“I'm trying?—”
“I know you are. You always try so hard.” I kiss her softly, at odds with the way my cock is splitting her open. “My overachiever. My beautiful, tight, perfect wife.”
She laughs breathlessly. “Are you praising me or my?—”
“Both.” I hold still, letting her adjust. “Definitely both.”
She wraps her legs around my waist and urges me along while I keep kissing her neck and temples.
When I’m halfway inside, she cradles my face with one hand.
“Wait,” she whispers. “I just—thank you. Thank you for all of it.”
I know she means more than buying the painting, more than sliding my cock inside her when she asked.
“You deserve it,” I promise her. “You deserve everything, my brilliant wife.”
We gaze into each other’s eyes while I rock all the way inside her, while I stroke her clit until she cries out her orgasm. Our eye contact only breaks after I roar out my own climax and pull her body to curl in against mine.
Spending a million dollars on the painting was nothing. The fact that it’s a fraction of the money in my bank account is nothing. Maura is starting to feel more valuable than all of it.
27
JAMES
“I’m done,” Beau groans, leaning back in his chair. “I’m done coming to poker night until Ryan stops wearing that sweater.”
“What, this sweater?” Ryan points to his jumper, a neon green atrocity featuring a picture of his own face.
“Yes,” Nate and I reply in unison.
“It’s called self-promotion,” Ryan replies. “I’m building Ryan Archer thebrand.This is part of the merch you can find on my website.”
“Not even your girlfriend is visiting your website,” Beau says.
“Tell that to the sold-out stock of Ryan Archer shirtless calendars,” Ryan gloats. “I have fans, my friends, and they want to show the world how much they love me with their customized merch.”
“None of those fans are sitting at this table,” Beau grumbles. “And we’re the ones who have to look at your ugly-ass top.”
“My eyes are ready to stab themselves with toothpicks if I have to keep looking at that affront to taste and style,” Luke drawls.
“You’re reading too much Jane Austen, dude,” Beau jokes. “You’re starting to sound like the BBC.”
Luke shrugs. “It’s what Brinley picked for this month’s Copper Cup book club.Mansfield Park.I didn’t have a choice.”
“You could have skipped book club,” Nate points out as he deals the next hand.
“I know, but I’m trying to convince my sister to be friends with me. Book club readWuthering Heightslast month, and I think that was the first civil conversation I've had with Brinley that lasted longer than five minutes.”
I shoot him a sympathetic glance. Luke has been trying to repair his relationship with Brinley for years now, ever since the event that shattered their connection in the first place. I’ve always regretted my part in the whole “Never Have I Ever” disaster. Maybe now that time has passed, I can help smooth things over.
“If you want, I can ask Maura to talk to her,” I offer.
Luke snorts. “I don't think I can even afford to talk to Maura at this point. The woman makes million-dollar paintings, bro. She probably charges $20 for every second of her time.”
“Her time is valuable,” I say with a shrug. “And now, so is her art.”
“If you wanted to support her work, you didn't have to drop a mil,” Ryan says. “You could have just bought her a nice watercolor set.”
