his boxers. He cleaned me up first, then went about his business.

“That was… wonderful,” I said. “How did you learn to do that?”

“What? Finger you? Odette, you don’t have to pad my ego. You’re not difficult to work with. You’re like an oil slick and aren’t hard to read.”

“I wasn’t padding your ego. It felt delicious.”

Wyatt tossed his boxers off the bed and kissed my forehead. “You were amazing. Thank you. I promisenexttime, I will be prepared to fuck you properly.”

Fuck me properly. Oh, hell! I’d felt silly for saying “fuck me” a few minutes ago. Now, I realised I could listen to him talk about fucking me for ages and ages. To him, I was wonderful. Nothing else mattered. He was a kind lover. It was more than I’d had in the past. It was more than I felt I deserved. But tonight, I could lie on his chest as we talked like old friends. I could put the fears aside to live in the moment. I was filled with endorphins, and I was safe.

37

NO REGRETS?

WYATT

Iwoke with a woman for the first time since Isla’s fateful morning run. Odette breathed slow and deep as she lay adjacent, still naked from our exploits of the night before. Her pale skin, less rosy-hued than in the throes of ecstasy, brushed up against me as I held her—the big spoon this morning. I expected laying in bed with someone to feel good, but it was better than I remembered. The sheer softness of her was remarkable. I’d missed this.

I climbed out of bed, finding my destroyed boxers on the floor. I supposed it would be an interesting moment racing across the hall commando. Odette stirred, rolling over. Grieg, sleeping at her feet, lifted his head.

“Oh no. Are we late?”

“They haven’t bothered to knock, but I gotta leave,” I said. “I didn’t mean to sleep over. I just sort of… fell asleep. Now, I need to race across the way and… not get caught.”

“Uh-huh,” she faded back into sleep, and Grieg settled.

I carefully zipped my pants and balled my boxers. Before I left, I kissed her on the head. She was out. I raced across the vast hall—back to my room—without notice. I took a nice, long shower and considered the evening’s events. We’d gone from zero to sixty on a day that frightenedus both. Two days ago, I’d told her how I’d felt after Mary pointed out the obvious. And this morning, I’d woken up naked in bed with Odette.

Emerging from the shower, I checked my charging phone. My assistant tried to reach me.

I dialled Stephen back.

“Oh, hello,” Stephen said. “I was just calling to check and ensure you’d be back by the afternoon.”

“I will, but I don’t intend to meet with anyone,” I answered. “I want to spend the rest of the day with Theo.”

“Alright, we are pressed for time with the delay and move them to…” Keys clicked as he scrolled. “Uh… next year?”

I groaned. “Can they do a dinner meeting?”

“Yes,” Stephen said. “It’s that analytics firm out of Paris. The meeting was virtual. Did you not read your schedule?”

I cringed. “Nope. I was preoccupied last night.”

I was very, very distracted.

“Well, it was virtual. They are coming to town next Friday. I can schedule them for a dinner meeting then.”

“Great,” I agreed. “Book the chef’s table at Renoir. We can try to sweeten the deal. We need them to play ball to make this price point work. They willkillus in data storage fees if they can.”

“Got it.”

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