Page 57 of Pretend for Me

Running in the rain, there was a lightness to our movement as we basked in the feeling of being in love. It was as if finally being able to come clean and rid ourselves of the lies and mistakes that once broke us had made us feel freer.

I tucked Cassie under my arm once we reached the lobby of my apartment building, ducking inside the elevator quickly as soon as it arrived. Cassie leaned into my side, her fingertips scratching the scruff along my chin. I hadn’t shaved for the engagement party. Ever since my blow up with Wyatt at the shareholders’ dinner, I had abandoned the clean-cut, cookie cutter image that my parents had tried to get me to maintain. I’d start to throw all the rules I’d been given out the window, trying to figure out what it was thatIwanted. What I liked. And what I liked the most was Cassie in my arms, and hopefully soon, inmy bed.

I leaned in to kiss her once more, desperate for her touch. She moved her fingers along the sides of my face, pulling me down to her. Our lips met in the most sensual and painfully slow way. It was almost like dancing combined with a feelingof coming home. There was a sense of both relief and agony. A yearning for more.

Before we could get very far in our rediscovery of one another, the elevator dinged, signaling our arrival, and the doors opened. After we’d both kicked off our shoes, I led her through the foyer, and when Rocky spotted us from where he was resting on the couch, he perked up and hopped up to greet Cassie. She crouched down to ruffle his fur, showering him with affection.

I eyed my girl and my dog, and I found myself growing jealous of Rocky, already missing her touch.My girl.Damn, did that sound right. But was I getting ahead of myself—was she my girl? We still had so much to work out.

Would she even want to be mine once she got to know the person I’d become after all these years? She admitted that she loved me still but were we setting ourselves up for failure once the blinders were taken off?

The sound of water sloshing on the floor reminded me of our dripping wet clothing. “I’ll go get some towels,” I muttered, pushing aside my doubts for the moment.

As I walked to the en suite bathroom, I was overcome with emotions at having her in my house. Watching her play with Rocky. Knowing she was in such close proximity to my bed. It felt all too domestic yet oh so right. It frightened me—the power she had over me. She spoke about how I had the power to break her, but she was equally as capable of doing so. I reflected on how easily she’d lied to me and how quickly I’d believed her. I put my heart on the line, laying all my cards on the table, and I wanted to hope that she was being genuine in her change of heart, but what if we were too different? Only time would tell. Fixating on all the what-ifs would get me nowhere, so I shook my head and walked back to the living room, white fluffy towels in hand.

“Here you are.” I handed her one of the towels, drying my hair with the other.

The room was eerily quiet, neither of us daring to be the first one to break the silence. I grazed my eyes over her body, holding back a groan at how goddamn sexy she looked. Her long sleeve shirt plastered to her form, showing off all her curves. Tendrils of hair clung to her neck. Her eyes shone with warmth. As I refamiliarized myself with every part of her, my mind recalled how good she felt when we fucked in the alleyway. I couldn’t wait to have her in my arms once more. I wanted to make her mine. Fuck, shewasmine. She always would be.

As she rubbed the towel over her hair, she seemed to be cataloging me as well, her eyes roaming me from head to toe. She sucked in a sharp breath when our eyes met, and she pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth.

We stood motionless, chests moving up and down with our heavy breaths as we eyed each other, hesitating and restraining all at once.

I took one step forward, reaching my hand out to move a damp curl from her face. She was so utterly beautiful. Her doe-eyed brown eyes called to me, making me want her more.

That slight touch was all it took to cause the tension to snap like a rubber band, and Cassie lunged toward me, hopping up and wrapping her legs around my waist. Her movement was so sudden and unexpected, I almost dropped her, but I managed to steady myself, gripping her ass for leverage.

She attacked my mouth with a ferocity that I had never experienced with her before. Teeth clacked against each other. Hands roamed over places we were afraid to explore as freely all those years ago. We were just kids back then, unsure about how to please each other and ourselves. This was not the case now. Cassie and I were adults who knew what we wanted.Finally.

“Fuck.” I groaned as Cassie moved her hips against my own. She smirked her plump lips, obviously relishing the control she had over me.

Cassie cupped my face, pulling me in for another kiss. At the same time, I pulled back. Cassie looked at me questioningly, grinding her hips against mine once more, tightening her hold around my neck.

“Cassie.” I closed my eyes, panting and trying to regain some semblance of control.

She scratched the hairs on the nape of my neck, giving me a puzzled expression.

I walked us over to the couch and sat down, pulling her with me. She adjusted herself above me so that she was straddling my lap.

“Baby, I’m sorry,” I whispered, caressing her cheek tenderly, lovingly.

Cassie moved her mouth to the side slightly and said, “I’m sorry too.”

“I can’t believe we almost lost this for good,” I said, dropping the hand from her cheek and grasping hers.

“There’ll be time to get into all of that. We both made mistakes, but there’s no one else for me. I want you, and only you. So enough with the heavy. How about we get back to what we were doing?”

“Fuck, yes,” I muttered, delving my hands into her hair, while my mouth nibbled, licked, and kissed every part of her lips and neck.

She moaned loudly, grabbing at the nape of my neck, holding me closer.Mine.

I leaned back and pulled her shirt off, the wet material clinging to her skin on its way up. I threw it somewhere across the room, causing it to land with a splat.

Her black lace bra was next to fly somewhere in the living room. We heard a yelp and turned to see the lacy material had landed on top of Rocky. The poor dog looked startled and scurried out to the room and into my office. We let out twin laughs at the hilarity of the moment, so caught up in one another we’d forgotten about the other occupant of the room.

The moment grew tense again as my eyes darted down to take in the creamy skin I’d revealed. I looked down at her perfect breasts, the skin pale and smooth, her nipples tight from the chilled air we'd just come in from. They were even more stunning than I remembered. My thumbs became reacquainted with them, caressing them, enjoying the heavy feel against my palms. The sounds she was making, little breathy moans, encouraged me to continue.

She moved her lips to my neck, sucking and biting.Like she was claiming me.

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