He wants me. I felt it in that kiss.
But wanting and doing are two different things. And he looked so guarded, so suspicious, like he doesn't trust this. Doesn't trust me.
Stop overthinking. Either he shows up or he doesn't.
I leave the gallery early, take an Uber back to the hotel. Shower. Change into a robe. Pace.
Midnight comes and goes.
12:05.
12:10.
He's not coming.
I should have known better. Should have realized that a man like him doesn't chase girls he meets at clubs. Doesn't show up at hotel rooms based on an invitation from a stranger.
I'm reaching for my phone to text Chloe and confess my humiliation when someone knocks.
Quiet. Controlled.
My heart stops.
I open the door.
Axel's leaning against the frame, jacket gone, tie loosened, sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms that make my mouth water. He looks at me—really looks, his eyes traveling from my wet hair down to my bare feet and back up again.
"Second thoughts?" he asks.
"Are you?"
"I had second thoughts the moment I saw you. Third, fourth, fifth. Lost count somewhere around tenth." He pushes off the frame, steps inside. "Then I stopped caring."
I close the door behind him. Lock it. The click sounds too loud in the quiet room.
We stare at each other.
"We should talk," I say.
"Do you want to talk?"
"No."
"Then don't."
He crosses the space between us in two strides, and then his mouth is on mine and nothing else matters.
Holy shit.
It's not gentle. Not tentative. It's raw and hungry and demanding, his tongue sliding against mine like he's trying to devour me whole. I moan into his mouth, and he swallows the sound, his hands grabbing my waist and pulling me flush against him.
I can feel him. Hard. Thick. Pressed against my stomach through his pants.
He wants me. He actually wants me.
My robe comes undone. His hands slide inside, find bare skin, and I gasp against his mouth because his touch is everything I imagined and nothing like I expected. Rough palms. Calloused fingers. The hands of a man who's done violence, who's survived things I can't imagine.
They feel perfect on my skin.
