fall on the ground. He tugged his shirt out of the waistband of his pants.
“I have to believe you’re wrong. That it will be enough and tonight will be the last time. I can’t believe anything else, August.”
Chapter 23
Charles
“I should go.”
I rolled to the edge of the bed and got up before I did something stupid like the last time and fell asleep with August. It was one thing to have sex with him but another thing completely when it came to what we’d done a couple of hours earlier in Declan’s hot tub.
My face burned at the memory of the water splashing around us as he made me ride him to exhaustion. I always enjoyed the view of women’s tits bouncing while they rode me, but this was different. Staring into August’s eyes and feeling. Everything. Not just the sensation of his cock buried in my ass but the way he looked at me like I wasn’t a dirty little secret.
We couldn’t afford to be more. Poppy was already about to cost me so much.
Dammit, this was supposed to end after the first night.
Feelings were unwelcome. The massage that had followed had been unwelcome but oh-so good. I’d been already sated by the time he had me crawl onto the spa bed and popped out the essential oils. August’s strong arms had loosened what little tension was left in my body, and I felt like a new man.
But the sex had worn off. Not completely, but enough time had lapsed for my common sense to return. Lying in bed, holding hands was for lovers. The one thing August and I could never be. But what was he then? The man who calmed me down with sex? I’d been so upset when I left the restaurant, but now I felt levelheaded. Like I could face Poppy and accept whatever decision she made.
“Are we doing this again?” He sighed. “You running away?”
“I’m not running away.”
I walked naked over to the chair where he’d draped my clothes. Crushed as they were, they would have to do.
“Then what do you call this?”
I sighed as I got dressed quickly. “Madness,” I muttered under my breath. “This shouldn’t have happened again.”
He groaned aloud. “See you in the next two days, then?”
I scowled at him while I pulled my belt through the loops of my pants. “No, I don’t know. I don’t think so. I have too much going on right now.”
“Well, if you ever want to talk…or need me to fuck you, you know where to find me.”
I stopped buttoning my shirt and stared at him. “That’s not fair.”
“Look, I know.” He sat up in bed. “I just hate this hot and cold air you’re blowing at me.”
“Then this is the last of it.”
“Charles, if I tell you to undress right now and get on your hands and knees, you would.”
My hands shook slightly, and I dropped my gaze to the button I was having trouble with. Fuck it. I gave up.
“What do you want me to say? To do? I have a wife. It doesn’t matter if it’s in name only. I have a very complicated baby on the way, and in a few days, Owen and Declan will be back.”
“So we have four days. Wouldn’t you rather make the most of it?”
Why wasn’t he listening? The longer we did this, the harder it was to stop. I couldn’t have him fuck me indefinitely, and he was supposed to just be a quick experiment. I could explore more with other men.
Just not him.
“We have zero days.” I sat on the bed and put on my shoes. “I consider you a friend, August. You’re easy to talk to, and I don’t want that to change because of this. But if we continue fucking around, someone might end up hurt.”
“What? You’re worried I’m going to fall for you?”
I sucked in a deep breath, my hands going still. “Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Falling for me?” I couldn’t look at him when I asked the question. “The people I sleep with usually have a habit of doing that.”
“Now you’re just being a dick.”
“Then tell me that you won’t. Fall for me that is.”
He didn’t answer, which was good enough for me. My heart leaped in my chest, followed by a nervous fluttering that made me feel sick. This wasn’t what I wanted at all.