Page 72 of Sky High Obsession

Her head settled on his shoulder, and he breathed a little easier.“Okay.”

A part of him wished she would fight him so he could abandon talking and let his body take over.Cowardly, he knew, but reliving what had happened six years ago had never been easy for him.He trailed his hand down and back up, struggling to find the right words.

“A week before the launch, her brother called, told her he was coming to get her.She freaked out.At first, I didn’t really see the big deal.She was only going home for a while, just to show her parents she was okay.I even offered to go with her.”

Bethany frowned.“What was the problem?”

“She flatly refused to go.I’d been keeping an eye on her and knew she wasn’t using.So I knew she wasn’t just being high and irrational.I called her brother and tried to get to the bottom of what was going on.Turned out her family had arranged for her to marry some guy she’d grown up with.”Residual rage filled his vision for a moment before he blinked it away.“Remember how I told you what an unstoppable dick I was back then?”

Wide blue eyes held his, sympathy softening the vivid depths.“She was with you.It couldn’t have been easy to hear she was promised to someone else.”

His grip tightened, and his chest filled with awe at her complete understanding.“It wasn’t.My dickish behavior really emerged then.I may have told her whole family to go fuck themselves.Even though a part of me knew she would be better off back in Marrakech where her access to drugs would be hugely minimized, and she had a chance of getting clean once and for all, I still took the stubborn prick approach.She was mine, and I wasn’t letting her go.”

She looked down and shut her eyes, and he fought not to be swallowed by panic.“Bethany?”

“It’s okay.I just need a minute.”Her voice was barely above a whisper.

His hand crept higher and brushed between her legs.Her eyes flew open.

“I can’t stand it when I can’t see your eyes, baby.When you look at me, even when you’re seriously pissed at me, I feel I can cope.”Unable to help himself, he pressed harder.His cock thickened when his fingers met her dampness.Her shudder echoed within him.When her hips twitched against his hand, he sighed.

“The IL trip was a five-stopper, starting from Vegas.The morning we were supposed to leave, Farrah’s brother, Karim, landed at JFK and called to say he was on his way to Vegas to bring her home.”He swallowed as an icy shiver broke over him.“I’d never seen such naked fear.She went completely insane.I suspected she’d scored some drugs, but I refused to believe she’d relapsed again.I tried to talk to her, but she was completely irrational about the whole thing.I’m not sure whose idea it was, but all of a sudden the idea of getting married was on the table.”

Bethany’s mouth quivered, and he knew he needed to finish this quickly.Hearing him describe his relationship with another woman couldn’t be easy for her.God, he was in hell reliving it.

“We were in the right place.I had enough people on speed dial to make things happen.Plus, I was getting a chance to win against her asshole of a brother.We got married an hour before we went on the first IL flight.”

“And then what happened?”

Regret and sorrow bit deep into his gut, threatened to claw him inside out.He buried his face in her hair and shut his eyes.“Then Armageddon took a left turn into hell.”

22

Bethany stared up at Zach’s face and watched the ragged anguish eating him alive.His eyes were still tightly shut, but his hand pressed deeper between her thighs, as if he were grounding himself.

Reaching up, she touched his cheek, and he blindly turned his face into her hand.His eyes remained closed, but a film of tears sparkled on his lashes.His jaw was rigid with the pain he was holding in, and her heart tore wide open for him.

She was beginning to have an idea of what had gone on with Zach and Farrah, but even the insane jealousy ripping through her couldn’t stem the sympathy she felt for what he’d gone through… was continuing to go through.

The shimmer of tears grew, and his nostrils flared as he tried to control himself.“Oh God, Zach.”

A huge shudder raked his frame.“I can’t tell you any more, baby.I’m sorry,” he rasped, his voice thick with pent-up emotion.

“I know.”Sitting up, she kissed his hard cheek, then nuzzled his shadowed jaw.“I know.”She scrambled to think of something else to talk about.Anything to take his mind off the past and the turmoil churning in the air.But every other subject she could think of was trivial and inane.

She kissed the corner of his mouth and started to scramble off him.He held on tight.

“Let me up, Zach.”

“No.”

“If you don’t let me up, I can’t pack a bag to come home with you.”

Intense, shimmering eyes met hers.He slowly inhaled.“Are you serious?”

She nodded.“If you want me to.”

He snorted.“I should spank you for that statement.”

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