Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“Can we really spend the entire day in bed?” she wondered when we ended up there again, the black robe in a crumpled heap on the floor beside it.
“We can do whatever the hell we want,” I said, stretching. Every time I thought I was satisfied, she did something that made the blood push back into my nether regions. My cock rose almost reluctantly. If you insist. And I always did.
“Mm, I like the sound of that.” She laid her head on my chest. We stayed there until darkness edged the sky, then we went out to dinner on the outskirts of town in a restaurant we felt sure no one we knew would be at. A chain where the servers wore colorful vests and every few minutes, they broke out into a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. It was loud and tacky, and the food was too salty, but I’d never been anywhere better. We drank sugary red wine that made my lip curl and food that looked like it had been unhealthy even before they’d deep fried it. Her foot tangled with mine, and the softness in her eyes when she gazed across the table at me nearly undid me.
I didn’t deserve this.
The thought cut through the haze like a scalpel, parting the mist in a razor fine line, letting me glimpse the truth just for a moment. I didn’t deserve to be this fucking content. Not when I couldn’t give her what she deserved. A good man wouldn’t have let it get this far. A better man would at least walk away now.
But I wasn’t either of those things. I took her back to my house afterward, unable to imagine spending the night without her. And though she had to go home the next morning, she promised to come back the next night, after Christi was in bed.
She kept her word, that night and the next, and the next. At work, we were all distance and formality. Then the dam broke as soon as the gate slid open. I met her at her car more often than not, opening the door for her not out of chivalry but out of desperation to get my hands on her. I skipped Tuesday night happy hour with my friends. I didn’t go to Julian’s holiday party the following weekend. All I wanted was her.
And when I let myself think about how much I wanted her, the scalpel cut through again. But as always, the truth it cut so cleanly from the haze was only revealed for a moment. I should end this before it breaks us both.
And then my senses filled with her again, and I pushed the knowledge aside.
24
SELENA
After the most magical night of my life, I woke up alone. For a moment, I was nonplussed by the broad, empty expanse of bed beside me, the pillow that was still dented in the middle as proof that he had been here. The proof was also a delicious ache between my legs that I wanted to curl up around and relive every moment of how it got there, but I didn’t want to do it alone.
I got out of bed and followed the smell of bacon and the sound of plates rattling down to the kitchen. Dominic was standing over the oven, shirtless, his drawstring pants low on his hips. I leaned against the column that delineated the separation between kitchen and dining nook and drank him in. How many people had gotten to see him like this? The way the skin on his back glowed a softer gold than his arms and face, the way he moved when he thought no one was watching. It was a subtle difference. He still had the graceful power of a predator, but his movements were less deliberate, more relaxed.
There were two plates set up on a tray that looked like it was only designed to fit one, their ceramic edges overlapping, crowding each other, but he’d jammed a stemless champagne flute glass in one corner that had a single flower in it. Eggs and toast had already been laid onto the plates, and there was just enough space left for the bacon he was moving off the burner now.
I started to offer help, but something stopped me. I didn’t want him to know I was here yet. I wanted to keep watching him with the complete freedom of knowing he wasn’t watching me back. So I stayed where I was, watching him. He muttered something under his breath when the bacon popped and a tiny droplet of grease splattered against his arm as he maneuvered the spatula underneath the meat. I winced in sympathy.
“Do you have any aloe vera?” I asked, forgetting that I was a silent observer.
“Fuck.” Dominic dropped the spatula, and the bacon slid off onto the floor. He turned to shoot me an aggravated look over his shoulder.