Yours, For Good (Cozy Latine Billionaires #4)

40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Javier

Nora didn't say much afterwards. She studied me with the kind of seriousness I used to only see in the mirror. Maybe I'd brought down her optimism by being around her; if so, I deserved the limbo we were in for a whole new reason.

"You don't have to say anything right now." I gave her another kiss, with as much care as I could add to it. "Take your time. Even when you leave New York… we don't need to make it into a hard deadline if we don't want to."

Her arms came around my neck; her cold, wet skin left trails on my shoulders, and a shiver ran down my spine.

"If nothing else," she said, "all this understanding is going to spoil me rotten."

"I'd like to spoil you more."

"That's a feeling I know well. I love spoiling my wife, myself."

Nora and I turned to the man standing on the dock, who watched us with curiosity. I'd recognize his voice anywhere, but the trousers and waistcoat, casual stance with his hands in his pockets, and cheeky grin, confirmed my best friend's presence.

"Hello, there." He inspected Nora's face with true curiosity. "I am Maximiliano Errázuriz and I am delighted to meet you."

"Hello, Max." I adjusted Nora in my arms so she stayed close— closer— to me.

"Hey," Nora said. "I've heard about you."

Max's smile grew impossibly wider. "I'm happy to hear that and not worried in the least. After this weekend, you'll understand why everyone mentioned my charm."

That made Nora laugh and, in turn, Max's grin shone with its full potency.

"I did mention he's charming," I admitted.

I jerked my head to point at the ladder, and Nora and I began our way out of the water.

Max made room for us on the wooden structure. "Eva and I arrived fifteen or so minutes ago. She's in the house. Gabe and Lina, and Jake and Vi texted— they'll be here in an hour. I saw the towels and came down to find you."

I let Nora go up first. Admiring her backside was a natural consequence. I didn't have to look at Max to know he would have noticed and was likely smirking.

"This will be a wonderful weekend," Max said in Nora's direction. "I'm looking forward to meeting you properly. As for the interrogation, you have nothing to worry about."

Max picked up our towels and gave one to Nora, then one to me when I stepped on the dock.

"That sounds like I should be worried, actually." Nora gave Max a playful look.

"Not at all," Max said. "The interrogation is for Javier."

"I told you they'll tease me." I put a hand on Nora's back and, after collecting all our things, we started on the walk back to the house.

"You, Nora, will be pampered this weekend." Max spoke like a fancy gallery owner describing the new modern art exposition. "If you stick around, we'll start teasing you next time we meet. It will be a slow progression, not to worry you too much. We do want you sticking around."

"Mmh, interesting." Nora's eyes switched between Max and I. "It sounds like you know I may not stick around for long, but hope I will."

"That's exactly right," Max said.

We entered the shaded area of the path. We strolled up the way, guided by old wood logs and stones keeping the walkway neat and solid, and where the pine smell was the strongest.

"So you're invested." Nora asked. "Why?"

"I invest in many things." Max's smile was one of his cheeky ones. "My friends' happiness is one of them."

Nora glanced at me as if truly considering Max's statement. I let her inspect me with nothing but a small curl to my lips.

"I have known Javier for nearly twenty years," my friend continued. "I know he goes quiet in moments like this, and he prefers one-liners in a group but, one-on-one? Hit one of his special interests and he'll talk your ear off. He'll keep you fascinated— and he'll listen. Carefully. It makes you feel…"

I gazed at my friend, gratitude and affection swaying my heart.

"Like in that moment, nothing but you matters," Nora supplied.

Max's grin was triumphant. "Exactly. Then, because you casually mentioned how you missed this one liquor you can only find in your home country, you'll find a case of it delivered to your doorstep within a week."

"That's true." She laughed. "Once, I mentioned a tickle in my throat in one of my letters and, next thing I know, half a drugstore was delivered to my— well, his condo."

We reached the house yard and made for the stairs up to the deck. We climbed them in silence, to find Eva sitting on the outdoor sofa and waiting for us.

"Darling," Max called, "let me introduce you to Nora."

Eva approached us with a welcoming smile on your face. "I'm excited to finally meet you."

"Wow, you're cool!" Nora exclaimed. "I love your hair."

Eva chuckled, and ran her fingertips along the shaved side of her head. Her big curls fell around the other side of her face.

"From what I've heard," she said, "you're very cool, too. You'll fit right in."

Nora laughed. "I'm standing here wet from the lake, with a towel around my shoulders, and you call me cool?"

"You should have seen Javier talk about you." Eva smirked in my direction. "It left us no doubt there's something special about you. It was clear he's… taken."

Nora gazed at me again, as if to gauge my reaction.

I shrugged, the same small smile tilting my lips. "It's true."

I was thoroughly taken. I may not have known what being in love was like, but with this feeling in my chest, I knew I had to be close.

"I knew this," Nora said. "But hearing it from your friends feels different, somehow."

"We love him." Max gazed at me with affection. "We're going to help him plead his case. Respectfully, of course. Within measure."

I returned the look, hoping my feelings showed as clear in my eyes. He reassured me with a nod.

Eva glanced at her husband with humor in her eyes. "He means, we'll make sure you feel welcome and not at all overwhelmed."

"That's basically what I said!" Max argued.

Nora laughed, and we escaped to the room to change for the rest of the evening.

That Saturday, I woke up next to Nora for the fourth time. A rare, unfettered smile took over my lips; so far, the weekend was a success. The evening before, my friends had seemed as enthralled by Nora as I was, and laughter and conversation had lasted well into the night.

