Page 117 of Oblivion

“A little,” I squeaked.

“Great. My job here is done.” He slapped my thigh in a business-like manner, then pushed off the bed. “See you downstairs.”

“Where are you going?”

“To my room to masturbate.”

“You’re not,” I breathed out in disbelief.

Dante cracked up. “Nope, just trying to normalize self-pleasure.”

“You suck!” I yelled, tossing the spare pillow at him.

He easily deflected it. “Don’t take too long, Penny. The longer you take, the more time you have to think about it.”

I huffed. Damn him.

By being excruciatingly frank, he’d taken my self-consciousness, beat the shit out of it, then hurled it off the outside balcony. Despite some lingering embarrassment as I made my way downstairs, the subject seemed old news the moment Dante sat on the couch and picked up a deck of cards.

“Texas Hold ‘Em?”

“Sure.” I sat on the ottoman on the opposite side of the coffee table.

He started shuffling the cards, then cut his attention to me. “Just so we’re clear, masturbation is still a no-go subject?”

“Dante!”

His roaring laughter had me grinning and slapping at him from across the low table.

“You ass.”

“But it’s no longer weird, right?”

I huffed dramatically. “No, it’s not. Now it’s just fucking annoying.”

“And you’resowelcome!”

CHAPTERFORTY-FOUR

Penny

My freedom arrived much faster than anticipated, and it was bittersweet. I wasn’t ready to leave the safety of Dante’s loft, or say goodbye.

Paul had been successful in his re-run for Senate, but that was his win, not mine. All my energy went into holding back tears as Dante followed me back to my house in his truck. He helped carry my suitcases inside, then gathered me into his arms and hugged me hard. We hardly spoke, and I couldn’t shake the foreboding sense of finality.

“I’ll call you on the weekend, beautiful. Keep that smile shining for me,” he murmured, while running his thumb over my trembling lower lip.

“I’ll try to.”

“You should be safe now.”

“I know.”

Paul had terminated his contract with Cole Security the moment his win was announced. I wasn’t happy for him—I was too busy hurting for me.

Dante pressed a lingering kiss to my mouth, then left on the promise of seeing me in a couple of days.

While I understood he had work in the office to complete, loneliness immediately settled over me. Having just spent three weeks with him at all times, then suddenly finding myself completely alone, was majorly unsettling.

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