Page 49 of The Shadow

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Aspen.” His smile fades. “Bring your A game.”

I jump when he slams my door behind him but finally, it feels like there’s a light at the end of this tunnel. I smile as I think through exactly how I see this plan working.

I grab my phone and disconnect from the company network, pulling up a search engine I use to gain unpublished information and typing in Lyra Blake. I scroll through the headlines and old modeling pictures of the statuesque blonde who looks like she just stepped off a runway even though she’s been retired for a decade. That’s when I find the information I’m looking for—her phone number.

“I have a plan.” I smile, jumping into Harvey’s arms the second he opens his door.

“Does it involve you naked?” He murmurs against my neck, his warm lips making their way up to find mine.

“The plan after I tell you the plan does.”

“Good.” His mouth is back on mine, kissing me like he can’t get enough. “I’ve thought of nothing all day but burying my cock in you.”

“It’s been too long,” I moan, his hands stretching wide across my back as he presses me against him.

“Tell me about it,” he pants as my hands find the hem of his shirt and lift it over his head.

It’s been less than forty-eight hours since he’s been inside me, longer than I want to ever experience again.

“How was your day?”

“Fuck my day,” he growls, reaching for either side of my blouse and tearing it in half. Buttons skip and scatter across the counter as I gasp. “I’ll buy you another one,” he says without apology as he pulls my cups down to expose my breasts.

“Oh yesss,” I hiss, my hands tugging wildly at his hair as his mouth assaults my breasts.

“I need to claim you.” He drags his teeth over my neck, a handful of my hair in his, tugging my head back to give him better access. “I need to fill you with my cum, to own you.”

“Ahh.” My body bends back over his kitchen island as he spreads my thighs. “You do own me.”

His hands fumble with his belt, his hand still gripping my hair tightly as he pulls himself free from his pants. “Pull your panties to the side,” he grunts.

I obey, reaching down to lift my skirt and pull my panties to the side as he lines himself up with my entrance.

“That’s my girl.” He has that strained thickness to his voice like he’s holding himself back. He presses his hips forward, his thick cock inching inside me one painful inch after another.

“Oh, oh,” I groan and whine, struggling to accommodate him but he doesn’t relent. He tightens his grip on my hair, tugging my head back so that my mouth falls open as I look up at him.

His pecs are rigged, a bulging vein running down his flexed bicep. I’m completely lost in him. The ruggedness of his beard, the dark ink that twists and winds its way around his sculpted body.

This man could do anything to me in this moment.

I am completely and utterly at his mercy, my body burning for him in a way I didn’t know was possible. I want to beg him to fuck me, to take me, to push me to my limits… but I don’t. The way he’s looking at me right now, this man knows every single dirty thought in my head right now and he has every intention of making those a reality.

“I’m going to wreck you now.”

“Can you trust her?” Harvey’s hand rests atop the curve of my hip.

“Not to tell him you mean?” I shrug when he nods his head. “I guess I can’t but it’s a risk I’m going to take.” I lift my head up slightly to look at him. “You think it’s a bad idea?”

“No. I trust that you know what you’re doing.”

I sigh and it feels good. It feels good to be trusted but more importantly, it feels good to trust in myself again.

“Why’d you decide not to reach out to Jaxson?”

I stare up at the ceiling, remembering the thoughts I had when I was in that vault at the bank. Remembering how Jax had asked me all those years ago to believe in myself someday. I guess someday finally came.

“I think I just realized I didn’t need to. I have what it takes to do it.” I turn my neck so that we’re looking at one another again. “And I know that I have you with me.”

---