Part 20 (1/2)

She wasn't ready to part with Paige. A monster was churning across the Caribbean Sea, and within days, she could command Mayson's presence. This game was going to come to a harsh close.

It drove her crazy to think about leaving this town, leaving Paige, especially when the game hadn't come to a conclusion. When Paige still hadn't unveiled her.

Or did she want to? Mayson had never considered that Paige might not have any inclination to discover the face behind the mask. The person behind the game.

What if Mayson's attempts were in vain? What if Paige couldn't care less about Vinden, or even the masked stranger from New Orleans?

What if she didn't want Mayson, or a possible life with her? What if she only wanted s.e.x?

The realization stabbed hard. She could tell her, right now. She could give Paige the option of running, before Mayson was ripped away.

Not yet. One more time.

Mayson pushed between her thighs and slowly ground against her. She couldn't believe how badly she wanted Paige, how desperate she was to hold on to her.

Paige stared up at her.

Was that desire staring back at her in the dimly lit room? l.u.s.t? Love?

Mayson kissed her until Paige reacted with a soft sigh. G.o.d, those sounds were going to haunt her. She kissed her harder, drove faster, until Paige locked her between those thighs and met her thrust for thrust.

Was this what true love felt like? This sick gathering in the pit of her stomach? She'd never felt it before. Didn't know its true meaning. Mayson only knew she couldn't let Paige go. Not yet.

She pushed her hand between their bodies, found Paige's slick opening, and slowly pushed inside her.

When Paige hissed and arched, Mayson screwed her eyes shut. Without Paige, she might never hear those genuine sounds of pleasure again. Rather, she'd never react to those sounds again. They were torturous. She craved them. Craved making them.

She drove faster, consumed in her want, devoured in those whimpers and moans.

Paige arched into her, dragging her nails along Mayson's back and shoulders. ”Dear G.o.d. Mayson!”

The sound of her plea was like a dagger through her soul.

G.o.ddammit. She removed herself from the alcove and rolled Paige onto her stomach. She didn't want to see those eyes, that expression, for fear of reading all the wrong things in them.

Mayson lifted her hips slightly off the bed and reentered her.

Paige whipped her head back and clawed at the sheets.

Mayson f.u.c.ked her, driving easily into her slick walls, devouring the sounds of her cries. She reached between her legs and flicked and circled her c.l.i.t.

With her back arched, Paige drove herself backward, f.u.c.king herself over Mayson's fingers, desperate for the o.r.g.a.s.ms that shouldn't be so readily available. She was completely spent, completely drained, yet Mayson had a natural way of making her needs resurface.

How was she doing that? How did she possess that power?

A thumb probed at her a.s.s and Paige froze.

Mayson kissed spots along her back, then licked a wet trail down her spine. ”I need to be inside you, Paige.”

It wasn't a question. It was a f.u.c.king plea.

”Yes. Please, G.o.d, ye-”

Mayson pushed inside her. Paige screamed out and whipped her body backward into Mayson. She reached behind her until she found refuge around a tight thigh. Her nails dug and Mayson bit down on her shoulder.

Tingles electrified her legs and arms and whipped along her insides. Fire shot down every nerve and then Paige came in a blinding rage of spasms.

She clawed, screamed, bucked over those fingers, until she couldn't hold herself upright a second longer.

With a final cry, Paige fell forward. Mayson fell beside her and pulled Paige into those strong arms, spooning and clinging to her, until the blackness took her down again.

When she awoke, the first thing she felt was the weight of Mayson's legs over hers and her arm like dead weight around Paige's waist.

Panic bit hard this time. This wasn't normal. She didn't do sleepovers. Didn't fall asleep at all, ever. Now she'd done it twice. She needed to get out from beneath the binds. Needed to get her d.a.m.n clothes and get the f.u.c.k out of there.

She had no business being there, no business going in the first place. d.a.m.n her curiosity and s.e.xual needs.

Paige s.h.i.+mmied until she escaped the coc.o.o.n. She turned back to make sure Mayson hadn't awoken. No d.a.m.n way she could do that again. Her body couldn't take any more. Though her mind automatically went there and her insides clenched.

Mayson was sound asleep, her lips slightly parted. She was so s.e.xy. Almost perfect. Paige could honestly say she'd reached the ultimate in s.e.xual partners. Sucked that Mayson was a billionaire. Sucked that she could buy anything, or anyone, she wanted. Sucked that their lives could never intertwine.

Sucked even more that Paige wasn't looking for the same as Mayson. Mayson wanted a forever. Paige only wanted this, the ultimate rush of s.e.x.

A happy-ever-after could never exist for them.

The stripper and the billionaire. It was a t.i.tle for Harlequin. Not the ending to Paige's life story.

Paige stood beside the bed and stared down over her. She took it back. Mayson was perfect. She had everything a girl could ever want.

But she wasn't perfect for Paige.

Paige tracked through the bedroom and adjacent living room until she'd gathered all her clothing. She slowly donned each piece, a part of her wanting Mayson to wake up and stop her, to pull her back into that bed and into her mouth. The other part screamed that she'd already stayed several hours too long, that she was a moron for letting her s.e.xual needs predict her actions.

Paige picked up her sandals and took one last glance at Mayson deep in slumber, her breathing steady. Their evening had been incredible. The s.e.x had been all she'd ever wanted. So why was she dressing? Why was she on the verge of panic? And why was she still standing there?

With one final glance and a hint of indecision, Paige bit her bottom lip and left.

Mayson was jolted awake by the sound of loud banging on the front door. She scanned the bed for Paige, but the spot where she'd been lying was cold.

She grabbed her shorts from the side of the bed and finally found her s.h.i.+rt on the opposite side of the room. The bathroom light was out, and the rest of the house seemed to be bathed in darkness as well.

Where the h.e.l.l was Paige? Had she left? Without as much as a good-bye?

Heavy banging on the door drove her into action once again. She pulled her s.h.i.+rt into place and darted for the front door.