Even better, Nora's eyes sparkled as they used to. She matched Max and Vi's playfulness, Jake and Eva's sensitivity, and dazzled Gabe and Lina with her business plan.

The feeling in my chest that morning? Pride. Unearned, for sure; Nora was the one who deserved all the praise. All I had done was notice how wonderful she was, and the rest had been inevitable.

Gabe's parents weren't at the lake house this weekend. On times like this when we stayed up late, we didn't bother with breakfast. We set up a grazing station in the kitchen, where people could eat as much as they pleased during the day, in wait for the main meal at dinnertime. That way, everyone could sleep in if they liked, and not affect anyone.

I shared that with Nora and let her go into the shower first; I hadn't had a chance to write in my journal the night before, and I wanted to catch up. I sat on the bed and filled a few pages with ink, glasses on.

It was the first thing Nora noticed when she came into the room.

"Fuck, you look hot," she said.

I snapped my eyes up to her. "I could say the same thing."

She wore a graphic shirt knotted at her waist, and the same skirt from the time she vented all the frustrations she had with me and my decisions. She had also pulled half her hair into a high bun, allowing her face to stand out, and inviting me to pepper kisses all over.

A flirty smile slanted her mouth. She climbed on the bed and crawled to me.

I gulped. The only thing hotter than that moment, was when I was inside her.

She pressed her lips against mine in a teasing, slow manner. "I'm not saying that only because of the gray sweatpants, which— don't get me wrong. I very much enjoy that. But your glasses? They make me weak , Javier Pendleton."

"You haven't eaten. That might be low blood sugar…"

I had no idea where those words had come from; Nora's proximity had flipped a few switches in my brain, and the connection between reason and mouth had malfunctioned.

But she laughed. "No, it is you. You're sexy, Javier. I've always known that, even when I didn't want to admit it."

She gave me another kiss, and this time I kept her close with a hand around her neck. I claimed her mouth for a longer kiss.

I broke it off, but gave her a last small kiss on her freckles. "Pity you can't take advantage of me at the moment."

"Pity indeed, considering what's going on in said sweatpants." She stole a glance at the half-boner taking shape under the fabric.

I arched an eyebrow at my overly eager cock. "I told it to relax, but it didn't listen."

"Mmhh, poor thing." She palmed me through the fabric. "We won't get to do much while here, will we?"

I held my breath for a few seconds, like it would help me contain the blood rushing south. "Probably not. If my friends have had sex with their partners here, I haven't heard them. I can't be the first."

"Then you should make sure to keep quiet." She closed her teeth gently around my swelling dick, and I went instantly hard.

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath. I let out the air in my lungs through pursed lips. "You sure you don't want to go eat something?"

"I'll have you for breakfast first." She glanced at me with a playful— and more than a bit evil— smile.

"Nora—"

Her name died in a strangled sound on my throat, when she got my hard cock out of pants and underwear, and gave it one long lick, base to head.

Unconsciously, I sunk my fingers in her hair, just as she wrapped her lips around me and took me in.

"Fffff-uck!" The sound barely made it out of my mouth, but it was clear to my ears.

Nora chuckled and repeated the movement. After a few times, her hand took over.

"I thought you like to be tormented," she said. "I could do that and leave… with the work unfinished."

"I knew there was an evil glint in your eyes."

"Or… I could return the favor. I do owe you a few orgasms." She went back to sucking me, licking me.

She hollowed out her mouth, dragging her lips on my length.

I bit hard on my lip, my chest working at full speed. Fire built under my skin, and I had to gather the scraps of my strength not to pull on Nora's hair and demand more.

"You don't owe me a thing." I bit back a groan. "Three-to-one is a good ratio. Two-to-one is the bare minimum."

She let her hand do the work again. She glanced up at me. "Orgasm ratio? As in, I should always come at least twice as often as you do?"

I nodded, the movement more of a jerking motion than anything. "Minimum."

"Mmmmh. You deserve a reward for such generosity."

She went back to working me with her mouth and, if keeping the sounds I wanted to make quiet were a sport, I'd surely get gold.

Without meaning to, I slapped my journal and pen off the bed; it landed on the floor with a sharp plop . I barely processed it. All I could do was grab onto the sheets for dear life, and follow her movements with the hand still in her hair.

I held onto the moan clutching my throat. " You deserve an award for that mouth, Jesus fucking Christ."

Praise seemed to spur her own. I begged my brain to file the information for later use, if it could latch onto it through the fog of pleasure wiping my mind clean. In the trance she had me in, with her lips and tongue and hand playing me like an instrument she knew well, all I could do was let go of her hair and caress her face.

The gesture revealed ink behind her ear. In minimal lines, it delineated a book and flowers sprouting from the open spine.

"I found your tattoo," I whispered and closed my eyes. "I'm gonna come."

She let her hand finish me off, and I shot my cum on my shirt-covered stomach.

When I came back to myself, my breathing scraped through my vocal cords. I had to blink several times to make sure my eyes still worked.

"I hope you brought a couple extra shirts," she said. "I don't know how it happened, but there's a bit of a mess on this one now."

I chuckled, completely blissed out. "I wonder how that happened."

"It was the glasses." She gazed at me with victory in her eyes. "And the sweatpants. Deadly combo, in my opinion."

"Duly noted." I caressed her face again. "Pretty tattoo, by the way."

"Thank you, but I'm famished. I'll go eat something now, unless you need help finding the bathroom? You look a bit dazed."

I laughed. "I'll be okay, I think. Eventually. I'll GPS my way to it if I must."

It was her turn to laugh. She came off the bed and kissed me one last time. "See you downstairs."