Page 74 of His Little Secret in Discretion
“And my father…” His voice darkened, bitter. “He was there, but he wasn’t. A ghost in the same house. We’d eat at the same table, but he’d talk to me like I was one of his associates, not his son. Money. Business. Legacy. That’s all that mattered.”
I cupped his jaw, forcing him back to me, needing him to see I was listening, that I was still here.
He finally found my eyes, sighing as he shook his head.
“She had it all and still couldn’t love me. He could buy empires but never gave me five minutes of his time.” His laugh was low, bitter, a sound that made my chest ache. “Money didn’t fix the emptiness. It just made the house quieter, the halls colder, the loneliness worse.”
His thumb brushed my cheek. “So what do I do to cope? Crack a joke instead of therapy and… drown you in everything. I hover. I smother. I want to spoil you until there’s no room left for doubt. Because I’ll never risk you thinking you’re invisible the way I was. I suffocate you with my presence, with my attention, everything that’ll make you make sure you feel seen.”
He swallowed, voice dropping rougher. “My mother was addicted to everything but me. My father was addicted to power. And me?” His eyes locked on mine, sharp and unflinching. “I’m addicted to you.”
Then he kissed me, slow and desperate. My hands threaded through his hair, pulling him closer, needing him to breathe,needing the truth of him more than anything he could ever buy me.
His lips moved down my throat, tracing fire over the fragile column of my neck, and his voice rasped low against my skin. “Let me show you, Sunshine. Let meloveyou the only way I know how.”
I tried to ignore the word he said that lit a fire in my chest. The word that had me feeling likehis. But I couldn’t, not when he looked at me the way he did. Like I truly was the only woman in his eyes.
He lay me back against the pillows. His fingers slid down, skimming my ribs, my waist, memorizing me for the hundredth time.
When he entered me, it wasn’t the rough, obsessive, lustful feeling I’d grown addicted to. It was slow, almost unbearable in its sweetness, every inch deliberate. His forehead pressed to mine, his groan muffled against my lips as my body clenched around him.
I choked on a sob as he moved inside me, every thrust a vow, every kiss a confession. My nails scraped down his back, clinging, grounding him as his composure began to unravel.
When my release took me over the edge, it was sharp, shattering—like he was splitting me open, filling every hollow part that had ever ached.
He followed me there, groaning into my mouth as he spilled deep inside me, hips grinding until there was nothing left to give.
And afterward, when his weight pressed me into the mattress, he didn’t move away. He stayed inside me, stayed wrapped around me, his face buried in my neck as though letting go, even for a moment, would undo him.
I wanted to bask in this moment for forever, feel like I washisfor forever.
Chapter twenty-eight
Blaine
The morning light spilled pale across the sheets, and for once, I didn’t immediately think about missing meetings for my beauty sleep or contracts or the thousand fires Killian swore I should be putting out. All I thought about was her.
My little Sunshine, curled against me, her breath warm on my chest, body still trembling faintly from the night before.
Last night wasn’t just sex. Not in the way I usually took her. That was me laying myself bare like some lovesick idiot, confessing things I swore I’d never tell anyone. And the worst part? I didn’t regret a damn thing.
I brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and kissed her temple. God, I wanted to stay in this bed forever, keep her mine forever… but duty calls. Or rather, Lucifer calls.
She stirred once, sighing softly as I tightened my tie in the mirror. I almost ditched the day right there. Almost. But if I missed another meeting, Killian would send a search party.
So I left her with the sheets still warm and my scent all over her skin as I slipped back into the role of the charming billionaire everyone knew.
Killian didn’t even look up when I walked into his office, just kept flipping through a stack of reports like the world would collapse if he didn’t. Typical asshole billionaire behavior at play.
“Congratulations,” he muttered dryly, scribbling a note in the margin before finally meeting my eyes. “On the rare occurrence of you actually doing your job.”
I smirked, dropping into the chair across from him.It was the closest thing to a compliment I’d get. Hell, I’d take it.“Careful, you almost sound proud of me. Don’t want to make it a habit.”
Killian finally glanced up, eyes sharp. “I wouldn’t get too ahead of yourself. Drummond’s deal is dragging. You’re still stalling.”
“I am…” I murmured, contemplating whether I should just let the cat out of the bag now. “He’s digging his own grave. Calvin is funding his demise.”
“That was just a speculation. We still don’t even know if they’re doing business with one another.”
