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I hitched my hips as I wrapped my arm around Dev’s elbow, throwing him off-balance before pushing him off me, our bodies entangled as we rolled. Suddenly, Dev was the one on his back as I straddled his waist, my hair escaping its ponytail to fall around us in a curtain.
“I think you were the one who got distracted,” I told him with a grin, leaning down to kiss his cheek before hopping off of him. “Want to go again?”
A half hour later, Dev ended our spar session, though I think it was more for his sake than mine. I’d been teasing him all morning, using his attraction to me against him as I pressed my body close to his and allowed my fingers to trail across his skin to catch him off guard.
The teasing had me aching, and I was all too willing to divert that energy into something more productive as I threw myself into my workout regimen. Dev followed behind me, ratcheting up the weights as he took over the machines after I finished using them. But toward the end of my workout, Dev skipped his final machine, walking over toward me instead.
“I have something for you,” he said without fanfare, though the tension in his shoulders and the thin curve of his smile implied it wasn’t as casual as his voice suggested.
He didn’t wait for me to respond, straddling the bench I sat on, his knees bracketing my hips as he met my eyes in the wall of mirrors across from us. The positioning reminded me of the night before, the way he danced against me, the feeling of his lips as they ran against my temples, the crown of my head. The feeling of his hair, thick and wavy, between my fingers as I gripped it.
Had me thinking of this morning, the way his body had held mine up with ease. The strength in his arms was even more noticeable now, after he’d stripped down to a tank top halfway through our workout.
How he’d pressed his body against mine to pin me to the mat over and over, mimicking too closely what I’d been thinking about on repeat the past day and a half.
“Hold out your hand,” he murmured against my ear. “And close your eyes.”
I shivered as I followed his commands, holding my hand out, palm up, and closing my eyes as he moved behind me, digging in his pocket for whatever gift he’d gotten me.
“Such a good girl,” he murmured under his breath, almost too quiet for me to hear, and I couldn’t stifle the small whimper that escaped my mouth at the praise. It was too similar to my fantasy this morning, the words I imagined Dev whispering as I came on my fingers.
Dev’s knees tightened around my hips at the sound, hips jerking closer to mine until I felt him tight against my back, the heat of him making me sweat.
He grabbed my hand, flipping it over and slipping something onto my ring finger so smoothly I barely noticed the movement.
“Open your eyes,” he said.
I looked at my hand, immediately noticing the engagement ring he’d slipped onto my finger. It was an enormous emerald, at least two carats, in a gold bezel setting. Smaller baguette diamonds flanked the sides, framing the emerald and giving it a vintage feel. It was the exact type of ring I’d choose for myself, even more impressive because I’d never once considered what engagement ring I’d want. The prospect was always too far off, dependent on my ability to get over the fact that any future relationship of mine would be mired in a never-ending barrage of lies.
I’d never expected Dev. A man who knew who I was, where I came from, and didn’t care. Someone who knew my past, knew the dangers that came with it, and was strong enough to keep us both safe. Someone who had chosen to enter into this marriageof convenience and jumped in with both feet, buying me a ring even though this was a business arrangement.
“You didn’t have to,” I protested gently, even as I curled my fingers into my hand, to make it harder for him to take the ring back.
“I did,” Dev said, our eyes meeting in the mirrors in front of us. “After all, how else will people know you belong to me?”
The rumble of his voice vibrated against my back, making my nipples tight enough I could see them peaked in the wall of mirrors in front of us. Dev’s eyes tracked the movement, and his hands followed suit, his hands inching across my body as he rested his cheek against mine. I watched as his left hand curled around my thigh, inching my legs slightly apart, while the other splayed across my stomach, pulling me further into him, until I could feel his hardness against my back.
I could’ve pulled back. Should’ve, really, if only to protect my heart from the pain I knew was coming my way. But I didn’t, remembering the way Dev touched me the night before, as if he wanted me.
I wanted more of that feeling, more of the evidence I’d been trying to gather, as if I could approach him later in a courtroom and say,See? You want me!As if the evidence would guarantee he felt for me what I was starting to feel for him.
So instead of pulling away, I tilted my ass back to brush against his cock, my lips curving in a smile when he groaned. Dev’s hand trailed further up my thigh, running across the seam of my leggings, our eyes tracking the movement in the mirror as he touched me. His other hand ran up my chest, thumb brushing over my nipple before wrapping around my throat. My chest and cheeks were flushed, red against Dev’s skin as his fingers tilted my head to the side, allowing him access to kiss and nip at the skin of my neck.
“Fuck, Rory,” he groaned, moving his fingers to the waistband of my leggings, and I spread my legs further apart in silent permission.
His fingers teased at the skin there, fingertips barely grazing the top of my underwear when a loud bang on the basement door had Dev jerking to his feet, stepping in front of me.
But it was just Bex, who called, “Breakfast is ready, fuckers,” fully breaking the tension that had suffocated the room moments before.
Chapter 15
Dev
It took two weeks.To fall totally and completely in love with my fiancée. I’d already spent months learning her, watching her, keeping her safe, feeling like I knew her even when we’d never met. But none of it compared to actually getting to know her, having her scent linger in my space and her face fill my thoughts. I finally understood how Alex felt when he fell for Ames, the crazed look in his eyes for those few months he kept her a secret. When he was watching her and falling for her, and she didn’t even know his name.
Rory had me throwing out every ounce of self-respect I had, every rule I’d ever imposed. Had me breaking family traditions. The homemade chai, which I only made for my friends on special occasions and especially tough days - a remnant from the years my parents attempted to disown me, and drinking chai became a rarity, because it reminded me too much of home - was now a morning ritual.
Watching Rory drink the liquid each morning made me want to make gallons of it. The spices, which I’d bought in small amounts before, were now sitting in bulk in my pantry, ready to be ground each morning.
