Page 62 of Crime Lord’s Captive

He surveyed her. “You look good.”

“I feel better.”

He nodded and rose. “I’m exhausted.”

Lyla put everything in the sink and they went upstairs. She hesitated when he stripped. Gavin turned to her and gently slipped her out of her clothes before he shuffled her into the shower. She allowed him to wash her hair since he liked to do it. He was hard again. She turned from him to wash the suds out of her hair. Because he was with her, she didn’t scrub her skin. She rinsed and stepped out before him. She dressed in the closet in another sexless garment and slipped into bed before he emerged. Lyla’s teeth clenched as he got in on his side. This time he didn’t bring his laptop to bed. He settled her against him and sighed. Within minutes, she heard his breathing even out. It took a long time for her to go to sleep.

***

The next day, Carmen came over to keep her company and this time, she came prepared with junk food and a stripper work out video. They danced around and onthedining room chairs. Lyla lost her inhibitions when she saw Carmen dancing as if her life depended on it. They celebrated the work out by eating brownies and then taking a dip in the pool. Lyla wondered if Carmen noticed her awkwardness with her body yesterday and was urging her to take back her sexuality. If that was Carmen’s intention, it was working.

Gavin came home at a more reasonable hour, but he seemed preoccupied and excused himself during dinner to take a call. He never came back to the table. Carmen kissed her goodbye when Vinny swung by to pick her up. Lyla paused by Gavin’s closed office doors and couldn’t hear anything since it was soundproof. She wondered if something was going wrong with turning the underworld to someone else and worried about it before she went upstairs to shower. She took her time, but Gavin didn’t appear. She got into bed and waited, but he still didn’t show. She closed her eyes as she snuggled under the covers. She needed to sleep alone eventually. Gavin wouldn’t always be there to tuck her in. She wasn’t a child. Lyla forced herself to take deep breaths and eventually yawned. Using the deep breathing method, she lulled herself into an uneasy doze.

***

Lyla dreamed of Pervert. He held her down and laughed as she struggled, doing everything in her power to get him off of her. He sat on her chest and she panicked as she breathed through her nose since there was a strip of tape on her mouth. He grabbed her face between his hands and squeezed cruelly.

“I’m going to ruin you so Pyre won’t want you anymore.” He kissed her lips over the tape. “He can have anyone he wants. Why would he want you? Women beg to be with him. You’ve been nothing but trouble. He’ll tire of you and give you back to me.”

There was the sound of clothes tearing and then his hand questing down her stomach, between her legs. He shoved in and she screamed.

***

Lyla woke with a scream, sitting up and shoving at someone who wasn’t there. Gavin ran out of the bathroom, a towel in his hands, body dripping.

“You okay? Bad dream?” he asked, coming towards her.

Lyla wrapped her arms around him, forcing him to sit on the bed. She rested her forehead, covered in cold sweat, against his chest. She was trembling and could still feel that hand moving down her body, into her.

“Touch me,” she said.

Gavin stiffened. “What?”

Lyla grabbed his hand and slipped it beneath the sweater and placed it on her stomach where Pervert’s hand had been in the dream. She relaxed instantly. She wouldn’t mistake Gavin’s large hand with Pervert’s grubby, clammy paws. She shuddered. Gavin tried to pull his hand away.

“No, I need—” she began and stopped, realizing how crazy she was acting. “I’m sorry, I—”

“Don’t apologize,” he said and kissed her. “What else do you need?”

Lyla searched the hard planes of his face. He still had water droplets on his eyelashes and he was naked. His body was strong and unapologetically masculine. As she stared into his amber eyes, she had a vivid memory of what happened in his office. Her body tingled. She held onto the memory of Gavin going down on her rather than the recent dream, which chilled her.

“I needyou,” she said and moved his hand from her stomach to the apex of her thighs.

Gavin’s eyes didn’t waver from hers. “You really want this?”

She nodded emphatically. She needed to exorcise Pervert from her mind and body.

Gavin’s hand moved and she forced herself to spread her thighs. When his fingers stroked her, she clenched her teeth and he stopped.

“You’re not okay,” he said and withdrew his hand.

Lyla wrapped her arms around herself. “You don’t want...?” She couldn’t finish the sentence. Maybe he didn’t want her after Pervert—

Gavin lunged forward and kissed her. His tongue swept in and claimed her. Lyla shuddered and clutched at him as relief swept through her in a heady wave. She could taste his hunger, his need. It called forth her own and she pressed against him, desperate for him. His hands moved over her, rough and seeking. His mouth fused with hers, demanding everything she had to give.

When she was aching for him, he broke away. She let out an irritated sound and saw his brilliant smile. He rose and dragged her to the edge of the bed so her legs dangled off the side. He crouched and her breathing turned heavy with trepidation and excitement.

“Eating you out in my office was a mistake,” he said.

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