Page 23 of Vows in Sin
Then he fills me up to overflowing with his tender, gruff words, “Come here. I want to hold you.”
I turn around and he does everything I’d hoped for. He wraps those arms around me, holding me against him. I rest my cheek on his chest, a secret smile curling at my lips. I close my eyes and inhale that scent that is so specifically him.
I’m only missing the kiss.
Reaching down into his pocket, he slips a piece of paper into my hand. “Next time you need me, you ask.”
I glance down at the crumpled paper I hold in my hand. He knew I was coming here tonight.
I stare down at the slip, holding it between my thumb and index finger. His number with his name at the top. Reign. I scoff back a laugh.
How quickly he’s become the ruler of my world.
Beautiful penmanship. I didn’t expect that.
He had this ready in advance. I stare up at him. “How did you know I was coming tonight?”
He shrugs, uneasily swiping his beard. “Just knew.”
He says it like two words can explain this complicated, heated, passionate mess we’ve created.
“I have to go. There’s a restroom down the hall. Take your time.”
He leans down. Strokes my hair. And kisses the top of my head.
Then, he’s gone.
I rush to the bathroom where I can study the paper in privacy. Call him if I need him? Is that an open invitation to a relationship? Does he want me in the same way I’m finding I need him?
The thought scares me. I’m playing a perilous game. I don’t belong here, and I don’t belong with him.
Returning was a one-time thing. A moment of weakness to get my head together. There won’t be a next time. Fixing my face as best I can in the small, dimly lit restroom, I crumple up the paper, ready to toss it into the trash.
We haven’t ever seen one another outside this back room. We haven’t even shared something as simple as a cup of coffee. I’m not calling this man.
I need to be clear.
This isn’t happening again.
I leave his number on the crate where I know he’ll see it. I see myself out the back door, where I know there will be a ride waiting for me. Sure enough, a sleek black sedan is already pulled up to the curb.
How can two strangers predict one another so well?
He didn’t even tell me he’d called a car for me.
I just knew he had.
9
Reign
My mouth tastes of her. My hands smell of her. I’m so obsessed with her I want to bottle up both.
Hell, the first night I met her, I even dreamed of her.
Rising from a lake. Wearing nothing but those pink heels.
I thought the madness would end. The threat of my belt would be enough for her, and she wouldn’t come back. This morning, I woke up, and I knew. She’d be at the club tonight.
