Page 23 of The Retreat

Owen is kissing me!

Air catches in my lungs at the realization. Does he know he’s doing it? Is he high from whatever Oliver told me to give him? Is this going to come back to bite me in the ass later? I need to google the name of that medication so I can be better prepared.

Opening my eyes, I pull back from the kiss. I so desperately want to look at him. It’s still dark in here, but the door is open in the hallway, giving just enough light for me to see him. He doesn’t look high, his pupils aren’t blown, eyes aren’t glassy, and his color looks good.

“Owen?”

“Thank you.” He’s looking at my mouth, and I lick my bottom lip.

“For what?”

He motions to us lying on the floor. “This.”

“So…being nice is what earns me a kiss?”

“This time it did.” He shrugs like it wasn’t a big deal, but it fucking is. He wears a look I can’t read. The air around us changes, but I’m not sure why. Gods, what I would do for him to touch me, really touch me, right now. I wonder if I could earn that too.

“What does that mean?” I ask, my voice laced with sleep.

“It means that you earn every kiss you get, and the same rules won’t apply twice.”

My heart is pounding in my chest. Is he playing sex games with me? Leaning forward, I leave just a hair’s width of space between our mouths. Owen arches a brow but doesn’t move. Would he stop me from kissing him again? Is he the only one to ever instigate one? We were kissing just a second ago. Is there a time limit?

“What else can I earn?” I start to get hard at the thought.

“You bought a car, don’t push it.”

I smirk at him. “You bought me a car as a wedding gift. It was very sweet of you. I swooned.”

“Swooned? No one does that anymore.”

“They can and do. I would be more than happy to swoon right into sucking your cock.” My hand brushes down his ribs toward his hip. I itch to touch him, to watch his skin heat, to see him tremble under my fingers.

“Is this some weird sex power thing?”

It’s my turn to lift a brow at him. “It definitely can be. You want to give orders or obey? I can go either way.”

Owen rolls his eyes and gets up, leaving me hard and sore on the floor. But he looks more like himself, so I guess I’ll accept it.

“What time is it?” I sit up and look for my phone, but I have no idea where I put it. It feels like I’ve been laying down here for days. Why does he lie on the floor so much? It’s not comfortable.

The ding of the elevator sounds, and we freeze. What fresh hell is this? Is he steady enough for a surprise visitor? Fuck!

“Owen!” Oliver’s voice rings through the house, and as if someone cut Owen’s strings, his entire body droops.

TEN

Owen

Irun my fingers through my hair, trying to fix it enough so it doesn’t look like I’ve been curled up in a ball on the floor for the last four hours. I told Oliver I could handle being alone while he was on his honeymoon, and I fucking failed. I hate myself for it. It would have been fine had mother not pulled her shit. But it’s not fucking fair for Oliver to have to run back and take care of me. I can’t expect him to do that for the rest of his life.

“Owen?” Oliver calls.

I step out of my room, smoothing a hand over my silk shirt, putting on my mask for Oliver. “I’m here.”

He steps into me, looking me over like this is a goddamn inspection. “Did Colin give you your meds?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

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