Page 57

“Finding her at my bedroom door was different. She was different. Sweat pebbled her skin, she was trembling slightly, her eyes were haunted. I knew in an instant she’d had a nightmare or scare of some sort, and I couldn’t just leave her standing out there. A few weeks ago, maybe I would have, but things have changed. I…don’t hate her like I used to.”

My throat tightens around the inadequacy of that confession. Why it’s so difficult to just admit she’s growing on me is a mystery. It would be too similar to admitting defeat for my liking.

The silence that follows is brutal until I force myself to look up. Everest is still, his eyes too sharp. I knew the coffee was a bad idea, because now he’s probing directly into my skull and psychoanalyzing me as the sun starts to peek through the curtains. Chewing on my tongue, I’m about to mutter fuck this, and get up to leave, when Everest’s hand reaches for me.

“Come here,” he beckons. I frown, but given his wince at the stretched motion, I don’t deny him. Following his gentle tug, I end up straddling his lap, keeping my weight on my knees either side of his hips.

“I’m not going to apologize,” I state, setting my hands on his chest. Everest’s stoic expression cracks for a faint smile to break through.

“I don’t expect you to.”

“I won’t beg for forgiveness.” His smile grows further, his eyes dropping to my lips.

“I’d be offended if you did.” Reaching for the hem of my hoodie, he tugs the fabric over my head to find me bare underneath too. I shift at the feel of his fingers skating over my abdomen, thumbs dragging slow paths over the muscle he knows far too well. Leaning forward, Everest’s mouth presses against my collarbone, his breath skimming across my chest. The kiss is carefully placed, then another touches lower over my heart. His injuries are forgotten, hands setting on my waist firm enough to encourage me to lower my weight onto him fully. He’s hardening beneath me, his eyes unbelievably diluting with desire.

“Why aren’t you angry?” I ask in a hoarse whisper, my hand sliding into his hair regardless of his answer.

“I’m furious,” Everest groans, implying he’s anything but. Tilting my chin down to meet his eye level, the smirk on his face returns. “Furious I wasn’t there to watch.”

The breath saws out of me. So that’s what this is about. Not the fact that I had my hands on a naked woman or cracked open a fracture of my dead heart to give her a tiny piece, but fulfilling Everest’s fantasy. The stubborn part of me wants to deny him that, but a bigger part is simply tired of fighting him for so long. Meg is part of our lives now, whether we like it or not. My resistance is only delaying the inevitable.

Tightening my fingers in his hair, I kiss him hard. Everest answers immediately as if he’s been waiting for this, his tongue clashing with mine. Hands slide up my back, pulling me closer until our chests press together and the heat of him burns through every thought I’m trying not to have. It’s messy and uncaring of his split lip, a need for connection driving us too far too fast.

Coffee forgotten, I retract only far enough to drag Everest down onto the mattress and then clamber on top of him again. Our sweatpants act as a barrier between the press of our hardened cocks, our mouths licking, kissing, biting, and sucking at each other’s necks, shoulders, nipples. Desire roars, heat building within the room at a rapid pace. Reaching beneath his waistband, I grip Everest’s shaft, and his responding groan is way too loud. Someone will hear us soon, but we’re not in the mindset to care. I pump him steadily, his fingers digging into my scalp as he mutters mostly to himself.

“I have a plan to settle this once and for all,” he tells the ceiling between moans. “At the end of it, either Meg will want me or she’ll want nothing to do with me, and we’ll have our answer.” Stalling with my fisted hand around his shaft, my brows pull together.

“And what happens if she wants you, and not me?” I rasp, quickly lowering my eyes as a rare sliver of vulnerability slips through. Do I even want Meg to want me? Deep down, something small and yearning in me decides that yeah, maybe I do. Everest grabs my shoulders, attempting to flip us over. He’s not half as graceful as usual, so I aid him in rolling onto my back and letting him tug my sweatpants off. Settling between my open thighs, his lip glistens with blood as he grins wide.

“Once she gets to know you like I do, she won’t be able to resist.” He seems certain, and I can’t form an argument as his head lowers, his mouth stretching around my cock. Flopping my head back into the pillows, I grip the covers, resisting the urge to jerk my hips.

He’s delusional, of course. Once Meg gets to know the real me and what I’ve done, not only will she never want to be anywhere near me again, but she might very well physically lash out. It’s nothing I haven’t experienced before, but this time I would actually deserve it.

Everest’s mouth keeps moving against me, soft as silk as his tongue glides up and down my shaft, sucking my plump head under his cheeks, hollowed out. He knows exactly what I like. Just enough heat, just enough pressure, just enough familiar hunger that smooths over every vein and ridge. Pushing my fingers through his golden strands, I sink myself further into his throat.

I wish I could last longer, but the pent-up frustration I walked into this room with is rapidly seeking its release. Everest gauges the shift in my groans, the desperation seeping from me. Scraping his teeth along my cock, his hands grip my hips and hold me still as he sucks hard enough for me to see stars. I bite down on my fist, jerking, moaning, as cum explodes into the back of his throat, every greedy drop being swallowed just as quickly.

Panting, I blink against the dots peppering my vision, lost to the afterthroes of my orgasm. Well, I was not expecting that. Everest crawls up the length of me for one hand to cup my jaw while the other spreads across my nape. Pressing his lips to mine, saltiness and lust blooms against my mouth. I smile a boyish, pleasured smile, bathing in the simplicity of laying with Everest before the world has to creep back in. Alas, not even cock-fog can switch my brain off for long.

“So, are you going to tell me what this plan is?” I raise a brow. Everest smirks and shakes his head, his nose bumping mine.

“You’d try and stop me.”

“Oh well, that’s reassuring,” I roll my eyes to cover the way my chest clenches. I do not like that answer one bit, but I also thought I was walking into a screaming match of jealousy and told-you-so’s. As long as Everest keeps smiling, I’ll let him keep his secrets.

“Shut up and kiss me, Cody,” he breathes, and the softness in his voice ruins what’s left of me. Leaning closer, I tenderly kiss the uninjured corner of his mouth. On the other side, I taste the metallic edge of his split lip. Despite his wince, he follows me, chasing my mouth with a low sound that vibrates straight through my chest.

We stay like that, shifting between light kisses and forehead touches until the sun has fully risen, our chests close enough for every confession to be burned away by our body heat.

Reality is dawning, but we cling to our reprieve for as long as possible until Everest’s phone starts ringing, a call from his father’s assistant bringing the world back down on us with a sudden thud. Despite Everest’s answers being clipped, his intentions are clear, hastily dressing whilst the phone is pressed between his shoulder and his ear. Hanging up, he downs half of his cold coffee and leans back over me for one last kiss.

“I have to go, and you should slip out before the rest of the house wakes up.” A snide comment rises on my tongue, but I hold it back, deciding not to ruin our morning. It’s probably the best we’ve had in years. Standing too, I drag my hoodie over my head and catch Everest’s wrist before he can slip out of the door.

“One more to see me through,” I murmur against his mouth, pinning him to the wall. I breathe him in, feeling every inch of his body along the length of mine. This is my man, my lover, my Everest. Stealing the rest of the heat from his bruised mouth, Everest groans and insists he has to go. Slipping out of my hold, Everest leaves me with my forearms resting against the wall, watching him wink and disappear into the hallway.

I wish I’d known then that this would be my last interaction with Everest for the next five days, because I would have held on so much tighter if I did.

Chapter Twenty Nine