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Despondent, I slowly undress, removing my armour, exposing myself, until I’m naked. I finish with my watch, dropping it onto the pile. I see the fleeting look of regret pass across her impassive face when she looks down at the state of my wrists.
I deserve so much more than a few welts.
Ava swallows, keeping her eyes on my body. She’s not going to let me near her. Not until I give her something she needs. But what will it be? A reason for invading her day? Or more questions about the mystery woman turning up at Lusso?
“You’re not laying a finger on me until you tell me who that woman was,” she says, with a strong voice, dragging her eyes from my naked body to my face.
I smile to myself, and there’s no humor in it. The irony. To Ava, the woman is more cause for concern than me invading her business meeting. If she only knew the woman’s connected to the reason I invaded her business meeting. “I don’t know.” It’s not a complete lie. I’m 99% certain, but that 1%? I should have asked Freja when she called me back. Had it confirmed.
Ava’s perfectly smooth forehead wrinkles with a frown. “So you’ve not asked Clive to stop me from looking at the CCTV?”
Yes, I did that. She knows I did that. Her curiosity might not only kill the cat, it could also kill me. “My beautiful girl is ruthless.”
“My god is evasive,” she retorts, unmoving.
“Ava, if I didn’t need you all over me right now, I’d be challenging you.” I’ll never tell her that I’m too tired to throw down the countdown.
“But you do,” she says, taking advantage of my beaten form. I know she won’t like seeing me like this. But she will make the most of my brief exhaustion—because itisbrief. Touching her is like taking a shot of energy. “So you’ll tell me,” she adds.
Get ahead of the problem.“I slept with her.” I spit the words out fast, praying that will be the end of it. No more pressing. No finer details.
Weirdly, Ava doesn’t even flinch. “So why was she here?”
“Because she heard I was missing.”
“That’s it?” Her disbelief is real and warranted. “She was worried?”
No, that is not it. But it’s all you can know.And I’m not sure worried is the right term. If it is, I’m in more trouble than I thought, because you don’t worry about someone unless you care for them. And I’m not sure worried is the right term. I’m certain Freja’s recent appearance is nothing more than her ego and curiosity getting the better of her. Unlike Coral. I just need them to all fuck off and leave Ava to fucking fix me. “Yes,” I confirm. “That’s it. Now I get you all over me.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me this before?”
Why?Jesus.“Because it was no big deal until you made it one.”
I’ve answered her questions, more than I would like, and now I need some calm. Some energy. So I collect her from the stairs, forcing her to drop the flowers, and carry her to our bedroom. “Youmade it a big deal by evading my questions,” she gripes with little conviction.
I set her down and concentrate on getting her naked, too, taking my time stripping her down, feeling her study me. I like her watching me. Like her seeing the awe that spreads through me each time I’m worshipping her, whether with my eyes or my hands or my heart. Skipping the bed, I lay us down on the rug instead, Ava beneath me, my big body covering hers. And I smell her. Feel her. Take the potent hit of life from her as she curls her arms around me and cuddles me, stroking my hair, both of us quiet. Just being.
Peace. Calm.
I can deal with anything if I always have this. Sex with Ava is out-of-this-world mind-blowing. But cuddling Ava? It’s a balm. Restorative.Essential. “I’ve missed you,” I say quietly, kissing the hollow of her ear, licking, nibbling, tasting. Every minute feels like an hour, every hour like a day.
“Thank you for the flowers.”
“You’re welcome.” I dot gentle, delicate kisses up her cheek until I have her eyes, spending a moment losing myself further in the dark depths as I brush some hair from her forehead. “I want to drag you to a desert island,” I whisper, “and have you all to myself forever.” That’s a truth Icanconfess. Wouldn’t it be perfect? Just us. No drama. No interruptions. Nothing to do but love her. I roll onto my back, helping her sit up. She gazes at me longingly. That look on her will always do it. I’ve no hope of ever controlling myself. Blood rushes into my dick as her nipples pebble.
“I fucking love you.”
“I know you do.” She’s making a meal of feeling me everywhere she can. “I love you too.”
“Even after today?” I watch for her reaction. Wait for the scorn.
“You mean after you stalked me all day?”
I get comfortable, propping my head up on my arms. “I was worried about you.” She looks less than convinced. “I was.”Reallywas. And for myself. Forus.
“You were over the top and stupidly possessive,” she says, and I laugh hysterically on the inside. I didn’t really give myself much choice since I happily threw myself under the bus. “My challenging man needs to relax.”
Myman? That’ll do. Challenging? She’s from another planet. “I’m not challenging.”
