AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Without saying a word, he joined me in the elevator, and the air practically sizzled with tension until the mirrored doors slid shut. I realized I was still wearing the ridiculous headband with its flashing penis. “Oh God,” I muttered, yanking it off my head. “Why did you let me walk through the lobby wearing that?”
“Because it was funny.” There was nothing nasty or cynical about his laughter. It was warm and rich and did things to me it shouldn’t.
It made me want to reach out to touch…
… to grip…
… to stroke and claim.
Just once, I wanted to lose myself. I wanted to forget who I was and the years of being overlooked, ignored, and pitied.
And he was just the man who could help me do it.
It could have been the liquor talking, but as I stepped off the elevator, he stepped out with me, continuing to walk by my side. Neither of us said a word. He didn’t ask if I needed an escort, and I never requested one. Somehow, it felt natural. Normal. Could I have been imagining it? Was my longing translating itself into reaching for the closest man around?
He was more than that. He was sex on two muscular legs. He was every dark, delicious fantasy I’d ever harbored in the most secret corners of my heart. Maybe knowing he’d never want me made me hate him. Knowing how easy life was for him, how he ran through women like most people ran through Kleenex.
But now? Standing at the door to my room? We were nothing more than two pleasantly drunk people at the end of a long night who somehow had managed to find common ground. The only two single people in a sea of couples. We could go to bed alone, or we could do it together.
I was just drunk and horny enough to take my life in my hands after opening the door and taking a step into the room.
Do it. You’ll hate yourself forever if you don’t.
I turned around to face him, to gaze up into his blue eyes, and took a huge risk, like jumping off a cliff when I couldn’t see what was at the bottom.
Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself for what could be a great night or an equal disaster.
“Would you like to come in?”
6
MAGNUS
She wanted me to come in?
What the actual fuck?
I understood then and there what it would be like to have a bomb drop on my head. “Really?” I let out a surprised laugh.
This woman made it her mission to look at me and talk to me like I was a slug she couldn’t wait to crush under her foot. Most of the time, anyway. Yet now, as I stood outside her room, she was asking me to join her.
What’s changed?Maybe it was the alcohol. Drunk as I was, it didn’t stop the thoughts of rejection from popping up or the doubt creeping in.
Right away, I knew my reaction was the wrong one. “Forget it.” She touched her hand to the doorknob and was ready to close the door in my face, but I held out a hand and stopped it.
“I just wanted to make sure you meant it.”
“I do.” She lifted her chin, narrowing her eyes, and dammit if she didn’t stir something in me. Evelyn was a challenging woman. Up to now, she wasn’t worth the effort. Somebody with a lot of sharp edges and a bitchy attitude. Who’s got time for that? I already had enough bullshit to deal with. I didn’t need some screaming harpy in my ear.
For some reason, though, my dick chose that precise minute to pull me inside the room. Maybe it was the softness she was revealing. “Okay, then.”This could be interesting.
“Do you want something from the minibar?” She waved a hand in the direction of the cluster of bottles arranged in front of an ice bucket alongside a few glasses.
“Yeah, I’ll have a drink. Scotch, if there’s any there.” I took a seat on a small sofa near the window, but it wasn’t the view of the marina I was interested in. I didn’t care much about the suite, either, since it was similar to mine.
It was the reflection of the woman on the other side of the room fixing me a drink. She looked… Good. Better than good. The dress she wore was a little tighter, more revealing than anything I’d ever seen her in, and it worked for her. It was working for me, too, leading my thoughts down all sorts of dark, winding paths. I’d had enough women to know the icy ones were always the best lays. Thaw some of that ice, and underneath, there was always a raging volcano waiting to erupt. It usually took no more than a few caresses to set them off.
She stumbled a little on her way back to me but caught herself in time. “Whoops.” Her soft giggle made me smile—something she didn’t do a lot of. It was a cliché, but no less true. She wasn’t like the other girls. Maybe because she wasn’t a girl, not really. She was a woman. Older than the others, wiser. Wicked smart.
