So much for not wanting her anymore.
“Of course he did,” I drawl. “Well, I guess I’ll see you in a bit then.”
“Ridge, I do want to tell you the same thing I told Ry.” There’s concern in her voice, putting me on edge. “The company she works for is digging to find a reason for us to have to forfeit our land. So, while I agree that we can’t let her spend Christmas alone, we can’t trust her. At least not yet.”
“Did she tell you that?” I slap my hand against the wall and look out the window at where my boat is sitting on its mooring.
“Yeah, she did.” She sighs. “For what it’s worth, I do think she feels bad.”
“Yeah, I bet she does,” I huff out. “All right, well, see you soon.”
Once we both hang up, I narrow my gaze at the wooded area in the distance, toward where she’s staying. I knew I couldn’t trust her, and yet I sort of did anyway.
Heading toward the bathroom, I walk inside and turn on the shower. Because if I’m going to be able to stay pissed at her tonight, I need to fuck my hand first so that my dick doesn’t get confused when she does something as simple as lick her plump lips.
Pulling my briefs down, I step into the water, wasting no time in gripping my cock and squeezing my eyes shut. I grunt when the image of Stella kneeling before me with water showering down on her flashes in my mind.
“Make it up to me,” I grit out to absolutely no one. “Show me how sorry you are for being a conniving bitch.”
I picture her biting her lip, soaked from the shower just before her lips part, and she leans forward, taking my cock into her hot mouth. I shiver when I feel myself sliding against her tongue. I could go slow and let her suck me how she wants, but she doesn’t deserve that. So, instead, I imagine grabbing a fistful of her hair and yanking her head back enough to force her eyes on mine. Keeping her steady by her hair, I thrust my hips toward her, fucking her mouth with absolutely no remorse.
“That’s right. Take it, slut,” I growl, knowing how fucking insane I am right now, talking to myself in my shower.
I slap my hand against the wall, and I stroke my dick harder. I imagine fucking her mouth so hard that her eyes water because she’s gagging, and I don’t even let up because I know she doesn’t want me to. No, something tells me she’d like it rough like that.
Swallow me down.
I feel my balls tighten, and I fight back a groan as cum begins to explode from my cock. Even though it’s covering my hand, Iimagine it’s going down her throat, and she takes every drop like it’s a fucking gift.
My head is spinning, and I keep a palm against the shower to steady myself. When my eyes finally open and the image of her on her knees before me is gone, I realize that it doesn’t matter how many times I fuck my own hand, thinking about this woman …
It’ll never get her out of my head.
I’ve had a lot of strange Christmases, but this one, hands freaking down, takes the cake. The food is delicious, just like I figured it would be when I first got the invite from Riley earlier, but after what had happened at the coffee shop, I know that Katherine doesn’t trust me. She and Mathew have been polite yet a tad cold. And Ridge? Well, he won’t even look my way.
Ridge’s dog, Marlin, on the other hand, is going around the table, begging whoever he thinks he can get a table scrap from. I must look like the weakest link because he’s been sitting at my feet for about ten minutes now, snorting in true Marlin fashion. Every now and then, I reach down and scratch his head, but then he always ends up begging even more.
“So, Stella …” Katherine addresses me for the first time this entire dinner, and suddenly, I’m nervous.
She’s as intimidating as they come, even though she doesn’t try to be. She’s just … tough. Unlike myself, who could never thrive here.
“Yeah?” I say, wiping my mouth with my napkin before setting it down in front of me.
“Did your flight get rescheduled?”
“It did. I’m flying out on the twenty-seventh now.” I pause, not wanting her to think I’m purposely staying here a few extradays just to spend time with her boys. “That was the earliest they could do.”
“The storm made quite a mess of the airport.” Mathew finally speaks now. “Most grounded flights I’ve ever seen in Maine.”
“Yeah, it was pretty wild, that storm,” I answer politely and honestly.
“Well, I’m sorry that you weren’t able to get home for Christmas Day.” Katherine not only sounds genuinely sympathetic, but looks it too. “I’m sure you have friends and family who are missing you for the holidays. Maybe you can do a late celebration with them.”
Despite my best efforts, everything inside of me freezes because I don’t know how I’m going to respond to this. I open my mouth to throw something back—anything that’ll make her believe that I do have a family or loved ones.
Or a plant that loves me. Anyone. Anything.
Nothing comes out, and my cheeks begin to redden. The more seconds that pass while I try to come up with something to say, the faster my heart beats in my chest. But before I can die of humiliation and fall under the table, Ridge’s deep voice cuts through the room sharply. And even though I know he’s about to be an ass, I welcome it.
