Page 159 of This Woman


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She inhales. “Stop.”

“No. Say you’ll come.” I’ve got her. Water is drenching the floor, her fruitless fighting doing nothing but making a mess.

“No.” She laughs, and I increase my torture, breathing heavily into her ear, my hand slipping down her body to her tickle spot. “Stop,” she yelps.

“Please,” I whisper softly, kissing the soft, sweet spot below her lobe. She can’t ruin my plans before they’re even in motion. She just can’t, and if that means begging and giving up today with her, I’m here for it.

She stills and thinks, just for a moment. “Okay, I’ll come.”

The pressure releases, just a little. That was supposed to be the easy part. I drop my face into her neck and take a hit of life.Thank you. Thank you so, so much.

Silence settles, and I rest my head back, cherishing this moment of peace. “I’ve never had a bath before.”

“Never?” she replies, surprised.

“No, never.” Baths leave too much time alone to do nothing but think. And, worse than that, they remind me of the times I used to give Rosie her bedtime bath. The water no deeper than a few inches. The bubbles overflowing. Her little body lost amid the puffs of white. Her laugh. Her smile. The way she looked at me like Iwasn’ta hopeless wanker. “I’m a shower man,” I whisper, my throat tight. “But I think I might be a bath man now.”

“I love having a bath.”

“Me too,” I breathe. “But only if you’re in it with me.” Never alone. “It’s a good job the designer of this place anticipated the need for a big one.”

She laughs, and it’s golden. “I think she did well.”

“I wonder if she ever considered being in it?”

“No, she didn’t.” Her words are wistful. Like me, she can’t believe she’s here either, although for entirely different reasons. I drop my chin and observe her wet hair covering every inch of my chest. Her legs rubbing against mine. Her hands lying across my forearms where they’re holding her.

I have a nibble of her ear. “Well, I’m glad she is,” I whisper, and she sighs, settling deeper into my body, closing her eyes. She looks so peaceful. So... mine.

I let her be, happy to watch her, happy to just soak in the warmth of the water and her body. It’s something else to be added to my list of favorite things.

“You’re going to be late for work,” I say when I’m sure she’s dozed off. “Just think... if you didn’t go to the office, we could stay longer.” I smile into her temple and rip my body from hers, hoping she feels the pain like I do. But it’s for a greater good.

Fourteen days and counting.

I leave Ava in the bath, hopefully regretting refusing to work on The Manor today, and by the sound of her disgruntled moan when I tore myself away, my hopes have been answered.

When I make it to my dressing room, I pluck out a black shirt, a gray suit, and get dressed, planning my day by the hour in the hopes it’ll pass quickly.

When I arrive in the kitchen, I call John and settle on the stool to eat my breakfast. He answers with a grunt. “So tell me who got too excited,” I say before sliding my finger into my mouth.

“Ken Fraser. He’s remorseful, of course.”

“They always are.” Especially when confronted with a pissed-off John. “What did he do and what was his excuse?”

“He videoed another member giving him head.”

I nearly bite the end of my finger off. “He did what?”

“A moment of madness, he claims.”

“Did you get the phone?”

“Yes.”

I look up when I hear Ava coming down the stairs, her heels clinking the marble. She appears, and everything inside of me pouts. Damn her job. She looks me up and down with her own little pout in place. She’s damning herself too. Wishing she hadn’t been so unreasonable and given me what we both want.

“I’ll be there after I’ve dropped Ava at work.” I swivel to face her, throwing an order with my eyes.

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