“Take me upstairs,” she says.
Arousal rushes through my blood, a groan escaping as my cock hardens in my pants. I fist my hand in her hair, delicately tugging her back, making her neck arch.
“Are you sure?” I demand. “This happens, and there’s no going back.” She licks her lips, and I track the movement, imagining her using that pink tongue on me. I shake off the haze, needing her to understand the choice she’s making. “I’m serious, baby. You let me have you, and you’re mine.”
She doesn’t look away from me, her eyes heavy-lidded and sure. “So make me yours.”
I don’t waste any time, pulling her up off the couch and herding her upstairs. Once in her bedroom, I slowly shut the door behind me, firmly flicking the lock into place. Lynley’s watching me, that pulse still fluttering wildly in her throat and a flush steadily creeping up her neck and cheeks. She takes a step back, and I wing up a brow.
“Where you going, baby?” My voice is dark, rough. She shivers, and I grin wickedly, leaning my shoulders back against the door. Lynley glances behind her at the perfectly made bed, turning back to me with a coy smile.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she promises, her shoulders loose and her expression free of the tension that was there when I first arrived tonight. “But I was wondering…” She takes another step back, her fingers flirting with the hem of her shirt.
I drop my eyes to her hand before dragging them back to her face. My cock is thick and hard, pulsing with need,and I shift my weight, spreading my legs to give it room. It still feels like a dream—the fantasy I told her about—that we’re here right now, and I’m planning on savoring every goddamn moment.
“What were you wondering?” I ask when she falls quiet.
She lifts a curved nail to her mouth, tapping her full bottom lip like she’s thinking. “I was wondering whether you made me get the biggest bed in the store so you would fit in it.”
My grin widens. “I’m a big man, Lynne,” I say, because there’s no point in denying this one. I’ve always known how I want this chase to end.
Her eyes trail slowly over the broad line of my shoulders, over my torso, and down my arms, covered in a plain cotton shirt that clings to every plane and ridge. I’m not a vain man, but I make sure to keep myself in good physical shape, always making time for workouts and looking after my body. As Lynley’s eyes gleam with appreciation, I’m glad for those choices now.
I straighten away from the door, wanting my woman to be able to enjoy every hard inch of me. It only takes seconds for that blue stare to land on the prominent bulge in my jeans, her eyes flaring as I bite back a laugh.
“I noticed,” she says a little breathlessly.
I take a step toward her. “And this is where we were always going to end up…one way or another.” There’s an edge to my voice that has her eyes flitting back to mine, a question lingering in them. “I won’t hide anything from you,” I tell her, taking another step. She doesn’t move, her feet planted even as her chest lifts with each breath. “But be sure you want to know the truth before you ask.”
There’s the slightest hesitancy before the question spillsfrom her. “What would you have done if Christopher didn’t fuck up?”
My reaction is instantaneous, rage surging through my body and my lip curling up in a snarl. “Don’t say his name in our bedroom.”
She mouths, “Our bedroom,” her eyes sparking as she asks pertinently, “What would you have done, Grafton?”
I roll my shoulders out, tension settling at the base of my skull. I’m not worried about her reaction, because I wasn’t lying earlier. I won’t hide anything from her. But I’m also not sure she’s aware of how obsessed I am, or just how far I’d go to make sure she’s mine.
It was better, the way it worked out, because she came to me on her own.
If she hadn’t…
“I thought about it a lot,” I admit quietly. I spread my arms out, tilting my head to the side. “I have the money, the means, and the connections to get almost anything I want. The night I first saw you…” I shake my head, watching her carefully, but there’s nothing alarmed in her expression. “I promised myself that if you were happy…it would be enough for me.”
“But I wasn’t happy.” She says it simply, like it’s no big deal—not really. The memory of it is enough to have a wave of violence rolling through me, remembering how callously that asshole treated her.
“No, you weren’t,” I agree firmly. “When I found out what he was doing? God. Ihatedhim, Lynne. If you hadn’t put the wheels into motion yourself…If you hadn’t come to Reynolds & Media that day, I promise I would’ve found a way to make sure you knew.” One more step brings me within reaching distance, and I cup her face in my hands, thumbs stroking over her cheekbones. She reaches up,resting her hands on my wrists, just holding them there. “I never wanted to hurt you, but even if you didn’t know the truth, he wasn’t making you happy. He couldn’t,” I say fiercely. “And he didn’t deserve your love and loyalty.”
“But you do.” It’s a statement, her shaped brows lifting.
I shake my head again. “I will,” I correct. “I’ll show you every day that I’m worthy of you, and I’ll fight the world just to see you smile.”
“I don’t need you to fight the world,” she says so softly that I have to lean closer to catch the words. “But you can show me.”
She slides her hands up my arms to my chest, and then down to the hem of my shirt, tugging at it pointedly. I take the hint, stepping back and reaching up to grab it, yanking it off in one fluid motion. Lynley’s eyes flare with appreciation as I drop the material carelessly to the ground, her finger trailing down the center of my chest, her nail scraping over my nipple and making me hiss out a breath.
“Beautiful,” she whispers, almost to herself.
I grunt, squinting at her. “Not beautiful.”
