Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 78521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
She nods. “I did. I really did.”
“Does that surprise you?”
“A little. It was hard to turn off my other senses, especially the feeling part. But when I forced myself to, I was able to see the beauty that exists between us. And it was beautiful, Braden.”
“Sex isn’t all about orgasms, Skye.”
She widens her eyes slightly, as if she’s surprised I’d say such a thing. I understand her confusion. Most men are focused on their own pleasure. I learned long ago that my pleasure is found in my partner’s pleasure. My pain in her pain.
“Where did you learn all this?” she asks.
“What do you mean?”
“You know, the bondage. The sensory perception and deprivation. Everything you do. You’ve opened my eyes to so much.”
“You’re probably thinking I have some elaborate answer to that question,” I say. “But I don’t. I enjoy sex. I enjoy kink. I enjoy being dominant in the bedroom, and I enjoy showing my partner pleasure.”
“But you’ve shown me things I’ve never imagined.”
“That’s because I see the big picture. There’s more to sex than cock in pussy. A lot more. And Skye, we’ve only just begun.”
Chapter Thirteen
“I’m having dinner with my family Saturday evening,” I say to Skye at breakfast.
Her fork of scrambled eggs stops midway from her plate to her mouth. “Okay.”
“We have dinner together once a month. I’d like you to come along and bring Tessa.”
“Tessa?”
“Yeah. My brother doesn’t have the best taste in women. I think they might hit it off.”
I hope they’ll hit it off. Right now Ben is fucking Apple Ames in a friends with benefits situation. I’ve nothing against Apple personally. She’s Addison’s identical twin, but they couldn’t be more different. Apple is a link to Addison, and I’d like all those links severed. I long for the day when Addison is no longer stalking me and I can forget about her for good. But Apple isn’t even the issue. When Ben actually dates, he tends to choose women who like his money.
“Wait,” Skye says. “Did you just insult my friend?”
I shake my head. “Of course not. I like Tessa. I think Ben might like her. I know my father will.”
“Wait another minute,” she says. “Are you hoping she’ll hit it off with Ben? Or with your father?”
Is she kidding me?
“For God’s sake, Skye, she could be his daughter. I’d like her to meet Ben.”
“It was a valid question,” she says. “Your father’s very good-looking. I mean, you look exactly like him.”
I look nothing like my father. I look like my mother. Looking in the mirror and seeing her face haunts me to this day. I suppose I share a few characteristics with Dad, but I favor my mother.
“Not exactly,” I say. “My father and Ben both have brown eyes. I got the blue ones from my mom.”
“All three of you are pretty rockin’,” she says.
I smile. “Rockin’?”
“Trust me, that’s a compliment. And if you want to bring my best friend over to meet your brother, he needs to be fluent in Tessa.”
“My brother doesn’t have any problem with the ladies,” I say. “He just seems to choose the wrong ones.”
“He’ll have some competition. Tessa’s been seeing Garrett Ramirez since they hooked up at the MADD Gala.”
I raise my eyebrows. Garrett Ramirez works with Beau Reardon’s architecture firm. Big red flag. Still, I’ve only heard rumors. I have no evidence.
“Are they serious?”
She rolls her eyes. “Are you kidding? Tessa’s never been serious in her life. But Garrett’s a great catch.”
I untense my jawline.
Slightly.
“Not as great of a catch as my brother.”
“Braden, your brother may be a great catch, but I have the distinct impression that he doesn’t really want to be caught.”
“No, he doesn’t. But as you say, Tessa isn’t serious. I’d like to see my brother with a nice professional woman. Not the losers he brings home.”
Apple Ames herself isn’t a loser, but Ben has never brought her home. They’re seriously just friends. The last date he brought to dinner was clearly after his money. She dangled her Rolex and diamond earrings that he bought her under our noses the entire evening. She wasn’t totally at fault. Ben was equally to blame. He throws his money around when he’s with a woman, which is well known in our circles. He attracts the gold diggers.
“Losers?” Skye shakes her head. “Well, at least you didn’t say gold digger. Or sugar baby.”
Ha! I just used the word gold digger in my mind.
“I was trying to be a little more politically correct,” I say, “but your words are just as apt.”
“Surely you don’t mean your brother pays for it.”
I chuckle softly. “Sure he does. Maybe not by leaving bills on the bedside table, but he blows all kinds of money on the women he dates.”
She picks up a piece of bacon. “Is that a bad thing? I seem to remember you having a little black dress professionally replicated for me.”