Page 85 of Our Little Cliche
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
I fucking promise.
Chapter Forty-Four
HOLLY
“Good fucking god, my love…”Cyrus’s broken, musky tone penetrates my ears. His glare burns over me, igniting my heart with adornment. I’m standing by the door of the bedroom, waiting patiently for his sentence to continue, but it doesn’t. And the more his eyes rake over me, the more dazed he becomes.
Mesmerized, even.
Like he’s forgetting how to breathe.
Quite frankly, I feel that way too. He looks gorgeous. I don’t know whether I want to knock him to the ground and sit on his face or kiss him until he’s blue. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen him scrubbed up in a suit many times, but there’s something aboutthis onethat seems different. Like he’s wearing it just for me.
“You look…” he continues, then stops again.If you don’t speak a full sentence soon, you’ll end up drooling on your nice shoes, I think to myself as he wets his lips for the umpteenth time, something I love watching him do.
He looks beyond remarkable, sporting a cream, almost beige suit with a matching vest, polar white shirt and a tie ironically the same color of my dress. He has trimmed his stubble, slickedback his hair, and whatever scent that is wafting from his direction is intoxicating.
“Do you like it?” I prompt, fluffing down over the mesh-like texture of my dress.
It’s crafted from satin, with a shimmery, golden tulle overlay. The reason I chose this dress was because the corset’s design pinches tight into my waist, flowing down into a seamless A-line shape, with a decadent slit down my right leg—complimenting my figure to its fullest. And of all the colors in the world, I chose this one. A deep, cherry red.It’s a color that I do not usually tend to go for in clothing, but Ineededsomething that shows an emotion inside of me. Loudly.
Love.
Eternal love.
Like the blood in my veins that pumps for the man before me, red was mandatoryfor him.
“Holly, I…” He rubs the nape of his neck, breathing out heavily, but not in a sexual way. “I— I truly have no words.”
“Hmm, aren’t you a best selling author?” I joke in an attempt to push aside the amount of thick lust and heat in the air.We need to release that before going downstairs.It was bad enough Izzy—Bella could see right though us.“You should have an entire thesaurus up in that ticker of yours,”
“I did. Until I met you. Now it’s just mush… all floof up here,” he smiles, tapping his temple with a laugh.
“Touché, Mr. Stone. Touché.”
“You are so fucking beautiful, my sweet angel. Though, beautiful is hardly a word strong enough to describe what I’m looking at. Got any synonyms for me?” He steps closer, his fragrance wafting through the air and straight into my brain.
Holy shit.Nothelping.
“Hmm. How about, a bit of alright? Stunner? A total babe?”
“I guess they work. I would have taken something like gorgeous, exquisite, or ravishing, though.” He rolls therin his words, stepping another foot nearer. He’s resisting just as much as I am, because we both know that as soon as we’re inches from each other we’re doomed.
I giggle, unable to control my flustered thoughts around him. “Thank you. You scrub up alright yourself. A little too good, actually. What if the ladies steal you from me? I can’t fight them all.”
“I’m flattered. But that would be impossible. No one can take me from you. I’m yours, Holly. Every single particle of flesh on my body and what lies underneath it is yours.”
“Likewise,” I whisper the word, looking up at him now that his hands are wrapped around my waist. “Can you do me up?”
His fingers trail from the small of my back, across my hip, then over my belly as he stalks a slow circle around me, stopping behind me. “We’re running late, by the way,” I mention as he slowly…hesitantly…threads the strings, tightening the bodice of my lace-up gown.
“I know. But going down there means that I have to stop looking at you?—”
“As if you’re about to tear my clothes to shreds and have your way with me?” I cut him off.
