I could only keep up this facade for so long because he was about to find me soaked through my panties. Dex Hardy against me wasn’t something I could ignore. His length alone caused my body to quake in anticipation. And his signature smell of warm spice and cedar was all around me. The vibration of his growl weakened me as his hands squeezed the globes of my ass. And the way he kneaded them so close to my pussy, well, I almost whimpered.
He knew how to tease a woman better now than he had before. Practice made perfect, I guess. And the thought of him with others curdled in my stomach as I tried to hold my ground. I may have loved him once, but we were adults now. He had turned into a colossal dick, one who wanted to seek some sort of revenge on me through this contract and get me out of his system. I had to remember that.
He’d left our hometown, I’d moved on, and we weren’t really going to revisit what we could have been.
His hands smoothed over my ass cheeks and traced my panty line as I hit the call button. “Put it on speaker.”
I glared over my shoulder, but he simply lifted a brow. The man was a masochist, I swear. Still, I did as I was told and placed the phone on the counter.
“Hello?” Ethan’s voice was groggy over the line. “Babe? It’s late as hell.”
“He’s answering pretty fast for a fake fiancé,” Dex grumbled.
I shushed him. “Yeah, hi, Ethan.” I cleared my throat because I sounded much too breathy for the call. Yet, as I did, Dex’s finger hooked around the string of my thong. He then dragged it down into my pussy where I knew he felt how wet I was. He chuckled but I spoke loudly over him. “Did the record label happen to call you?”
“Now?” he grumbled. “What time is it?”
“Sorry. It’s extremely late.” Dex’s finger curled up and into my core slowly, and my hands slammed down on the counter.
“Kee, have you been drinking?”
“No. Well, yes.” I shut my eyes as he thrust in another and curled them up against my G-spot. “That’s not why—”
“Babe, you okay? Give me a sec. I’m with someone.”
There was rustling on the other line as Dex whispered in my ear, “Seems your fiancé is fooling around on you too.”
The comment was ridiculous. “You know we’re not really together,” I seethed for the millionth time.
“What was that, babe?” Ethan asked now. “Sorry. I’ve got Janey in the other room.”
I narrowed my eyes at Dex, ready to put this ridiculous narrative to bed. “Right. Ethan, I have Dex here.” As I said it, the man had the audacity to brush a finger over my ass, and I gasped but kept talking, my voice strained. “He’s convinced we’re in a real relationship.”
“Are you two together right now?” Ethan hesitated and then chuckled. “You finally making up over there?”
“Ethan,” I ground out as Dex pumped his fingers faster in and out of me. My tone was breathless. “Can you just tell him that’s not true?”
“Hm.” My friend always had a knack for causing drama and now was no exception. “Well, we are engaged, Keelani.”
“Ethan Phillipe. Don’t even start. You know our relationship is a sham. The record label isn’t running the story of our engagement anymore. I’m getting engaged to Dex instead. So, just tell him—”
“Well, that’s unfortunate. I had the whole story about that one night we stayed up at my place and you…” I heard the mirth in his voice but lost focus when Dex pulled his fingers from me as he growled, spun me around, then lifted me onto the counter where he ripped the thong clean off me.
“Jesus,” I gasped.
“I know. That was a good night.” Ethan kept on. The fucker knew I wasn’t talking about him. He knew exactly what he was doing. “When you let me go down on—”
“Do not even, Ethan. Freaking tell Dex we’re not a real thing,” I said as I saw Dex’s eyes darken.
“Yeah, sure. We aren’t real, Dex.” Ethan chuckled because he knew he’d planted a few seeds already. “You can hear me, right?”
Dex’s jaw was working over and over as he stood between my legs in that kitchen, his hands on either side of me but not touching me now. He finally answered, “I can hear you.”
“Oh, good. She likes soft touches on her inner thigh and when you blow on her neck. We might not have been exclusive together, but I guess I should help you out since you abandoned her for years to let her hang on my arm.”
The anger and jealousy ricocheted silently through that penthouse at Ethan’s words. I felt how they shook the walls and my soul as Dex held my gaze. “You seem to know the whole story. Did Keelani tell you she left me first?”
It was then he took his time dragging a finger over the inner part of my thigh and I gasped.
“Seems you’re right about her inner thigh though.”
“Oh my God, seriously, Dex?” I reached for the phone, but he pushed it just out of my reach before he brought his hand up to the spaghetti strap of my dress and yanked it down so my breast spilled over the material.
“Want me to stop, Kee?”
I bit my lip because I couldn’t bring myself to say no. I wanted him, I wanted this, I wanted a new path away from Ethan, away from the label, away from what I’d been.
“Yes or no?”
“No.”
“That’s what I thought.” He chuckled darkly.
“You into hearing your ex-fiancée scream someone else’s name, Ethan?”
If that man said yes, I was going to kill him later. Of course Ethan wanted to push boundaries, though, and said, “She still wearing my ring? If so, she’s technically still my fiancée.”
My eyes widened at his boldness. Ethan wanted to torture Dex. Rightfully so. We’d grown up in the industry together. He’d let me cry on his shoulder. We’d experimented together, too, but nothing ever came of it. He was in love with someone else, and so was I.
Dex glared at the ring like it was the kryptonite to his Superman. “I’m going to fuck that ring off you, Kee. Ethan can listen to you scream while I do it if he wants.”
Ethan chimed in, “I’m into that sort of thing if you are.”
I watched Dex’s face redden, felt his grip on me tighten. “I’m not. Nor will I ever be. She’s mine. You come near her again, and I’ll ruin you,” Dex ground out before pressing the End button. He took two breaths before he asked, “Now, want me fuck you nice, like this means something, or fuck you rough, like I hate you for all you’ve done?”
I shook my head at him, not really knowing the answer. This night would change me and change us forever. We’d never gone this far. But he didn’t seem to care. This was his way of closure. We both knew that. “Just do what’s real, Dex. I want the real thing with you.”
He didn’t wait another second to grab me from the counter and spin me around so that he could bend me over it. The counter felt cool against my stomach as he lifted my skirt. Then, he got on his knees to taste me.
He lapped at me like he was starved and sucked on my clit like I could quench some unsatiated thirst. I let him. I had zero restraint left when it came to wanting him. I’d dreamed of him for years. It was inevitable. We were bound to end up here, and I wouldn’t have wanted to be with anyone else.
He stopped tasting me to murmur against me, “Take his ring off, Kee. I can’t fucking stand you wearing it for another second.”
I did as I was told.
