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“You haven’t changed a bit… you’re still just as sassy…” Harper murmurs between gasps, spreading her legs wider over Victoria’s knee as Victoria picks up the pace.

“And you still want me just as much as when we were married,” Victoria whispers in her ear, brushing Harper’s clitoris with her thumb.

Harper lets out a curse, thrashing against Victoria’s hand. Her fingers dig into the woman’s bare shoulders, and she fears she might leave a mark.

“Victoria… don’t you dare stop… I can’t…”

Victoria adds another finger, stretching Harper as she increases the pace and pressure of her thumb on her clitoris. Harper loses her mind. The impeccable, diplomatic editor disappears completely; in her place is a woman out of control, her eyes glazed with pleasure, her head thrown back, and her hips moving in a wild rhythm against her ex-wife’s hand.

“Look at me,” Victoria commands in a dominant tone, brushing her forehead against Harper’s while continuing to move her fingers inside her. “Harper, look at me.”

Harper opens her eyes, clouded by the fog of an impending orgasm. She looks at her with a mixture of devotion and rage.

“You’re a demon,” Harper manages to say, just before the agile, precise movement of Victoria’s thumb pushes her over the edge.

The orgasm hits Harper with the force of a lightning bolt. Her body convulses, clenching around Victoria’s fingers inside her. She lets out a sharp moan that Victoria absorbs by pressing her mouth against Harper’s, feeling Harper’s very foundations crumble completely in her hands. Harper presses herself against her, trembling from head to toe, clinging to Victoria’s shoulders as if they were the only solid thing in a world that has just turned upside down.

Victoria doesn’t let her catch her breath. While Harper is still recovering from the waves of pleasure, Victoria turns her firmly, pressing Harper’s chest against the wall. Harper lets out a moan of surprise at the sight of herself—hair disheveled, clothes pulled down to her thighs, and cheeks flushed.

“What… what are you doing?” Harper gasps, staring at Victoria’s reflection in one of the mirrors.

Victoria pulls her underwear all the way down and presses herself against her back. With one hand, she holds both of Harper’s wrists above her head; with the other, she slides her hand down Harper’s belly until she sinks her wet fingers back between her swollen folds.

“I’m not done with you yet,” Victoria murmurs against her ear, biting her earlobe as she slides two fingers deep inside her from behind once more.

“Ah… Victoria!” Harper arches her back, resting her forehead against the mirror, unable to resist the thrust.

Victoria works Harper with a fierce rhythm, using her own wetness to lubricate the relentless rubbing against her clit. Harper thrusts her hips backward, seeking more depth, implicitly begging with every impact of her ass against Victoria.

“Say it,” Victoria demands, speeding up the motion until the wet sound fills the dressing room. “Say whose body this is.”

“Yours… damn it, yours,” Harper screams, shedding all pride, staring into Victoria’s eyes in the reflection as she contracts again in a second devastating orgasm that leaves her legs weak.

Victoria catches her before she collapses. She slowly withdraws her fingers, savoring the slight, involuntary tremor running through Harper’s body, and turns her toward her. Harper leans against her chest, breathing as if she’d run a marathon, her rapid pulse pounding against Victoria’s ribs.

Victoria brushes a strand of sweat-dampened hair from her forehead with an unexpected tenderness that throws them both off balance. Harper looks up, still dazed by the intensity of the encounter, her lips flushed and her gaze vulnerable.

“This…” Harper begins, trying to straighten her clothes with trembling hands, “this is crazy.”

“Definitely,” Victoria agrees. “Utter recklessness.”

Harper lets out a breathless laugh, straightening her clothes and leaning her back against the wall.

“Eleanor is going to kill us if she finds out. Or worse: she’s going to promote us for working with so much ‘passion.’”

“Technically, we’ve optimized our time,” Victoria says with a smile, searching for her own clothes. “Although the proposal is still on the table.”

Harper looks at her, her eyes lingering on Victoria’s mouth. The tension between them hasn’t disappeared, but the thick, stifling atmosphere from before has given way to a dangerous complicity, charged with electricity and uncertainty.

“Tomorrow we’re going to have to look each other in the face at the nine o’clock meeting,” Harper says.

“And we’ll be two impeccable professionals,” Victoria replies, taking another step closer to her, brushing her fingertips against her stomach. “Two grown, mature, civilized people who haven’t done anything wrong to each other. So… you’re going to have to try hard. Because the night is very long… and the season in New York has only just begun.”

And after that, Harper presses her lips against Victoria’s again.

Chapter 6

Harper knows she’s made the mistake of her life even before she opens her eyes.