Page 14 of My Weakness

“Yeah, security took care of him. I got you out of there and brought you home, I wasn’t sure what he’d given you, so I stayed to make sure you were okay.”

“Do you know what it was now?” He won’t meet my eyes and his fingers fiddle with his mug of coffee.

“Yeah, I kind of worked it out pretty quick.” He doesn’t say anything else.

“Well?” I prompt.

“He, uh, he gave you an aphrodisiac. Pretty sure it was E, and with your lack of memory for some parts of the night that would make sense.” The words sit in the air around us, hovering at my subconscious, trying to draw the memories to the surface.

“Oh — oh my God.” My head falls into my hands. The dildo, me being naked; it’s all starting to make sense now.

“It’s fine, you were… ah shit.” His fingers press into his eye sockets. “Nothing happened, okay? I didn’t touch you, not like that.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, and his eyes fly to mine.

He took care of me. The man I always thought hated me, the man who for the past five years has done everything he canto make my life difficult, to hurt me in some way, saved me. He didn’t just save me either, he stayed, he made sure I was okay, and even though it must be difficult, he’s sitting here now explaining it all to me so I don’t worry.

“Always,” he murmurs and then shakes himself out of the trance we’ve found ourselves in. “Look, I should go.” He looks around him like he’s unsure of what else to say. “Your cell is on the coffee table. I had to put it on silent because it was pinging like crazy. I let the girls know you were okay and that I was staying with you, but they want you to call them.”

Before I can even blink, he’s hurrying to the door of my apartment, desperate to escape, and I let him. Now isn’t the time to work out what’s going on between us, but I know with every part of me that something has changed.

Plus, it’s not until the door closes behind him that his words from last night come back to me.

Fuck, baby, not like this. The first time I touch you won’t be when a drug is running through you, you’ll remember every moment of what I do to you.

Chapter Nine

River

I’ve jerked off that many times, I think I’ve got blisters forming on my hand. I can’t get the image of her spread out on her bed with the dildo between her legs out of my mind. It plays on repeat, all day, every day. I can feel my restraint slipping on an hourly basis, too much more and I know I’m going to snap.

It’s Monday morning and I’m praying she doesn’t stop by for lunch today. I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from spreading her out on my desk and eating her instead.

“Hey.”

I’m hallucinating. I must be, because it’s ten in the goddamned morning and she’s here.

“I can’t make lunch today, I’ve got a meeting, so I brought coffee, instead.” She places it on my desk in front of me, but I don’t take it, I can’t. If I move even an inch I’m going to pounce on her.

She’s dressed to kill — well, kill me — in tight fitting slim pants, a loose peach shirt, and sexy black strappy heels. I want to close my door and strip every item from her so she’s as naked as she was Friday night.

I close my eyes and count to ten, but she’s still standing there when I open them, still looking just as tempting as she did ten seconds earlier, only now her scent has permeated my space. I need her to leave. Right now. I push back from my desk so abruptly she jumps.

“You need to go,” I rasp.

“I just wanted to say thank you again for Friday.”

She hasn’t moved, she’s still standing in my office, in my space, tempting me with how fucking perfect she is.

“Please, I need you to go.”

“River?” She cocks her head at me.

“Just fucking go, Ava. I need you to go. NOW.” I spin away from her, not wanting to see the hurt blooming across her features. My hands are shaking as I drop my head into them and a feral groan leaves me. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever said her name, and I said it with such viciousness.

I hear the click of my office door and know she’s left.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’m so fucking sorry,” I grate out.