Page 84 of Point of Contention

“Cabot,” I whined, tugging at the restraints, “please.”

He shook his head, rubbing his face against my pussy and scratching the sensitized flesh with his beard stubble, eating me with desperation and pushing me over the edge with each stroke of his deft tongue, each pull of his fingers inside me.

I came in a wave of bliss that blinded me with stars bursting behind my eyelids and tremors that shook me violently in my restraints.

Cabot pushed me as far as I could go, then just a bit further with another hard suck of my clit, then he slowed his movements, matching his rhythm to the quakes of my body, following my orgasm as it faded away.

By the time he unshackled my ankles, then rose to his feet to unclasp the restraints around my wrists, he had to wrap my arms around his shoulders to keep me from falling to a heap on the floor.

He murmured sweetly into my ear as he scooped me into his strong arms and carried me out of the room, praising me and telling me he intended to neverstopworshipping me. Then he laid me down in his bed and I sighed as I sank into the plush bedding, closing my eyes as he settled in beside me.

I smiled lazily as Cabot tended to every inch of my body. With gentle brushes of his hands, he massaged cool lotion into my reddened skin. He placed gentle kisses on each red splotch where he’d marked me with the crop, tickling my skin with the feather-soft tease of his lips, the tickle of his five o’clock shadow.

“I love you,” he whispered when he finally stretched out beside me and wrapped his body around mine.

I smiled sleepily, murmuring the words back to him as I dozed in his arms.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Cabot

I awoke to the sound of a phone vibrating on a hard surface, then stretched as I opened my eyes. Rylan sat up as she grabbed her phone from the nightstand and brought it to her ear, then she slipped quietly from the bed and tiptoed out of my room. I heard her answer the call, but then she moved down the hallway and I could only hear the hushed whisper of her voice, not the actual words.

She’d stayed the night with me, which could mean that this wasn’t just a quick fling after the funeral of someone she cared for, but I didn’t dare hope for anything.

Rising to my feet, I followed the path she’d taken to the living room and stopped at the end of the hallway.

She stood by the window on the far side of my living room, staring out at the buildings below as the sun rose in the east.

Naked and pale in the lavender glow of first light, she was a vision. I leaned my shoulder against the doorway and watched her as she talked with her hands, so animated in her conversation.

As I eavesdropped, I found myself smiling. She was enthusiastic. Vibrant.

Happily accepting a job offer at a place that excited her.

It wouldn’t be Reed Romance, where she belonged, and that would forever be something that disappointed me greatly, but I had to find solace in knowing she’d found something that made her happy. Pushing off the wall, I strode toward her quietly, glancing at the kitchen island and the destroyed light fixture with a smile as I passed the kitchen.

Stopping behind her, I took in the soft curves of her naked body, then focused on her face in the reflection of the glass.

Her eyes lifted and she smiled, then spun slowly around to look up at me as she finished her call.

“Yes, Monday is perfect.” She grinned. “Yes.” She nodded. “Thank you so much, Ms. Matthews.”

Matthews. I searched my memory for the name. I knew the names of most heads of the local houses, as well as a handful of editors in New York—the biggest names in the business, but I couldn’t recall a Matthews.

“Paige, sorry.” Rylan smiled, nodding again. “Thank you again, Paige.”

She ended the call and her gaze slid down my frame. “You’re naked.”

“So are you.”

She nodded slowly, then brought her eyes back up to mine. “I got a job.”

“So I heard. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you happy?”