The texture of his skin, his warmth, his need.At the time, it was no big deal because it was right there for both of them to enjoy at their leisure.
“We should find a booth.”
“We should,” she said, getting up.
Roxie said her things were in her bedroom.Sure enough, she found her suitcase and her laptop.She slipped it out to turn it on.Putting the call on speakerphone, she tossed it to the bed.
“Doesn’t sound like you want to.”
“I want to do something else,” she said, stripping.“Put the camera on.Impress me, Hotshot.”Loosening her hair, she shook her fingers through it and lay down on the bed, adjusting the angle of the computer as it came to life.“I hate that you do that.”That was a flat lie, as her grin attested.It powered up and the camera immediately came on.“I don’t miss you.It’s late and you’re cheaper than escort services.”
From the broad view of him in the darkness, she could tell he was using a camera mounted above his wall of screens.
“This is more like it,” he said.
“Closer, Xavie.”Why should he get such an intimate view of her when hers was from such a distance?“I don’t want to be so far from you.”
“Shouldn’t have got on the plane then, should you?Still pissed I made this real world?”
A flash changed the picture from the distant camera to what she assumed was his tablet.Right there in his lap, where she wished she could be.
“Shut up and get your cock out,” she said, licking her fingertips and lowering them to her clit.“Tuck me in, Xavie.”
THIRTY-THREE
“ROUX RADLEY, meet Freya Dere,” Roxie said, gesturing between them.“You want to get on her good side.She’s worth more than the pope.”
The elegant woman smiled at Roxie.“I am not richer than the pope.”
“Your heart is bigger; we can at least agree on that.”
The three of them sat at a small dining table in a dedicated room of Roxie and Zairn’s Crimson apartment.
“My grandfather may be richer than the pontiff,” Freya said.“That is entirely possible.”
Roxie poured coffee from a French press.“Freya is the woman to know when it comes to health causes in this city.In the world, probably.”
“My specialty is children’s health.I’m not sure how I can help with your cause.It’s mental health?”
“Huddle Hope will eventually branch into different specialties.The plan is to get a working model going by the end of the year.We’ll start with some test cases, screened by a specialist team.”
“It’s encouraging to know you’re not running into this all guns blazing.When I heard this was under Mosaic, I half expected it to be up and going already.It isn’t like Rourke to sit on his hands.He must have settled down.”
“Settled down?”she asked.“He can barely sit still for five minutes.”
“Roux keeps a steady hand on this,” Roxie said.“Hope is her baby.”
“I can understand that.We care about what we care about.”
“We do.”
“I’d have to see numbers and projections before injecting any cash.And it would be preferable if you had a niche for often neglected children’s mental health.Though childhood trauma carrying into adulthood gets lesser time.”She looked at Roxie.“I suppose coming to me is as much about contacts as it is about money.”
“You got me,” Roxie said, holding up her hands in surrender and distributing the cups.
“You want me to talk to my grandfather?”
“Of everyone who has signed up to support this, you’re more on the ground, at the grass roots of what’s needed.We don’t want to be lofty, puffed-up mustache twirlers.We want to know that what we’re doing isn’t missing the mark.No one knows that better than those dealing with clients like this every day.”
