Page 58 of Bought
Her hand goes back to my heart, her warm skin pressing against mine. “Is there room in there… for someone new?”
And with that one question, she lays me bare.
I stare at her. The storm I never saw coming. “What do you think?”
She pokes me softly in the stomach, trying to shake the heaviness between us. “Tell me.”
“You’ve already wiggled your way in, babygirl.” She's carved herself into the spaces I thought were dead.
Pleased with my response, she beams a sunny smile. She sits up, trying to shift the mood. “We’d better be going if we’re going to make dinner.”
I groan, dropping my head to the pillow. “Then we’ve got a problem.”
Her shoulders stiffen. “What?”
I grin, the hunger already crawling back in. “I don’t want to go.”
She hesitates, then smiles. “I want to meet your family, but… I hate the thought of leaving this bed.”
“Then don’t.”
She bites her lip, clearly weighing the responsibility tugging at her and the want simmering beneath her skin. I watch every breath she takes like a predator, waiting.
“Ryan was so excited,” she says, though her tone lacks conviction. Still, responsibility tugs at her. “I hate to let him down.”
“We’ll reschedule for tomorrow. And I’ll make it worth his while.” I slip an arm around her waist, drawing her back into me, pressing her skin to mine. “Stay.”
She exhales like she’s been holding her breath. “Fine,” she smiles, then grabs her phone and holds it out to me. “But you’re the one who has to break the news to the kid.”
I’ll give that cute little kid whatever he wants if it means not leaving this room.
Because I’m not ready to let her go. Not now. Not tonight.
Not ever.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Erin
I wake up in the best way possible, completely tangled in him. His arm rests heavily across my waist, and his breath is gentle against my shoulder. For a moment, I stay still, savoring this private moment of bliss.
“Lucian,” I whisper.
Last night’s memories flicker behind my eyelids in vivid, dizzying displays like his mouth on mine as he pinned my wrists and the strength in his hands when he held me. His whispered words of devotion thrilled me, even though I wasn’t supposed to be in his bed.
He didn’t just enter my body. He claimed ownership.
I’ve never felt anything like it.
I shift slowly, careful not to wake him. My legs are sore, my lips bruised. There’s a contented ache between my thighs.
The warm pulse is a reminder of how completely I gave myself to him.
I reach for my phone in the darkness of his room and slip out of bed. The air is cooler here in the living room. I walk barefoot across the hardwood floors, pulling his oversized dress shirt tighter around me, inhaling the faint scent of cedar and last night.
I’m headed to the balcony for some air when something catches my eye. I don’t mean to snoop. I really don’t, but you have to go through the dining room to get outside. There’s a heavy sideboard centered on the far wall.
One with a partially open drawer. Curiosity edges around me. My heart thuds as I step closer. And that’s when I see it. An envelope.
