Page 79 of Rook

No one to take her to get a free pizza she’d earned.

No one to give her a hug.

No one to bake her a cake.

I was suddenly incredibly grateful that I could give her those things—even before genuinely understanding what it all might mean to her.

I watched her smile at Everleigh as she explained the process for making the cake, wondering what other things I could do for Tessa to help heal those old wounds.

Had she ever gotten a birthday party? An Easter egg hunt? Gifts under the tree on Christmas morning?

I didn’t know how long she was going to want to put her life on hold to be with me, to be a part of this arrangement.

But what I did know was that I was going to think of as many of those experiences as I could. Then create them for her.

“Now, I had no idea if you liked chocolate, yellow, or white cake. So… we did all the layers. And different layers of frosting,” Everleigh was saying as I tuned back into the conversation. “This way, you can kinda pick at it if there’s anything you don’t like.”

“I like it all,” Tessa assured her. “Thank you for being so thoughtful.”

“It’s nothing,” Everleigh said, waving away Tessa’s appreciation.

It wasn’t, though.

The glassy look in Tessa’s eyes said it was everything.

And true to her word, she ate every layer of her slice. Then had another for good measure.

Eventually, the married and shacked-up members of the club headed out as some of the club girls started to show up.

“Do you mind if I go up for a bit?” Tessa asked. “I’ll come back down,” she added, not wanting to be antisocial.

“Go ahead,” I said.

Though I only let her get into the freight elevator before I followed her.

“You can stay at the party, if you want,” Tessa said as I pulled the door down.

“That’s not what I want,” I told her. “This is.”

My lips crashed down on hers as I backed her against the wall of the elevator car.

There was just one shocked second of stillness before she was kissing me back. Before she was growing hungrier and needier, her hands roaming down my back, sinking into my ass, then pulling me more firmly against her.

Her soft lines melted with mine.

My own hand drifted down, pulling up her long skirt, then slipping under.

“Still have your panties in my pocket,” I murmured as my lips moved down her neck.

My fingers pressed between her thighs, finding her already wet for me.

There was no teasing.

My fingers slid right inside her and Tessa didn’t even try to muffle her moan at the sensation.

“Fuck,” I groaned as her pussy clenched around my fingers. “You have the perfect little pussy,” I said, getting a whimper out of her. “You want to come around my fingers?”

“No,” she said, surprising me enough to move back and look at her.

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