Page 99 of The Keeper

And I wanted him to see me. I wanted him to see how taut my nipples were and how my lips parted just enough to signal what I wanted between them.

I wanted him to see just how much the thought of him turned me on.

A growing ache twisted and knotted at my core. I’d use one of my toys soon enough but it paled in comparison to how Xavier could satisfy me.

I sent the photo with the message Want to know what I’m thinking about?

Victoria

Something warm and wet slid over my face again and again. I blinked myself awake, coming face to face with an adorable pomsky.

“Winston,” I mumbled. “Good morning to you, too.”

I rolled out of bed and shuffled through the darkness to the closet to grab my sneakers. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet but this little guy had no concept of time and needed to go outside and then have breakfast.

“Let’s go, bud.”

Winston’s tongue dangled out of the side of his mouth while I hooked up his leash and guided him to the elevators. My building has a fenced in dog area for residents with pets. It even had real grass. Bonus points for the doggie poop bag dispenser.

Since nobody else was down here, I let Winston off the leash to do his business. It took him a few minutes to find the perfect spot. Then I watched him run around in crazy circles. It’s probably best if he got the zoomies out of the way here rather than in my living room.

He ran over, panting. His tail wagged back and forth so hard the entire lower half of his body swayed.

“Ready?”

An answering bark was all it took.

After I fed him, I went through my morning rituals. A little yoga, a little coffee, a little quiet time out on the balcony. I loved watching the sun complete its rise over the city. All the buildings came to life in bursts of pink, gold, and blue. Today promised to be a bright spring day.

A perfect day to read some of Charlotte’s diary.

It’s been sitting on my vanity since I unpacked it, along with the sketch of her gravestone the teen boy gave me at the cemetery. There was something so calming and comforting about the drawing.

The serenity of this moment on the balcony was broken by the chirping of my phone. I walked through the sliding doors into my bedroom and grabbed it.

Oh.

My heart pounded.

I had two missed texts. The one just now was from Hannah reminding me about tonight but the other arrived a few hours ago…

Mildly Hot sent an audio message.

Do I want to hear this? I thought maybe he’d just send an emoji or something. Or a dirty text or picture of his own.

Or nothing at all. Yeah right. Maybe in an alternate universe.

“Here we go.” I pressed play and sat on the bed.

Silence.

Then a long, rough sigh.

“Dirty princess…”

Oh God. OH GOD.

“…I do want to know what you’re thinking about. But first I’m going to tell you what I’m thinking about…”

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