Hotel O

She fishes her phone from her pocket and scrolls through an app until she finds what she’s looking for. “I saved it in my documents. Here.”

She hands me her phone, and I read it all.

A lot of mentions about a secret chat site … sex with a nameless man … meeting him again and again at a hotel … some of the orgies. But she’s right. No names. No numbers. No address. No date.

It’s completely anonymous, yet I can’t stop reading it over and over again simply because of one thing.

Her admission that everything we did—even the craziest, filthiest, most degrading things—were incredible experiences, and that if she’d known beforehand about all the things that would happen to her, she’d do it again in a heartbeat.

My lip twitches, my body unable to stop the smug smile from growing.

I hand the phone back to her in silence.

“And?” she asks, swallowing.

I nod a few times, thinking about how I’m going to respond. “Are you going to publish it?” I ask.

“If you don’t want me to, I’ll delete it. All of it. Right now.” Her thumb hovers over the button on her phone. “Just say it, and I won’t.”

I lower the phone and her hand, stopping her from pressing the button. “No need. I’ve already made up my mind about you.”

“I don’t want to see you hurt,” she says. “I care too much. I’m …”

I grab her face and kiss her, silencing the words that didn’t need to be spoken.

I know how she feels about me.

I feel the same for her.

So I kiss her, finally sealing the deal. My job doesn’t matter in this equation and neither does the hotel. Not anymore. Neither of them will fall because of her because she’d never allow it to happen and neither will I.

And I don’t give a damn if she’s writing an article about our thing together because it doesn’t change anything about my attraction to her. We’ve been fighting the pull for no reason, and I’ve had enough. All I want is her … All I need is her …

It’s been right in front of me this whole time, and I never truly saw, until now, just how much she means to me. And how badly I’ve already fallen in love with her.

When our lips briefly part, she mumbles, “I don’t understand. I thought you’d be upset.”

“I was, but then I decided there’s no point,” I reply.

She cocks her head. “So you trust me?”

I raise a brow. “Prove it to me. Publish the article.”

She nods and a genuine, heartfelt smile forms on her face, making me fall even deeper.

I don’t even know why or how. I can’t explain it, and I don’t understand how it happened, but it did. That’s all that matters.

“I love you,” I whisper.

The phone drops from her hand.

Her lips part. “What did you say?”

“I love you.” I don’t have to think twice to say it again.

It feels so natural to finally admit it. I’ve been fighting it for so long, but not anymore. I need this woman in my life. I just never knew how badly until she almost got ripped away from me.

We’re two sides of the same coin. Equally dirty, cocky, and downright bad. But I love her for it. I love how she challenges me, how she pushes me to rethink my boundaries and live in the moment. How she made me risk it all, and it paid off.

Because she’s here, right in front of me, and I don’t think I could ever let her go again.

So I grab her face and kiss her. Hard. Greedily. Just like I always wanted. I should’ve admitted my fucking feelings long ago instead of avoiding them like they’d kill me. I should enjoy living a little … and I certainly can with her by my side.

When she pulls back to take a breath, she murmurs, “So does that mean you’re actually my boyfriend now?”

I narrow my eyes as a filthy smile spreads on her lips. “Please don’t. I despise that word.”

“What then? Partner? Boy toy?”

I shake my head, musing, “Declan will do just fine.”

“But there is something …” she says, pointing at my chest. “You can’t deny that.”

I grab her finger and hold it. “I’m not denying anything.” I bring her finger up to my lips, pressing a soft kiss to the tip before taking it into my mouth to give it a slight suckle. “I think I made that very clear.”

“So what now?” she asks, rubbing her lips together.

“Now,” I say, lifting her up in my arms, “we fuck.”

Chapter 32

Declan

I set her down on my table and shower her neck with kisses, unable to stop myself from ravishing her any longer. I need to have her … now.

So I rip off the blouse she’s wearing, not giving a shit that the buttons are flying everywhere. With one quick finger, I unhook her bra and chuck it away, immediately covering her nipple with my mouth. The other one gets tweaked with my fingers until it’s nice and taut.