“Then don’t,” she fires back, closing the distance between us. There’s heat in her eyes now, challenge sharp as a blade. “Don’t screw it up. Stop overthinking and feel something for once.”
“That’s my girl.” Hudson’s grin falters when he notices I’m not smiling. “Shit. Pippa, Enzo is right.” Hudson sighs, more serious now. “Like I told you on the phone, I’m not going to jeopardizeour relationship. We all have to be on the same page if this goes any further.”
The room stills. A standoff with an electric pulse. Complicated doesn’t even begin to cover it.
“Look, I get it,” Pippa says finally. “You two go way back. I’m not here to fuck that up.” She shifts her weight, voice dropping, softer now but no less steady. “I respect your friendship and sincerely appreciate the fact that you're maintaining a focus on our mission. I’d never let anything come between Jules, Luna, or me either.” She meets my eyes then Hudson’s. “The way I see it, we’ve got two choices—we take this one step at a time and see if there’s anything here or we shut it down now. Your friendship, our operation, none of it’s worth screwing up over sex, like Enzo said. Even if the sex might be”—she smiles—“spectacular.”
Hudson chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. “Damn, Janey. You really know how to kill the mood and turn me on at the same time.”
The tension stretches, then settles into something precarious but livable.
“One step at a time,” I say. “No drama. No games. If it gets messy, we walk.”
Hudson confirms with a tilt of his head. “I can live with that.”
She arches a brow. “Well, gentlemen...I’m glad we’re all feeling adult about this. Now, who’s pouring me a bourbon?”
Hudson beelines to the drink cart to do as the lady asked.
Pippa sits on the couch, crossing her sexy-as-sin legs in those damned stilettos like she owns the place, and I know I’m in trouble.
I need to take control of this situation before it takes control of me. "You've been with her before,” I say to Hudson, “so maybe tonight, I sit back and watch and learn."
Hudson lifts a brow but doesn’t argue. He sits next to Pippa on the couch. As they both look to me, I consider how drawn Iam to both of them. Separately they are stunning. Together they are breathtaking.
Pippa tilts her head at me and smiles sweetly. "Learnwhat, exactly?"
I take a seat in the chair across from her. "What you like."
She swallows hard, her playful expression faltering just slightly.
I look to Hudson and I clear my throat, voice a little rougher than I want it to be. “Tell me what she likes,” I say. “Show me how you touch her.”
Hudson doesn’t look caught off guard. He just angles slightly toward her, brushing his knuckles along her thigh. Casual. Familiar. Intimate in a way that draws me in.
“She doesn’t want control,” he says, voice low. “Not in bed. Not here.”
My brows knit. That’s not what I expected. Not from Pippa.
“She likes to lose herself,” Hudson continues, glancing at me. “She likes to be told. To be pushed. Not because she wants to be dominated—she doesn’t belong to anyone—it’s the freedom of it. The edge.”
I look at her.
Pippa’s eyes are half-lidded, her chest rising and falling a little faster now, lips parted as if the sound of his voice alone is doing something to her. She’s not denying it. Hell, she’s basking in it.
“She craves abandon,” Hudson adds. “Not safety. Not predictability. The rush. She wants to be wanted. Loudly. Unapologetically.”
“And an audience?”
Hudson smiles. “That just makes it better.”
Pippa lets out the softest sound, a breathy moan, and I swear to God, it tightens something in my chest.
I lean forward. My gaze flicks from Hudson’s hands to thelook on Pippa’s face. She’s glowing—lit from within by anticipation.
“Stand,bella. Let Hudson show you how much he wants you.”
And just like that, she obeys.
