Page 29 of The Tempo of Truth (The Monsters Duet #3)
Ky
We were back where we started—in a dark hotel room after one of us had too much to drink.
Winnie was nowhere near as inebriated as I was the last time we hooked up, but all our kisses were flavored with gin and olives.
I told myself a million times that I was not going to let myself end up back in bed with Winnie Halliday because our relationship was already layered with vast complications and differences.
Sleeping with her made keeping an emotional distance more difficult.
It blurred the line between being nothing more than civil co-parents and something far more dangerous to my sense of self-preservation.
I had slept with plenty of women in a futile effort to make myself feel less alone and to prove I still had something going for me, even if it was just the face I was genetically gifted with.
I’d never had a lover, though. Anything with the word “love” in it wasn’t for me.
However, I’d never been able to see Winnie as a one-night stand or just another body to add to the count.
She always held a higher place than others, both in my memories and within my heart.
Sleeping with her wasn’t about the sex. It was the manifestation of the feelings I fought for a lifetime.
It was making love, and that terrified me beyond measure.
We lost our clothes as we tumbled in the dark toward the bed.
Winnie kicked off her heels and was suddenly four inches shorter.
She had to stand on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around my neck and pull my head down to continue kissing me.
I was wearing significantly fewer clothes since I’d shown up in what amounted to a Halloween costume.
The heavy leather jacket hit the floor with a jangle, and the black and white Chanel tweed one Winnie was wearing followed.
She had on a silk camisole underneath, and I immediately felt her nipples harden under the light fabric as our chests pressed together.
In the back of my mind, I heard Lev’s words reminding me, “I don’t know who you saved in your previous life to be deserving of all the amazing opportunities that have fallen in your lap over the years, but they must’ve been a saint.
You need to stop looking behind you at what you lost, Ky.
Start facing forward. Look at what you’ve got, because it’s far more than most men can dream of. ”
Between Lev’s disgruntled advice and Winnie’s accusation that I ruined every good opportunity that came my way, it motivated me to not only play along with her silly game, but to break the rules of my own.
For me, it was terrifying to be with someone I had genuine feelings for.
Having sex with Winnie was basically me signing away my days of being a worthless scumbag.
Showing up after she called with such a ridiculous offer to help with my bills and the request to be unforgettable was me acquiescing to playing the game between us by her ever-evolving rules.
I kept my distance from her because I didn’t think I could face another loss.
But now that I had her in my arms and felt her hands moving hurriedly to unfasten the studded leather belt, it was hard to consider the choice to jump back into bed with her after all these years of restraint, anything but a massive win.
Gone was the timid girl who was hesitant to touch me and show that she was excited.
Winnie’s hands were steady and sure as she did her best to strip me down to nothing.
The gold halo that circled her hazel eyes was practically glowing with excitement.
There was a pretty flush covering her pale chest and crawling up the elegant line of her neck.
Her fiery hair was coiled in an intricate style on the back of her head, but it was getting messy and had strands falling every which way from my fingers digging into it.
Our lips hadn’t separated from the moment we walked into the room.
Winnie was no longer shy to show me how hungry she was for me.
Teeth and tongues collided repeatedly until we were both panting and breathless.
There was nothing perfunctory or chaste about it.
Her mouth moved like she was starving, and her soft hands refused to stay still.
They skimmed across every piece of exposed flesh, her nails scratching lightly at a couple of my tattoos.
The sensation caused me to shiver and made my cock throb.
I liked women. The way they tasted and smelled.
The way they were soft and warm. I got off on the way they looked at me like I was some sort of prize, even though I had nothing to offer.
I appreciated that when I was with them, I could focus on making them feel good and giving them what they wanted and needed.
However, outside of the bedroom or boxing ring, I wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good bet.
Except for this woman, currently unraveling in tiny increments.
Winnie always thought I was the best. Even before our drunken night together, I was her number one choice, which meant I liked her more than I liked anyone else.
I always had emotions I’d never been able to name where Winnie was concerned, putting her in a class of her own.
When I was with her, all the reasons I wasted time with anyone else faded into oblivion. I didn’t have to justify to myself the reasons I wanted to be with her.
She was simply the one.
The one who never judged me.
The one who always believed I could be better.
The one who fought for me.
The one who saved me.
The one who gave me a chance to be the father I never had.
Once my pants were free from the heavy belt, Winnie’s hands made quick work of pulling the dark denim and cotton underwear down beneath the curve of my ass.
My erect cock practically hit her in the face when she dropped to her knees in front of me.
Pleasure pounded in my blood at the sight of her kneeling before me.
Hallidays made it a point never to lower themselves for anyone.
I put my hand on the top of her head and held her still. When her gaze met mine, I warned her, “The last time we did this, your life changed forever.”
Her eyes gleamed, and a small smile turned up the corners of her mouth. She really was too pretty for words. There was something ethereal and ancient about her beauty. She looked like the woman mythological men went to war for.
“It changed in all the best ways. Maybe it’s your turn for something amazing to happen after we sleep together.”
I huffed an amused sound. “I don’t think sex and salvation go hand in hand.” In my experience, it was the opposite. I still had a couple of fingers taped together from that fight at the basketball court to prove it.
“I do believe that means you’ve been having sex with all the wrong people, Ky.” Her voice was whisper quiet as I used the tip of a finger to trace over her artfully arched eyebrows.
“Can’t argue with that.” The temporary reprieve wasn’t worth the bits and pieces of my soul that chipped off each time I walked away from another meaningless encounter.
I couldn’t form words or thoughts when she leaned forward and swirled the tip of her tongue around the head of my cock.
I inhaled sharply and muttered, “You’ve learned a few new tricks. ”
She wasn’t that prep school kid I didn’t dare have dirty thoughts about back in the day.
And while it’d only been a little over six years since that night in Portugal, it was a lifetime when you were a young adult in a rapidly moving world.
There wasn’t anything about her that reminded me of the girl striking out on her own and trying to find her independence on shaky legs when she was barely in her twenties.
Now, she was more put together and had more responsibility than some women twice her age. She was bold and fearless.
And she’d gotten extremely skilled at giving head. I wasn’t going to ask her who she’d been practicing with, but an unwanted thread of jealousy wrapped around my heart when the thought of her doing this with someone else came to mind.
My fingers clenched in her hair, and I roughly dismantled her hairstyle. I tugged on the strands harder than I had to, which resulted in me feeling the edge of her teeth on my dick as a warning.
I stared at her without blinking as she took the hefty length into her mouth.
I gritted my teeth together to hold back a moan when I was immediately surrounded by heat and moisture.
It felt like heaven. The combination of her tongue swirling and one of her hands squeezing the base felt so good that I forgot to be considerate and grabbed her head with both hands so I could wantonly match my thrusts to her suction.
Never in a million years, even when I was at my most delusional, did I think I would get the chance to fuck Winnie Halliday’s face.
There was a touch of perverse pleasure in knowing how quickly she shifted from dignified CEO to greedy lover.
I knew the minute my cock touched the back of her throat that those uptight men didn’t deserve a shot with her.
If they were more interested in what her money could do instead of her mouth, I was happy to take every ounce of what they were missing.