Page 88 of Ruin
The lights are out when I let myself in, which is a good sign.
Not wanting to disturb Daniel, I opt to use the main bathroom to take a shower, snagging a pair jogger pants from the pile of clean laundry the staff left on the dining room table earlier. While they may do my washing, I draw the line on making others put my clothes away.
I might be rich, but I’m not incapacitated.
Standing under the hot water, I try to let it wash away the stress of Daniel’s news. I’d been naive to think that Joseph would just let it all go. His need to control her is so deep that itnow appears he’s willing to risk his political career to get what he wants.
While I may have given Daniel the impression that I wasn’t concerned about any risks posed to the business, the last thing we need is to have him bringing attention to our enterprise. The people who use our services want privacy and pay handsomely for it. The only saving grace is that we have many powerful people on our books, and they will bury him alive to protect themselves. I’d just rather it not come to that.
Once I’ve accepted that the scalding water isn’t helping, I finish up in the shower, turning the water off and reaching for the spare towel hanging behind the door.
The door that opens a moment later as I’m drying my hair.
“Oh, shit! Sorry,” Lily says, her eyes wide as she runs her eyes over my naked body. “I, ah, I didn’t see the light under the door.”
Her hair is a little disheveled, and she’s once again wearing that oversized jumper with no pants covering her long, tanned legs.
She’s a walking temptation, and I’m dangerously close to just giving in entirely.
“It’s fine. Nothing you haven’t seen at this point,” I tell her, wrapping the towel around my waist.
Her face reddens as she nods. “Right, yeah… Um, I just needed to use the bathroom but I’ll just…” Her gaze lingers on my chest for a few beats, before she drags her gaze back up to mine. “I’ll wait.”
She quickly shuts the door, leaving me standing there, shaking my head.
She has seen me fuck several people, had my cock buried deep in her pussy, but seeing me naked in the bathroom still makes her blush?
I’ve come to find her innocence refreshing. I’vebecome so used to this world I live in, but having her still get embarrassed about walking in on me naked isn’t concerning me the way it used to. It’s just giving me the opportunity to take a breath. If it had been Imogen, Annika or Dante who walked in, my cock would be down their throats already, their sexual appetites driving them to beg me to fuck them. But Lily doesn’t work that way.
And it’s nice.
Once I’ve cleaned my teeth, I step out of the bathroom to allow her to relieve herself, setting about making up the couch to sleep on by grabbing a pillow and blanket from the linen cupboard. Daniel probably could have taken the couch, but I knew I’d be up late and didn’t want to worry about waking him, so this will just have to do for the night.
Lily reappears and scurries off to her bedroom, giving me a quick nod before closing the door.
Turning off the light, the room plunges into darkness. The advantage of the mansion’s location is that we don’t have to worry about artificial light flooding into the rooms at night. But it does also make it difficult to see.
Laying down on the couch, I rest my head on the pillow and will my brain to switch off. Just as I’m finally relaxing, I hear a door open. Cracking one eye open, I see the dim light flooding from Lily’s room, spilling around her body as she leans against the doorframe. Her hair hangs over her shoulder, and she’s so breathtakingly beautiful that it hurts to look at her.
I’m surrounded by beautiful people daily, but there is just something about this woman that affects me unlike any other.
“Hi,” I murmur, running my gaze over her face as she studies me with a contemplative expression. “Everything okay?”
She doesn’t say a word as she walks over and takes a seat onthe edge of the couch. She peers down at me for a moment while I remain still, watching her closely.
Reaching a tentative hand forward, she brushes her fingers over my cheek bone as she holds my gaze, and I inhale slowly, almost as though she’s cast some sort of spell over me.
If I’m honest, she’s had me under her spell since she blazed into my life all those years ago. I’ve just managed to keep convincing myself that I was strong enough to fight the pull towards her. But that resolve is crumbling now as she continues to run her thumb back and forth along my cheek. I can’t remember the last time someone touched me with such tenderness, and my emotions must show on my face, as her gaze softens.
She bends forward and brushes her lips against mine, and that last thread of resistance snaps. I kiss her back gently, sliding my hand into her hair.
I allow her to control the interaction, which is so unlike myself that it takes me by surprise. But I don’t want to control this.
I don’t think I’m capable of controlling this.
“Come to bed?” she whispers against my lips.
I hesitate, like I’m hovering on the edge of a cliff, dangerously close to losing my balance. I can choose to step back - to stop this and protect myself - or take that last step and topple over the edge and into oblivion.
