Page 37 of Stolen

“Yeah, but I have more work that I should definitely consider doing?—”

“Or you could just do what I tell you and make this easier for both of us.”

“You’re seriously pulling the Dom card, right now?”

“It’s a pretty good card. You’re lucky I don’t use it more often.” Jacob smirked. “Seriously, though. Come on. Let me take care of you.”

He stood up from the couch and he held out his hand for mine. “You trust me?”

“You know I do,” I said, as I took his hand in my own.

As I let work fall by the wayside just this once.

“You wantedto show me another Jacuzzi room?”

It was the first thing I said, as I stepped into the room, taking it in as I looked around. I wasn’t surprised that the lodge had several Jacuzzi rooms, although I couldn’t quite figure out what was so special about this one. I’d checked out another one with some of the photographers a day or so ago, wondering if it would’ve been a good spot to set up for a shoot.

“You’re looking. But you’re not seeing.”

“Was that a riddle?” I squinted in confusion. “Are you about to turn this place into an escape room or something?”

Jacob chuckled as he crossed the room, not stopping until he was standing in front of a large set of curtains. They seemed to cover the entire wall, heavy and dark. A few seconds later, Jacob was pulling back the curtains, revealing a floor-to-ceiling window, a perfect image of the night sky outside coming into full view. Moonlight spilled through the glass as stars twinkled against the darkness, the sight of it absolutely breathtaking.

“Whoa.” It was the only thing I could think to say as I moved toward the window, my palms soon pressing against the glass. “This is…”

“The kind of view you can only get in Roanoke on a clear night?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before,” I murmured. “All the lights in the city… everything’s too bright to ever really see the sky like this…”

“So, you like it?”

“I love it.” I was transfixed by the view outside the window, my eyes desperately trying to commit every bit of it to memory.“It’s unreal.” I turned to look over at Jacob. “Thank you. For showing this to me.”

“Told you to trust me.” Jacob smiled before he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to his side. “It is pretty beautiful, isn’t it?”

I leaned my head against Jacob’s shoulder. “Do you ever get used to it?”

“No. I don’t think you ever get used to something being beautiful, not if you find value in it,” he replied. “Not if it means something to you.”

There was silence for a moment as Jacob pressed a soft kiss against my head. I forced myself not to melt at the implication of it, not allowing myself to consider that Jacob happened to have a wildly romantic streak that was showing itself more and more.

We were just lonely.

And soon, it would all be over, anyway.

“Take your clothes off.” Jacob’s voice was low as he issued the order.

“Wait. Really?” I was thrown off by the shift from romantic to dominant.

“Really.” Jacob pressed his forehead against mine. “Take your clothes off for me right now, Leo.”

“I’m just a little surprised—this was so—you’re really not tired after everything we did earlier?”

“That was hours ago.” Jacob chuckled. “I’ve had plenty of time to recover.”

Jacob began to pull my shirt over my head as he continued, “Besides, who said anything about having sex right now? I like to take control outside of the bedroom, too, you know.”

“Take control how?”

---