Page 49 of Resisting Mr Black

“I will. Stop worrying. Bye, Mum.”

I end the call and let out a deep breath. I love my mum, and I know she only worries about me because of what happened with Theo, but every time I speak to her I feel on edge. Her nerves seem to transfer to me and take me back to the nervous Sophie I was when I first left him. I’m not that woman anymore.

Art slips back into the chair beside me. “Penny for them?”

I make a face. “Oh, nothing. Mum just worries.”

He picks up my hand in his and brushes his thumb across my knuckles. “What’s happening onthe twenty-ninth at half seven?”

“It’s my stepfather’s sixtieth. We’re going out for a meal. Mum was telling me what we’re buying him. Some weird train things he collects.” Something Mum said niggles me. “When are we going back to mine?”

“I’ll take you back first thing tomorrow morning before work. Why? You aren’t bored of me already, are you?” he teases.

Hardly. He’s one thing I’ll never tire of. “No, it’s just my pills are there; but I should be okay as long as I take one in the morning.”

His brow furrows. “I didn’t think about the finer details when I stole you away.” He sits back against the chair and opens his arms. “Come here.”

I scoot over onto his lap, and he wraps his arms around me, bundling me to his chest. I close my eyes and breathe in a deep breath as I relax against him. I’m pretty sure I could die happy here.

He presses his lips against the top of my head. “Today I just want it to be about you and me. I don’t want to share you with anyone. I know that’s not exactly rational. But it’s how I feel about you.”

A shiver of excitement runs through me because it makes perfect sense. I tilt my face upwards and look at him. “It’s how I feel about you, too.”

He kisses me, entwining his tongue with mine and I curl a hand around the back of his neck as we kiss deep and slow. If this is how we’ll be spending the day bunking off work, then I’m not complaining.

Thirteen

The light is fading when I open my eyes. I roll over to find the other side of the bed empty and the sheets untouched. I have no idea what time it is, or where Art is, and I suddenly feel lost that he’s not there. We’ve been in our own little bubble, glued to one another in every sense of the word for the past twelve hours and I’m not ready for it to stop.

I fling the covers off my naked body and climb out of bed, walking across the smooth parquet floor. The apartment is in darkness, apart from a soft amber light coming from beneath one of the doors off to the right of the hallway.

I push open the door and find a bare-chested Art, sitting behind a glass desk facing the door, typing on a laptop. He immediately stops typing and a wolfish grin spreads across his face at the sight of me.

I place a hand on my hip and cock my head to the right. “Why are you not in bed?”

“You fell asleep, so I thought I’d let you get some rest.” His eyes remain fixed on my body as he stands and advances around the desk towards me. “Why are you out of bed?”

“Because I woke up and you weren’t there.” I curl my arms around his neck as his dark gaze roams over my nakedness.

“I’m a stupid, stupid guy for leaving you. But I’m here now.”

My eyes drop to his erection tenting the black material of his boxers and smirk. “Yes, you are, aren’t you?”

Maybe he’s not the one with all the control after all.

“We’re going back to bed.” He lifts me up and tosses me over his shoulder, slapping my bare backside as he carries me out of his office. “You belong in my bed, especially when you look like this.”

I’m not going to protest. Right now, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

I tuck my hands beneath the waistband of his boxers as he carries me into the bedroom and lowers me onto the centre of the sheets. I push myself up on my elbows and watch as he disappears into the wardrobe for a few seconds then returns holding two neck ties.

“I’d like to tie you up.”

My eyes widen as he circles round the bed, and I feel a stab of alarm at what he wants to do.

He studies my worried expression. “Relax. It will just be your hands. It won’t hurt. Try it. If you don’t like it, we’ll stop.”

My stomach dances with nerves as I turn over what he’s just said. Earlier he told me to trust him and it wasn’t so bad. Maybe I should give it a chance.

---