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“Kisses,” she tells herself.

As they step out onto the street, Chicago’s freezing air hits them full force. Harper buttons up her coat as they walk down the museum steps. The city spreads out before them, full of lights, skyscrapers, and the wind echoing through the avenues.

Victoria slips her hands into her coat pockets and turns toward her with a sincere, beautiful, and unguarded smile.

“Shall we head to the hotel now?” she suggests immediately.

She moves closer to Harper and gives her lower lip a gentle nibble.

“Sure.”

Chapter 20

The ride back to the hotel turns into a pressure cooker the very moment the heavy door of the private limousine closes.

The vehicle, courtesy of Velvet & Silk, moves slowly through the brightly lit avenues of Chicago. Through the tinted rear windows, the golden and neon lights of the skyscrapers filter in as flickering flashes, casting shifting shadows on the upholstery. The soundproofing from the driver’s compartment is absolute; the partition glass is raised and frosted, creating an intimate bubble where the only sound is the rhythmic breathing of the two of them.

The champagne, the rush of success, and, above all, Victoria’s suffocating closeness in that dress that fits her like a second skin, finally break down Harper’s last professional defenses. Every accidental brush of their dresses against the seat as they round a curve makes her smile.

However, she can’t take it anymore. The restraint she’s maintained all night suddenly shatters.

Harper reaches for Victoria’s hand in the dim light of the seat. Her fingers intertwine with Victoria’s, clasping them with a raw, physical desperation that betrays the internal storm raging within her. She feels Victoria’s warm skin, the rapid pulse at her wrist, and the need to close the distance becomes a matter of survival.

“I need to feel that this is real, Victoria…” Harper whispers, turning abruptly toward her, her voice broken by a mixture of desire and the fear that suddenly grips her. “That we’re not going to lose each other again because of this damn magazine.”

Victoria doesn’t hesitate for a single second. In her eyes, there is only a consuming hunger.

“Nothing that happens in the next few days is going to separate me from you, Harper. I promise,” Victoria replies, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her onto her lap with an almost violent urgency.

The impact of their bodies draws a stifled moan from Harper’s throat. She gives herself over to this furtive, frantic, and intensely erotic encounter with the sensation of someone leaping into the void without a parachute. The haste, the clumsy fumbling to pull their dresses aside, and the need to touch each other reflect an unconscious, visceral fear that the dream will shatter again at dawn.

Harper straddles Victoria’s thighs and seeks her lips once more.

“Harper…” Victoria gasps, throwing her head back against the headrest as Harper’s hands sink beneath the fabric to cup the curve of her breasts.

“Just… touch me,” Harper commands, devouring her mouth in a hungry, dirty, deep kiss.

The clash of their tongues is hot and desperate. Victoria responds with equal ferocity, gripping the nape of her neck with one hand and slipping the other beneath her clothes. The texture of the silk glides over the bare skin of Harper’s thighs until it reaches her lingerie. When Victoria’s fingers brush against the fabric—already damp and warm—Harper arches her back, letting out a sharp moan that is muffled against her ex-wife’s lips.

“Make me yours, my love…” Victoria murmurs.

Harper opens her eyes, aroused by the command. Breathing heavily, she bares her breasts in the dim light of the limousine. The traffic lights intermittently illuminate her erect nipples, hardened by the cold air conditioning and desire.

Victoria stifles a curse in French and pounces on them. She traps one of Harper’s nipples between her lips, sucking it hard while the tip of her tongue circles around it. Harper clings tightly to Victoria’s shoulders, digging her nails into her.

“Keep going… don’t you dare stop, is that clear?” Harper commands, throwing her head back, feeling the car’s chill beneath her fingers as she instinctively rocks back and forth on the other woman’s lap.

Victoria gives her no respite. As she continues to exquisitely torment her breasts with her mouth, her right hand yanks Harper’s panties aside. Two long, experienced fingers plunge suddenly into the scorching wetness of her pussy.

The impact makes Harper jump in her seat. Pleasure hits her like a giant wave. Victoria begins to move her fingers inside her at a fast, relentless pace, searching for that spot deep inside that she’s known by heart for years. With her thumb, she applies constant, circular pressure to Harper’s clitoris.

“Tell me who you belong to,” Victoria asks.

“Yours… fuck, yours,” Harper screams, completely losing control. “I… can’t…”

The orgasm shatters her into a thousand pieces. Harper’s walls contract tightly around Victoria’s fingers, while her entire body goes into spasms. Harper buries her face in the crook of Victoria’s neck, biting her skin to stifle the screams that threaten to pierce the driver’s window. Victoria continues the movement of her fingers, prolonging the aftershocks of the climax until Harper is out of breath, trembling like a leaf against her chest.

But the storm isn’t over yet.