Chapter 308: When the Observer Finally Joins In
Katherine let the glance linger until Cassandra noticed, then focused on Martin again. She found a steady rhythm, her upper body rocking between his knees while his hips answered beneath her. The room had grown quiet enough for every wet movement to carry through the open living space, and Cassandra listened to each one.
She followed the red hair sweeping over Martin’s lap and the tension gathering beneath his shirt whenever Katherine took him deeper. His eyes had fallen half closed, and his head rested against the sofa. For the moment, he seemed aware of no one but Katherine.
People rarely forgot Cassandra Selfmore. Executives rehearsed before entering her office, politicians measured every word around her, and strangers who had never met her still argued about decisions she had made years ago. She had built a life in which her time was scarce and everyone else’s interest came automatically, yet Martin no longer seemed capable of sparing her a glance.
The realization pricked at her pride, but the irritation never fully arrived. Martin was not ignoring her to diminish her or force her to compete. Katherine had simply taken control of his pleasure so thoroughly that the calm young man beside Cassandra had stopped guarding his reactions. His open need fascinated her more than another carefully chosen compliment ever could.
For once, Cassandra was the observer. She could watch without leading the room, deciding the next step, or wondering what someone wanted from her wealth. Martin wanted Katherine’s mouth. Katherine wanted to hear him lose control. Neither desire required Cassandra’s approval, and being allowed to witness that honesty made heat gather low in her body.
Cassandra shifted on her knees. Pressing her thighs together only sharpened the ache between them, and Katherine’s steady rhythm gave her no chance to ignore it. Every rough breath Martin released made her more aware of her own need until her hand traveled down her stomach.
When her fingers reached the fastening of her trousers, she paused. Katherine appeared absorbed in Martin, and his half-closed eyes suggested he had forgotten everything beyond the pleasure she was giving him. If Cassandra stopped now, neither of them needed to know how close she had come to joining them.
Martin’s hips lifted again and drew a muffled sound from Katherine. Cassandra opened her trousers.
She kept the movement close to her body and shielded it behind the angle of her thigh. Her fingers slipped beneath the loosened waistband and came to rest against herself. Touching her own skin made everything feel more real, and she hesitated until another low, rough breath broke from Martin.
Her fingers began moving in small, cautious strokes. Cassandra looked between Katherine’s bobbing head and the hand gripping the redhead’s shoulder. Whenever Martin’s fingers tightened or his stomach tensed, she repeated the motion she had been making, allowing his reactions to guide her along with her own pleasure.
The wet sounds between Martin’s legs quickened. Cassandra eased her knees farther apart to give her hand more freedom, and the practiced calm of her breathing began to fail. Katherine’s orange eyes slid toward her.
Cassandra’s cheeks burned. "If you laugh, I will throw you out of my penthouse."
The corners of Katherine’s mouth lifted around Martin, but she suppressed the sound that threatened to escape her. Martin opened his eyes at the change in her expression.
His gaze found Cassandra first, then followed the line of her arm to the hand hidden inside her trousers. When he looked back at her face, the hunger in his expression made it pointless for either of them to pretend he had misunderstood.
Cassandra stopped moving. Neither of them spoke while Katherine continued between his knees. Martin watched her without embarrassment or mockery, and after several long seconds, Cassandra resumed with slower strokes.
He made no attempt to draw further attention to what Cassandra was doing or demand that she show him more. The choice remained hers. That restraint mattered, especially tonight, when she still had not decided what trusting him again would require.
Martin’s eyes did not leave hers. With him watching, Cassandra gradually stopped caring about concealment. She shifted her weight and let her knees open another inch while her fingers found a steadier rhythm. A faint sound escaped with her next breath, and her eyes narrowed in warning before Martin could comment.
Martin respected the warning. He said nothing, though his grip on Katherine’s shoulder tightened and his hips moved beneath her with renewed urgency.
His silence encouraged Cassandra more than teasing would have. She kept touching herself while holding his gaze and no longer tried to hide every trace of pleasure behind her usual composure.
The change in Cassandra began to affect Katherine too. Her free hand left Martin’s thigh and traveled down her stomach. Opening her trousers without lifting her mouth from him forced her onto one knee, and she paused when her fingers first slipped beneath the waistband. A muffled breath warmed Martin’s skin before she steadied herself and continued.
Maintaining both rhythms demanded more of her. Her hips shifted over her heel, her shoulders rolled with each descent, and her breathing grew ragged enough to interrupt the smooth pace she had established. Whenever Martin lifted his hips, Katherine planted her hand against the sofa and followed him without stopping the fingers moving beneath her waistband.
Cassandra stared openly now. Katherine met her eyes across Martin’s lap, and the earlier amusement had softened into shared hunger. For several breaths, the two women held each other’s gaze while touching themselves and listening to Martin struggle to remain quiet between them.
Martin finally groaned, and Katherine answered by taking him deeper. She slipped her hand out of her trousers, caught his wrist, and deliberately guided it toward the back of her head.
Martin understood the invitation, and his fingers sank into her thick red hair.
She looked up once, her orange eyes bright with expectation. When she lowered herself again, the last of Martin’s restraint disappeared.