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‘I’ll call you.’ I pivot on my heels and jog towards the escalators, not wanting to prolong the challenge of leaving him. I’m ripping the bandage off instead of peeling it away slowly. I take a cheeky peek over my shoulder just as I reach the top of the escalators, finding he’s at the bottom still, watching me go. I smile and lift my hand and give him a small wave, and Theo mirrors it. Then Callum appears, coming to stand a few feet away from Theo. And I realize, he’s probably been in the background the whole time.
I give Theo one last smile before turning away, taking a deep breath, and stepping off the escalator, reminding myself why I’m here. I find Jess at the bar with Kyle, though Denny is nowhere in sight. ‘Hey,’ I say, jumping on to a stool next to them.
‘Izzy!’ Jess sings, waving the barman over. ‘Oh my God, what happened?’
‘Too much to go into now.’ I laugh.
‘Cosmopolitan, please,’ Jess says to the barman before giving me her undivided attention again. ‘Tell. Now.’
I look at Kyle, wary, and he laughs, indicating over his shoulder. ‘I need the men’s room.’
I smile, grateful for the privacy, though I doubt he’ll be gone long enough for me to explain everything. ‘Thanks,’ I say as he wanders off, leaving me at the mercy of my friend’s raging curiosity. ‘Shit, Jess,’ I breathe, slumping over the bar.
‘Here, drink.’ She pushes a glass over to me, and I accept appreciatively, taking a long swig. ‘Holy shit, Izzy,’ Jess blurts, and I look out the corner of my eye to her, my glass still at my lips. I find her staring at my wrist, and I look down, cringing, knowing what I’m going to see. Red marks. Not too angry, but obvious. ‘What the hell?’ She throws a horrified look at me.
‘He . . .’ I stall, wondering if I should share the reasons for Theo tying me up.
‘He tied you up?’ she asks, moving in closer, hungry for the dirt.
I nod and swig more. ‘Arms and legs.’
‘Eeeek!’ she squeals. ‘And you liked it?’
I can see the hope in her. The desperation for me to have had sex for healthy reasons, which is really quite laughable given how I just had sex. But the truth is, I loved every moment. Even the teasing, torturing tactics Theo adopted. The pain that faded into pleasure. ‘It was pretty mind-blowing,’ I whisper, and she smiles, so bright.
‘Did you find out more about him?’
I contemplate that for a moment. He didn’t exactly tell me much, though I feel like I know him a lot better after a filthy fucking session. ‘He’s thirty-one.’ I start with the simplest piece of information.
‘What does he do for a living?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘You didn’t ask?’
‘No.’ I turn towards the bar. ‘We didn’t really talk about that kind of stuff.’
‘Then what?’
‘He’s picked up on the fact that I’ve run from something.’
‘Did you tell him?’
‘No. Just like he didn’t tell me why he doesn’t like being touched.’
Jess’s forehead creases in question. ‘He doesn’t like being touched?’
‘No.’
‘Why?’
I shrug. ‘I don’t know. He needs controlled environments. He says he’s hyperaware of me. Of my movements, more so than anyone else’s.’
‘Wow,’ she breathes. ‘Does he have a phobia? Maybe sensitive skin or something?’
I shake my head, thinking hard. ‘He can touch me. He can touch anything. But nothing can touch him. But whenever I asked him about it, he closed up. Or countered with a question I really didn’t want to answer.’
‘So you’re both broken.’ She winces, her face apologetic. ‘I didn’t mean it like it sounded.’
I’m quick to reassure her. ‘I know.’
Reaching over, she gives my arm a soft rub, and I smile in return. ‘Were you serious when you said his cock is so-so?’
I laugh. ‘He was listening. I didn’t want to inflate his ego.’
‘So it’s big?’ she asks, excited. It’s ridiculous. We should be more interested in the fact that Theo tied me up, and why he tied me up.
‘Very,’ I confirm, unable to lie. ‘And he knows how to use it.’ I drift off in my mind, back to the bedroom of Theo’s suite, seeing myself squirm and beg under his attention. The man is entirely irresistible.
Jess slumps back on her stool, taking her drink and sipping thoughtfully. ‘Wow, Izzy. Could it be serious?’
Her question gives me pause. ‘I don’t know,’ I answer honestly. How serious could being completely and utterly consumed by someone be?Chapter 10
I felt I owed it to Jess to give the rest of our holiday my all after disappearing on her. I owe it to myself, too. Theo turning up out of the blue knocked me off balance – more so than I already was with him just having a presence in my mind. But I can’t deny how enamoured I am by him. Completely hooked.
