I set a rhythm, driving into her hard and sure, braced on my knees against the cool tiles, her pussy hot as sin around me. Every flicker in her expression undoes me. The flutter of her lashes, the soft “oh” on her lips.
Gripping one of her bent knees, I spread her wider, and the new, tilted angle has her gasping.
“I’m so close!” she breathes, and then she’s clenching around me, pulsing, coming apart on my cock.
“You’ll be the death of me,” I rasp, pounding even harder, and then I’m coming too, shooting deep inside her, every muscle taut until finally I collapse against her, spent.
Afterwards, I carry her through to my bed and lie down with her. She clings to me like she doesn’t want to let go, arms locked round my shoulders, face buried against my neck. Her breathing, still uneven, is warm against my skin.
I rub slow circles between her shoulder blades. “You all right?” I murmur after a while. “You’ve been a bit off tonight.”
Her fingers tense on me, then ease. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Aye?”
“I... got an email today.” Her voice is muffled against my neck. “From Cedar House. A publisher in New York. They reached out about a senior editor position.”
My hand stills on her back.
A job. In New York.
I’d been beginning to picture a future with Blair. Her daft voices whenever she reads to Finn. Her laughter echoing through the house. Her body beside mine each night. And now...
But this is what she’s always wanted. The dream she thought had slipped through her fingers. This is her chance to get it all back.
How can I stand in the way of that?
I force my arms to stay steady around her. Force my voice level. “Blair, that’s... incredible. What an opportunity.”
She lifts her head, eyes searching mine. There’s something in them I can’t pin down.
“It is, isn’t it?” she asks.
“Aye. Of course.” I sit up, helping her with me, even as my chest feels like it’s caving in. “I’m proud of you. Glad thesepeople at—what was it, Cedar House?—glad they can see what a catch you are.”
The words taste sour, but they’re true. She deserves this. Even if it guts me.
“And the timing works out perfectly,” I add, trying for a smile. “Finn going back to school, your nanny job here wrapping up...”
She stares at me for the longest moment, those pale blue eyes searching mine. Then she nods, slowly. “Right.”
I hug her again, though every part of me is screaming at the thought of this house without her. At having to explain to Finn that Blair is leaving. At things going back to how they were before.
But I hold her tight, like I’m solid, when inside I’m anything but.
“This headache,” she says finally, drawing back. “Think I’ll sleep in the granny flat tonight. Figure I should probably break the habit of sleeping with my boss before I start a new job.”
I let out a laugh, but it comes out thin. “Aye. Right.”
She dresses quietly then pauses at the door, hand on the frame. “Lachlan?”
“Aye?”
She doesn’t turn. “I just...” She shakes her head. “Never mind.”
And then she’s gone.
For the first time in weeks, it’s just me in the bed. And the sheets still smell like her.
