Page 60 of Role Play
“Lucy,” he said, pulling back, his pale eyes searching mine. Emotion tightened the corners of his eyes in a way I couldn’t quite read. “That was…” his gaze shifted briefly to the floor where we had just had sex before cutting back to me. “Unexpected.”
I quirked a brow. “Unexpected? I thought that was the whole reason I was coming over tonight. One night,remember?”
He cleared his throat and gave a tight nod. “Yes. Onenight.”
My heart gave a little jump because… was I crazy or did he almost sound like he didn’t buy that either,anymore?
I slid my hand down his shoulder until my palm flattened over his heart. His racing heart. Each beat slammed into his breastbone, beating against my palm. What the hell was happening? He wasn’t acting like a man who didn’t want a relationship. He was acting like… like… a man falling in…No.Lucy, do not finish that thought, I scolded myself. I almost rolled my eyes in spite of myself. Like I would even know what a man in love looked like. Certainly not with my mom and dad. Brian and I hadn’t been in love. Hell, I had never even seen Uncle Rich in lovebefore.
I need to get out of here. And fast. I swallowed hard, ignoring the burning sensation in my sinuses and the little tug of my gut telling me tostay.
“Was it… was it different than other times?” My face burned as soon as I asked the question. Why was I such a glutton forpunishment?
“Yes,” hesaid.
“Because I wouldn’t call youSir?”
A smile twitched on his mouth. His perfectly kissable mouth. “Partially. It was just… different. You are different. I haven’t felt anything like that in… a longtime.”
Different. I’d been called different my whole fucking life. In some ways, I thrived on it. Enjoyed that I was different. On the other hand, it would always be a sorespot.
“Let’s run you a bath. You’reshivering.”
I opened my mouth to object—to say I had already taken a bath before coming over per his contract. But instead, I snapped my mouth shut and nodded. “Can I meet you up there? I just have to, um, use the bathroom.Privately.”
He nodded, pointing to a door that was slightly ajar down the hall. “There’s a bathroom right in there. I’llwait.”
“You can start running the bath,” I offered, hoping he wouldn’t see right through me. Because I had to get out of here. I needed to build the wall around my heart again because Ash Livingston was knocking it down, brick by brick. “I’ll be up in a fewminutes.”
His gaze narrowed. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“So…” He walked around the dining table and bent, gathering my clothes in his arms. “You want to use the bathroom down here. You don’t want me to wait for you. But you do want me to go upstairs and run you abath?”
He’s onto me.I nodded, a sharp, jerkingmovement.
Crossing the length of the room, he transferred my belongings into my arms and brushed his mouth over mine in a final soft kiss. “Any Dom-sub relationship is based in trust.” His eyes searched mine, pausing for a few moments that felt like hours. “So, I’m going to choose to trust you to join me upstairs in the bathtub in a fewminutes.”
Damn him. “Yousaid we didn’t have a relationship. Dom, sub, orotherwise.”
If I thought we couldn’t get any closer, I would have been wrong. He wrapped his muscular arm around my waist and pulled me flat against his body, nothing between our flesh except for the pile of belongings he had put in my arms. His body was already primed, ready for me again, as his erection pushed into my belly. “Maybe I was kidding myself,” hewhispered.
I swallowed hard, my throat burning, my head spinning, and my stomach flipping as nervousness and excitement and arousal all collided in my core. “Maybe I’m not okay with that,” I said quickly, my mind reeling. “Maybe I’m seeing otherpeople.”
Oh, fuck.Thatwas not the right thing to say. His expression, which seconds ago had been heated and soft, now hardened into a scowl. I could feel possessiveness radiating off of him. It was consuming and intoxicating and his lip curled into a snarl as he asked, “Areyou?”
I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to lie to him. I had promised I wouldn’t. And while the “Sir” battle was a real struggle, it was also not as serious as a blatant lie like this. If I said yes, that I was seeing other people, that would be a flat out lie. I would be burying the casket and dropping the dirt over top of any chance Ash and I had. Even though I was scared, I wasn’t ready for this to be over justyet.
“No,” I admitted. “I’m not seeing anyone else.” He would have found out the truth anyway. He would have seen through my lies, chewed them up, and spit them right backout.
His sigh of relief slammed through my veins, nourishing me in a way that was beyond what I wanted to admit. “In that case,” he said, his voice low and hot. “I will see youupstairs.”
He leaned down, brushing my lips in a final kiss before turning and leaving me standing there in the dining room, clothes and purse in hand, faced with the decision to once more run from who I was, or turn and face the newLucy.
