Page 55 of The Wedding Fake

I kissed my way down her body, stilling as reached her belly, which trembled under my touch. “If you want me to stop…” I let the words trail off as she nodded and bit down on her lower lip.

“I know. I will.”

The sight of her, open and glistening, made my dick ache, but I had to make this good for her, which meant I had to take it slow. I kissed her thighs, opening her wider, then settled between her legs and ran the flat of my tongue along her, skirting around her clit and making her squirm. “You’re perfect,” I hummed, enjoying the gasp the escaped her lips. “Stay quiet,” I warned her, leaning back in to lick and nibble.

As the minutes passed Claire became more wanton, her hips moving against my face, pressing herself into me, and I responded, kneading one breast while pressed two fingers into her and sucked hard on her clit. I’d known she was building toward a crescendo, but her orgasm still took me by surprise when it came and she arched like a bow, grabbing my hair in both fists and grinding up against me. When her body went slack I ran my tongue up her one final time, savoring her taste.

She was still shaking as I slid back up the bed, settling my hips between hers as I kissed her. I entered her agonizingly slowly and Claire sighed beneath me, as if she’d been waiting for this moment forever. Forever. The word banged around in my head, demanding to be noticed. I wanted Claire forever. Slipping my arms beneath her back and shoulders, I began pumping hard and fast, needing this closeness with her. “Don’t stop,” she whispered in my ear. “It feels. So. Good.” Her voice was stilted and breathy, and though I knew I should slow down and put enough space between us to reach her clit, I craved this fast, hard fuck as much as she did.

Soon I was holding her shoulders, needing to take her faster and harder, and Claire let out a strangled cry, pressing her mouth to mine to muffle herself. She was clutching me, her nails pressing into my skin, her body quivering, moaning long and low into the kiss. The sound seemed to vibrate through my body and I felt the telltale tightening near the base of my spine when she went completely tense. Her head dropped back, mouth slack, legs wrapped like a vice around my middle, and the bite of her sharp nails mixed with the rhythmic spasms of her body around my cock were enough to drive me over the edge.

I wanted to roar out my release, to shout her name and bite down into the tender skin at her shoulder and claim her as mine, but I did none of those things, and not just because we were having sex in her parents’ home. I knew she was not mine. She was not wavering on her promise of temporary, and only thirty-six hours remained before she moved on.

I wouldn’t move on quite so quickly, I knew, because even as I prepared myself for her to walk away, I realized Claire had claimed me. I was totally and completely hers.

It was easy to find the wedding party lined up in the hall of the B&B. I could hear them from where I stood near the front desk, despite the wide-eyed glances the owner kept making, suggesting they were intended to be much quieter. “Lovely space,” I said, pasting on my most charming smile. “I see why people would want to have their wedding here.”

The frown she’d been directing at the loud and boisterous wedding group smoothed into an anxious smile. “It will be much quieter later. This is just a busy moment,” she assured me. Since much of the wedding party was staying at the B&B, I doubted that would be the case, but I didn’t particularly care. It was my last night with Claire and I’d be damned if we spent it sleeping.

The owner handed me the extra key to our room, and I slipped it into my pocket before heading down the hall to the wedding party.

I walked into the fray of twenty-one-year-old dipshits, my eyes on Claire, who, despite being nearly in the center of their group thanks to the order of the line-up, was being largely ignored by the young men. I felt a swell of pride, assuming it was my quick talk with Claire’s partner, Jock, that had led to this behavior. Jock had been giving Claire a hard time until I’d leaned into his ear at the rehearsal and kindly reminded him that I’d delight in beating the ever-loving shit out of him in front of every single one of his friends.

Jock was currently facing away from me, but I stepped up so close we nearly touched, looking over the shorter man’s head at Claire. “You good, babe?”

Jock jumped in surprise, lurching away from me, and though I refrained from displaying pleasure at the younger man’s discomfort, Claire giggled openly. The sound was light and airy and it made me smile as I pushed past the kid and wrapped her up in a kiss. Her dress wasn’t something I would’ve chosen, but it was smooth under my fingertips, and I thought I’d enjoy the time both before and after I took it off her later.

“Enough, go,” Emily groused, pushing at my shoulder. “We have a wedding to walk in. Go.”

I wouldn’t have had a problem ignoring Emily, but in this case the eldest Davis sister was correct. The wedding was due to begin and I belonged in my seat. “She’s right,” I agreed, snatching a single last kiss on the cheek. “I—” I cut myself off, shocked by the words that had been prepared to come out of my mouth. Surely I had love on the brain because we were surrounded by it at this wedding. And I’d just visited my parents. Any and all professions of love could be traced back to those things, obviously. “I’ll be waiting for you,” I finished lamely, because Claire was staring at me, quite frozen, waiting for the end of my sentence.

“I’ll find you,” she promised.

I nodded, turning to go to my seat as the wedding planner began sushing the rowdy wedding party. I widened my eyes threateningly at Jock as I passed, and the man glared back at me but still flinched slightly as I walked by.

I found a spot in the third row, not far from where Claire would stand, knowing I didn’t stand a chance at keeping my eyes off her. Nora and Ethan seemed like perfectly nice people, but I didn’t care about their wedding. I cared about Claire.

I nodded approvingly at my thoughts. Cared about. That was accurate, not love, just care. Maybe someday love, I admitted, but my head twitched in a little shake. I couldn’t fall in love with someone who didn’t want to see me again after tomorrow.

I sighed, pushing the thoughts out of my head as Emily began to walk down the aisle with one of Ethan’s friends. Distantly, I could see Claire at the end of a long aisle of chairs, waiting, and I rather wished it were acceptable to stand before the bride came out.

As Emily passed the aisle I was in, Claire and Jock began walking. She moved with incredible elegance, as if she were floating down the aisle. Her eyes did a quick scan before they landed on mine, but the wide smile that spread across her face told me she’d been looking for me. I smiled back, winking at her as she got closer, oblivious to the next couple walking down the aisle as my head was on a swivel, following her.

She held my gaze until the music shifted, at which point her eyes shot up and I stood quickly, mirroring the pose of the guests next to me. I didn’t want to look away from Claire, but I assumed it was bad form to face away from the bride as she approached, so I turned to watch Nora walk up the aisle with her father, Charles.

As soon as the bride passed my aisle, my gaze returned to Claire. She was beautiful, perfect, and some tiny part of me—the part that was emotional and wouldn’t listen to reason—wished I’d told her I loved her. She caught my eye, winked once, and turned her attention fully to her sister for the remainder of the ceremony.

I watched her through the entire wedding, standing as first the bride and groom and then the rest of the bridal party made their way down the aisle at the end. Claire passed me, her smile big and wide and aimed at me, and I pulled out my phone, opening Instagram. My thumb hovered for a second, and then I deleted the account.

28

CLAIRE

I hadn’t wanted my baby sister to get married. Nora was too damn young and too damn inexperienced, and Ethan was immature on his best day.

But none of those reasons mattered anymore, because Nora was married, and she looked happy, and so many of my reservations seemed silly and insignificant when Hudson was around. I supposed this either meant I was a narcissist who only cared about my own happiness or that I’d been more jealous about Nora getting married than I’d realized. Neither was something to be proud of.

And though looking across the field to where Hudson leaned casually on a tree watching us take photos made my heart soar, I was pretty sure it wasn’t only Hudson that made me happy. More likely, it was the freedoms that came with realizing I could date again. My heart wasn’t made of glass and I’d survive any bad date or breakup that came my way.