An Innocent Obsession

“Angel. My angel, are you okay?” He crushes me to his chest. “The only thing stopping me from losing my mind is knowing I gave you pleasure. Please tell me I didn’t hurt you.”

I find Clarke’s eyes with mine and let him see the full scope of my happiness. This incredible man just made love to me and it was so much more than I ever could have dreamed. My heart won’t stay still in my chest, alternating between my throat and simply bouncing around like an overinflated ball. “You didn’t hurt me. I’ve never been happier,” I murmur, laying a soft kiss on his lips. “And I’ll never feel this way about another man. Not as long as I live, Clarke. I promise.”

“Thank God, angel. Thank God.” Clarke searches my eyes, his hands running over my body as if he can’t believe I’m still there. He gives me several long, thorough kisses before leaving the bed and returning with a washcloth to clean the red stickiness from my thighs. The visible proof of my virginity has an effect on his body, his erection rising swiftly, pupils dilating and crowding out the irises of his eyes. But he shakes his head firmly when I give him a questioning look. “I’ve been enough of an animal for one night,” he rasps, lying down on the bed beside me and tucking me into the warmth of his chest. His thumb rubs circles into the base of my neck and meanders down my spine, massaging every inch of me.

“I feel like I’ve known you for a million years,” he says, pulling me close. “I’m going to give you everything, angel. I’m going to give you all of…me, too. Everything inside me. If you want it.”

My smile fades, my pulse thudding dully in my temples. “Of course I want it,” I say. “Of course I do.”

But as Clarke falls into a deep sleep behind me, all I can think about is how I’ve duped him. He’s ready to trust me, give me everything—but he doesn’t know the real me. I’ve lied. I’m a fraud. Oh God, I don’t deserve him. And I’m not just talking about Clarke Carroway, the superhero I’ve been worshipping from afar. I’ve fallen in love with the real him, too. The man behind the appealing exterior. I can’t hurt the man who holds me like a treasure. I can’t.

Moreover, I don’t think I’ll survive his hurt and disappointment when he finds out I’ve been violating his privacy for years. Not to mention papering my room with his face and talking to his image like it was the real thing. He’ll think I’m crazy.

He won’t feel the same about me once he finds out.

If I leave now, at least I’ll have this one perfect night to keep me warm for the rest of my life. Living without Clarke will be agonizing now that I really know him. But I don’t see another way. I don’t see how this can last when him finding out the truth about me is inevitable.

With tears clogging my throat, I slip out from beneath his arm and dress silently in the dark. And I walk out of the life of my dreams, clinging to the one perfect night I was given.

CHAPTER FIVE

Clarke

I wake up confused because it’s light out and I never sleep past five a.m. The light is what reminds me of Emery. Although, reminds is a weak term for what happens when I remember I’m the happiest man alive now. Bliss rushes through my veins at breakneck pace and I start to turn to her side of the bed—as it will henceforth be known—already planning on canceling my morning meetings so I can spoil the hell out of her.

Guilt makes me freeze before I can face her. God, I was so rough with her last night. She came to me so sweet and trusting—and I turned into an uncontrollable beast. I might have been able to wrestle back some self-control, but her thighs could not have been more welcoming, her moans couldn’t have been louder or more encouraging. I somehow stumbled across the horniest virgin alive and I’ll cut my tongue out before complaining. My cock is already engorged beneath the sheets, searching for her pussy again. Craving it. Decades from now, I’ll still be waking up this way. I know it in my gut. Hot for Emery. My angel.

My little girl.

I swallow a groan and fist my dick, giving in and stroking myself a few times, envisioning Emery’s snug, drenched pussy, how she whines the word Daddy.

Pull yourself together. After she gave herself to me last night so trustingly, I owe her an amazing day. First, I’ll have one of my employees bring her a selection of the finest clothes to choose from. Toiletries. After that, we’ll start with a bath. The hot water should help with the soreness I caused. Breakfast will happen after that—and I’m going to make it for her. I want to watch her perfect lips chewing food I made. Her Daddy will sustain her in every way.