Sucking on his cock had been both a sensual pleasure and beautiful torture, and my reward had been the sounds of raw enjoyment he had made in the back of his throat. It got me so turned on that the moment I came home, I locked myself in the shower and rubbed my pussy in a frenzy until I came.
“You’re thinking of him, aren’t you?”
Freddie’s amused voice snapped me back to reality, and I scowled at the knowing look my cousin gave me. “Don’t be ludicrous.” It was a sunny morning in California, and we were relaxing on a pair of luxurious lounge chairs that faced the rather majestic-looking pool of the Grachyovs’ sprawling mansion.
In a rather surprising twist of events, Freddie had found herself pregnant with Sergei Grachyov’s child after a one-night stand. And as always, the Russian magnate had managed to get his way, persuading my cousin to move back to California and live with him.
Catching sight of the sly look in Freddie’s eyes, I let out an exaggerated sigh. “What?”
“It’s so obvious. You miss him. So why don’t you just admit it---”
“Because it’s not true.” I rolled my eyes. “I get it that you’re living the dream and it’s making you all goofy, wanting everyone to be in love---”
Freddie started to laugh. “You’re being too defensive. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“I’m not being defensive.” I didn’t miss Nathan Callis, and it was the truth. “We’re just a couple for show.” And mimicking her tone, I asked, “You do remember that, don’t you?”
It was Freddie’s turn to roll her eyes. “You can go all bitchy on me, but I’m your cousin and I know you. You miss him.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I can’t miss what I don’t even know, Freddie! It’s not like anything’s changed between Nathan and me. I still don’t know a thing about him and---”
“You don’t need to know everything about a person to realize that he matters.” Freddie’s tone was stubborn.
I snorted. “That’s just your pregnancy talking.” The Freddie I knew was the pragmatic sort – like me. “For a person to matter, you need to know enough, and I hate to disappoint you, but I just don’t know enough about Nathan. I mean, I know how long his cock is---”
Freddie choked out a laugh. “Alyx!”
I gave her a wide-eyed a look, asking, “Do you think that’s enough?”
“Okay, fine. I can take a hint. I’ll drop the subject as long as---” Freddie paused then said slowly, “Can you just please tell me you’re okay?”
A scowl marred my forehead. “Not you too, Freddie. Everyone’s been asking me that---”
“Everyone asks it because they think you’re crazy to have left your old job. Everyone doesn’t know you did it because you no longer felt you had the right to be a journalist, working on exposing the truth while you’re harboring a secret.” Freddie took a deep breath. “But I’m different, Alyx. I know. So – are you okay?”
“A loaded question if I ever heard one,” I quipped.
“Stop changing the subject,” Freddie censured. “Are you okay or not?”
“I plead the Fifth.”
“Alyx!”
I stared at her stonily.
“Well, at least tell me this. Has Nathan at least helped you forget him?”
Sergei’s arrival saved me from replying, the Russian magnate bearing down on us with a smile, a hard look in his blue eyes belying it. He greeted me pleasantly enough but afterwards didn’t even give Freddie a chance to say a word. He simply scooped my cousin up in his arms and carried her back to the house, saying in a mild but strongly accented voice that women in her condition weren’t supposed to spend too much time under the sun.
Oops.
“Sorry, Sergei,” I called out to him with a grimace. “I forgot about that, too.”
“It’s not your fault, Alyx,” the billionaire answered right away.
“Which means it’s my fault?” Freddie’s tone was belligerent.
“Not at all, Erie,” Sergei answered easily, “so stop glaring at me. It’s no one’s fault – for now. But if you do it again after this---” He whispered something into my cousin’s ear that had my cousin flushing.
I cleared my throat loudly. “On that note, I’m just going to make myself scarce and…”
Neither of them seemed to hear me, with Sergei too busy kissing Freddie.
Riiiiight.
I didn’t bother finishing my sentence and just took the path leading to the driveway instead of following the couple back into the mansion. With Freddie having lent me her car during my stay, I decided to drive to town so I could check out the newly opened specialty craft store I had heard about.
During the ride, my mind drifted back to Freddie’s question---
And I thought, almost in surprise, Yes.
The Greek billionaire did help me forget him.
Whenever I was in Nathan’s arms, I thought of nothing but pleasure. Actually, I didn’t think at all. My feelings simply took control while my brain ceased to function---