She squeezed her eyes shut as her muscles clamped down on him, the flutters of her orgasm throwing him headfirst into his own release. He kissed her again, his tongue invading her mouth and all thought fled. His legs locked, trying to keep them upright as he came.
"Oh my god, that was intense," she whispered. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders as she struggled to stand up.
&
nbsp; As his reason returned, shame washed over him. Mara deserved so much better than being fucked in a random corner. Like it was some illicit encounter. It only made what had happened with Avery earlier seem even worse. Mara should be spread on a bed of roses, pampered and protected. Not stealing embraces in a public place where only one morally ambiguous security guard stood between her and being publicly humiliated.
"We have to leave now. I'm taking you home."
If she was shocked at his sudden change in demeanor, she didn't say anything. She just did a sexy little wiggle to get her dress to fall back into place and then ran her hands over her hair.
"I need to stop by the bathroom. You know, to clean up." She gave him a meaningful look.
Trent nodded. He led them past the security guard at the entrance and down another corridor to the restrooms. She pushed the door open but before she entered, looked back at him. "I'll be just a minute. Hold these for me."
After she was gone, Trent looked down at what she'd pressed into his hand.
Her panties.
* * * * *
TRENT CHECKED HIS watch for the second time. Mara was taking a long time and he was starting to get some strange looks just hanging out in the hallway outside a women’s restroom. He was ready to get the hell out of there. The more time he had to think about the situation with Avery, the more he realized that he had to come clean with Mara immediately. He couldn’t predict what Avery would do. She wasn’t herself lately and the knowledge made him nervous. He definitely needed to get them home, away from prying eyes.
He was still not ready to think about the implications of whether his memory was faulty. Just because he didn’t remember if anything had happened that night didn’t mean it was impossible. He groaned. What if he was Travis’ father? He’d have lost years of time with his son that they could never get back. Not to mention how it would affect his relationship with Mara going forward.
It wasn’t that he thought she couldn’t accept and care for a child that wasn’t her own. But in light of the things she’d told him about Avery, he knew the situation had the potential to go nuclear. His thoughts turned to Mara’s accusations about Avery tricking her, deliberately trying to sabotage their family dinner. It brought up some truly troubling possibilities because if that was true than Avery’s behavior tonight wasn’t borne of insecurity and alcohol.
It was something she’d been thinking about for a long time.
The bathroom door opened and Mara finally appeared. Her hair was now in a low ponytail and she'd wiped the rest of her lipstick off completely.
"I'm ready to go. There's only so much I can fix in a public bathroom." She smiled up at him warmly, almost like she didn't mind that he'd just mauled her in public.
Trent put his arm around her shoulders and ushered her forward. Just before they got to the main entrance, he heard someone call out his name. He turned to see Sophia rushing after them.
She looked between them. “Where have you been?”
Mara flushed red and looked down at her shoes. Trent pulled her against his side and answered before his sister could read too much into that. “We were just on our way out. Did you need something?”
“I just wanted to tell you that James was here. He was looking for you.”
Trent stood up straighter. Coupled with Avery's earlier revelation, his brother's sudden appearance was not a good thing. "When was this?"
Sophia spoke to several people who passed by, her smile never faltering. "About half an hour ago. He was arguing with Avery, and then he asked me if I'd seen you. Then he just marched off."
"Okay, thanks for letting me know."
She put her hand on his arm. "He looked really upset. What is going on between the two of you?"
Sophia had always hated to see them fight. It wasn't fair to put her in the middle of their dispute. There was nothing that she could do to help, nothing anyone could do.
"Nothing for you to worry about. Thanks for the warning though."
With a worried smile, she headed back into the party. Trent scanned the crowd, wondering if his brother was still roaming around. Hopefully he could get outside and gone without an altercation.
“What was that about?” Mara asked.
He sighed. “I have something to tell you. But not here. There are too many people around.”