Page 66 of Fortress of the King

RAYNE

I don’t remember makingit home. I don’t even notice the traffic, or parking my car, or drawing myself a bath and drinking a bottle of wine.

If only I could wash away everything. All the sins. All the lies. The secrets.

Hearing my sister's voice brought it all flooding back. How much I have to lose and how much I will do to get her back.

I allowed Angelo to take me in the loading dock at work – I don’t even know who I am anymore.

I hatelovingwhat he did. The way his hand fit around my throat as he told me that I was his. How I needed to hear it.

I hate him. It’s true. I hate all of them, but most of all, I hate how he makes me feel alive in all of this mess.

Then there’s the Dane situation that I don’t even want to think about. Angelo took care of it. Though, he would probably bathe in his blood if he felt so inclined.

I’m halfway through soaking my sorrows away when he texts me, telling me he’s downstairs. I’m stunned for a moment.He’s here?

I gulp down the last of the wine and jump out of the bath, wrapping myself in a toweling robe.

I buzz him up and run a hand through my wet hair.

I’ve had a little too much to drink. Had I known he was coming over, I wouldn’t have.

When I open the door, he’s standing there in the suit he fucked me in earlier, his top button undone and his tie loose at the nape. He looks so delicious, forbidden, and sexy that I stare at him like a total buffoon.

“Do you usually open the door to strange men?” he asks, cocking an eyebrow.

“I wouldn’t call you strange,” I reply as I let him in the door. “A little rough round the edges perhaps, but definitely not strange.”

He looks a little tired. The great king himself is ruffled and looks out of place, and I’ve no idea why.

He follows me down the hall into the expansive living room. “What brings you out here so late at night?”

He laughs darkly. “What brings me here?” He pulls at the belt around my robe as I turn to face him.

“You did a very bad thing to me at work.” I poke him in the chest and he watches the movement, the corners of his mouth turning up like I amuse him.

I’ve had a whole bottle of wine, sue me.

“You liked it.” He pulls the belt loose and lets the ties fall down to my sides.

“I hadn’t had sex for a year before you came along,” I blurt out from nowhere, and I immediately slap my hand over my mouth.

His eyes go wide. “No other man has had your pussy in a whole year since that ungrateful asshole you were married to?”

I shake my head as he comes closer and pushes my robe open, baring my body to him.

“Is that a yes or a no?”

I nod. “Oops, sorry, I meant yes.”

He narrows his eyes. “How much have you had to drink?”

I snort a laugh. “Umm, a little bit.”

He reaches in my robe and cups my breast, running a hand over my nipple as it puckers under his touch. I resist the urge to moan out loud as my head falls forward to land on his chest.

“You can’t just touch me and make it all okay.”

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