Page 86 of On The Edge

I fist my hand in her hair and pull back on it ever so slightly so she’s forced to look at me as she takes me again. So I can see her accept even more of me in that sinful mouth of hers. So I can tense my ass and fight the urge to fuck her mouth when she gags on me but keeps trying to go farther.

Those lust-filled eyes still hold mine.

Over and over.

Hand over fist. Lick after suck.

And when I can’t fight it any longer, when the pleasure is so intense it borders on painful, when my place is filled with my encouraging praise and the slick sounds of her mouth fucking me, the coil snaps. Detonates. Ignites. And I spill everything I have down the back of her throat until she swallows every goddamn drop.

Until she has me one hundred percent at her complete mercy.

Fucking hell.

This woman. I’ve gone toe-to-toe with my father for her. I’ve tried to be a bigger person for her. I’ve even gotten jealous over her.

What the fuck is happening?

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Cruz

“This is . . .” She turns around and slowly takes in the Marché aux Fleurs Cours Saleya. “Incredible.”

The famed flower market in the heart of Nice runs the length of the promenade. It’s a long corridor with restaurants on both sides and stands, one after another, lining its center. The vendors sell handmade soaps, dried fruits, tourist trinkets, fresh-cut flowers, pastries, and other various wares. The outdoor market is busy with both locals and tourists and the ocean breeze cools down the cobblestone courtyard.

“It is.” I nod, my baseball hat pulled low over my head in the hopes of blending in with the crowd rather than becoming a spectacle in it. “I thought you might like it.”

“But you were supposed to go out with your friends today. What happened to that?”

A day on the Riviera with the boys. Sun. Alcohol. The sea. The bro-code.

I had said yes. It was just what I needed weeks ago when it was planned.

It was just what I needed until it wasn’t. Until I looked across the room to see Maddix tapping away on her keyboard, her hair pulled up, and a pencil between her lips as she concentrated on whatever it was she was doing, cooped up in my place.

Isn’t that where she always is? Here? For me and my benefit? Taking this like a champ when I know it’s turned her world upside down?

Her brow furrowed. She shifted in her chair so that the strap of her tank top fell.

And without asking her, I texted the boys and backed out. And I’m staring at the definitive reason why in her flowy skirt, tight top, and wild eyes.

“I was, but I also promised when I brought you here that I’d show you around. That we’d explore. We’re exploring, Madds.”

She glances over to me from where she’s smelling soaps, her smile whimsical. Appreciative. “Thank you.”

Those two words and the way she says them have a lump forming in my throat as I nod and stand with my hands clasped in front of me, a bag of trinkets she bought for her family in my hands like the doting boyfriend that I’m not, and watch her. She’s like a little kid. Each booth, her face lights up with whatever new items she sees. She touches. She smells. She tries to converse with the shop owner and compliment them on whatever it is they’re selling.

She’s kind.

Isn’t that why she’s standing here in the first place? Because she was kind to me before she even knew who I was?

And now . . . now that we’re a fake couple who lives together and sleeps together, what do I think of her?

“Look!” she squeals and then drops to her knees to get face kisses from the kiosk owner’s French bulldog. She gives the brindle-colored dog belly rubs as her smile and happiness light up her entire face.

There’s something about the moment that pulls me back to those first few days with her. To how she looked at everything so fresh-faced and full of wonder. The private jet. The waitstaff. Amsterdam and all its wonders.

Maddix made me rethink things. I didn’t realize it then, but I do now. I’ve lived this life of privilege for so long that none of these things feel like luxury. Rather, they’re just the way things have always been. I’ve taken them for granted. And being with her, watching her experience each new thing after another, the wonderment of it all, has given me a newfound perspective. Has afforded me the opportunity to watch her discover new things that I’ve always had.