“Ellie girl, you’re better than any fantasy I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a lot of fantasies about you.”
Her eyes morph from lust to something else—something softer. “Me too,” she says quietly.
For a moment neither one of us speaks. I cut through the silence first.
“Let me clean you up,” I say under my breath, tucking my dick back in my pants.
She stays quiet, and watches me as I step into her en suite and dampen a washcloth under warm water.
When I return, she’s still like she was when I left her, but her eyes look tired.
Wordlessly I clean her up and she lets me.
After dropping the washcloth in a nearby hamper, I pause, unsure of what my next move should be. It doesn’t feel right going back downstairs and sleeping on the couch like nothing happened, but it also feels wrong to stay, even though I already went too far.
As if she can read my mind she says, “Stay.”
Her hand pats the left side of the bed, the side I just so happen to already sleep on.
For once in my life, I don’t question if this is right or wrong. Nothing about getting to share space with Ellie could ever be wrong. So I nod, and take off my jeansand shirt, leaving me in nothing but my boxer briefs. She stares, her eyes full of heat.
Honestly, I’m already getting hard again. But I know we crossed a boundary thanks to some alcohol, and shouldn’t keep going.
I slip under the covers and reach for her, way past stopping myself from touching her. Especially, after tonight. She stiffens for a second, before completely melting and cuddling against me, her back to my front.
God, she feels so good. She feels like she was always meant to be in my arms. And I can’t believe I’ve survived so long without her.
Never again. I don’t care what it takes, but I’m never going back to the man I was without her. I fell for her hard, and I never got back up. She’s mine. She’s my everything.
I kiss the back of her head, snuggling her closer. “Happy birthday, querida mía.”
“Mmm,” she hums, sleepily. “Happy birthday, Dominic.”
CHAPTER 36
Elyse
HANDLE IT LIKE ADULTS
PRESENT
Iwake up alone.
My body jackknifes, sitting up so fast the room spins.
Maybe I dreamt it. Maybe it was just a really vivid dream.
I pat my hand over the left side of the bed. It’s still warm. Sheets twisted.
Fuck!
Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. It wasn’t a dream.
As panic grips me, the smell of chorizo wafts through the air. I can faintly hear the crackling of it frying downstairs. My head is pounding and my mouth feels like I swallowed a bucket of sand.
I don’t know if I can face him. He must think I’m insane. I’ve been all over the place—cold and bitchy one moment, friendly the next, and then practically threw myself at him.
I let him see menaked!
