Delilah’s eyes were hazy and unfocused as she looked up at me, her cheeks flushed with the heat that simmered between us. “Tell me.”
I leaned down and kissed her. The kind of kiss that made me feel weightless and unburdened, like I was soaring. Her grip on my hand tightened to the point of pain, the kind that reminded me I was alive, that this was real. That I was fucked.
“Because you’re mine,” I whispered.
She came hard, my words setting her off. They shocked me as much as they wrecked her. But I wouldn’t take them back even if I could. It was the truth. She was mine, whether I had the rightto claim her or not. And knowing I belonged to her just as much had me coming harder than ever.
We said no strings. But lying here with her wrapped around me, looking up at me with those hazel eyes and a blissed-out smile, all I could see were strings.
I joltedawake under a ceiling with glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to it, too hot, with orange hair in my face. I looked down and found a freckled arm around my waist and a matching leg slung over my hips.
My breath caught. Holy shit. I slept over at Delilah’s. I didn’t even remember falling asleep. All I remember was holding her and playing with her hair while she asked about my tattoos. Reaching for my phone, my eyes widened when I saw it was seven in the morning. I hadn’t slept this late—or through the night—in years. I felt rested, rejuvenated, and fucking terrified.
This was so careless of me. I could’ve had a nightmare, and all those fears I had about accidentally hurting someone would’ve come true. We could’ve become one of those statistics.
Guilt had me sliding out from under her grasp. She only stirred a little, nuzzling deeper into her pillow when I pulled the blanket over her. I hated that the sight of her sleeping made my heart skip a beat, that because of her, I’d had the most peaceful night of sleep since my early twenties. But most of all, I hated that I was leaving because I didn’t want to.
Unable to stop it, I brushed her hair back and kissed her temple, savoring this moment because I couldn’t let it happen again. No matter how much I wanted to. This was supposed to be just sex, and I couldn’t drag her down into my mess. No matter how good I knew she’d look in the dirt.
11
Ch 10 - Delilah
Because you’re mine.
The words had been playing in my head since they slipped past Emmett’s lips two days ago. But beyond that, I couldn’t get rid of the hurt I felt that I’d woken up in an empty bed the next morning. I’d dreamt of sleeping beside him for as long as I could remember, and it had been some of the best sleep I’d gotten.
Something shifted between us Sunday night when he showed up at my door, rain-soaked and raging with jealousy. I knew it was childish to string that guy along just to see if it’d make Emmett jealous, but I couldn’t care. I’d spent literal decades watching him with girls, and couldn’t do anything about it. But I refused to be subjected to that special form of torture while he was fucking me in secret.
But since then, he’d been distant, and I was too busy with Freedom Reins to corner him and find out why. We were set to open in a month, and I was swamped with final preparations. I had selected my first ten patients, and I’d been polishing their treatment plans all morning when my office phone rang.
“Freedom Reins,” I answered in my business voice.
“Hi, this is Ethan Carmichael. Can I speak with Delilah Chase, please?”
I smiled, leaning back in my chair. He was probably calling to schedule his tour now that we’d cleaned up the tack room and replaced all the ruined supplies.
Tess had to crunch some numbers, but we managed to make it work. Pretty sure Beau had a few gray hairs now because of it, though. Especially since we never figured out who was responsible. But Emmett and Colt implemented new security measures around the ranch almost instantly. I was having agreattime stalking everyone. Just yesterday, I caught Beau at the jeweler’s when he told us he had a dentist appointment.
“Hey, Ethan, it’s Delilah.”
“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Hello. How are you today?”
I sat up slowly, unease swirling in my stomach at his apprehensive tone. “I’m fine…” My brows furrowed at the open folder of treatment plans I’d spent weeks on, my heart in my throat. “How are you?”
A heavy breath rattled through the phone, and I instantly broke out into a cold sweat. “I’ll just cut to it—I’m pulling my sponsorship.”
I flew out of my chair, gripping the phone. “What?” I screeched, then yanked it from my ear and sucked in a shaky breath. “Sorry for that. But…what happened?”
“I know this is sudden, and not what you were expecting, and I’m sorry for that. It’s not something I was expecting either. I was really excited to be partnering up with Freedom Reins.”It sure as shit doesn’t sound like it, Ethan!I bit my tongue. Now was not the time to chew him out. If I had any chance of fixing this, I needed to keep a level head.
“Can you at least tell me why?” My voice cracked. I didn’t care that he’d heard it. I couldn’t. I was devastated. He’d pledged a yearly donation of a million dollars. And now it was gone,just like that. There better be a damn good reason why he was backing out—bankruptcy, a brain-eating parasite that turned him fucking dumb, anything—or I’d lose it. But let’s face it, I was already going to lose it when this call was over.
“I’ve heard some…interesting things about you, and I just think it’s best that we part ways.”
All the blood drained from my face, and I planted a hand on my desk, feeling like my legs were going to give. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to sit back down, putting my head between my knees so I didn’t pass out.
“What kind of things? Any rumor you’ve heard about me isn’t true, Ethan.” He must’ve been the one to call Macy a few weeks ago. I should’ve known. I should’ve investigated it more. But I’d been so caught up with Freedom Reins and Emmett that I let it slip.
