“Do you remember when I told you on my yacht that the only place I held any power over you was in the office?”
I nod, still holding onto him for dear life with my heart racing in my chest.
“Well, I’ve decided that’s now a lie.” He shakes his head, eyes flicking back and forth between mine. “In every possible way, in every place that exists, you are my everything. You hold the power, Ashlei, and I am yours — to bear or to break.”
Tears flood my eyes, and this time I don’t try to stop them. I have never felt anything in my life like I feel for this man, and I succumb to the feeling of him surrounding me — all of me — now and forever.
“I will never break you,” I whisper, reaching up to press my lips to his. He answers me with a passionate kiss in return, and then with a flex of his hips, he’s inside me.
I feel him all at once, all-encompassing, the bare length of him filling me up. I gasp into his mouth, and his hands wrap around my shoulders, giving him a better grip to thrust inside me again. Each time he withdraws and pummels in, his pelvis rubs my clit, and I spread my legs even wider, chasing the building fire ready to catch.
Brandon’s mouth roams all over me — my neck, my jaw, my chin and lips and ears and breasts. I feel him everywhere, and I run my nails down his back, kiss his skin in return, praying that he feels me just as much.
How can it be that this strong, powerful, successful man wants anything to do with me? How can it be that out of all the women falling at his feet, he chose me to stand by his side, to be his queen, to say the three words every woman wants to hear?
This time last year, I was fighting every urge that begged me to give into my lust for him, and now, he’s making love to me in a city halfway across the country, and everyone knows about us, and nobody dares to tell us we can’t have each other.
I could never break him, I realize, because we’re unbreakable.
As long as we’re together, we can’t be stopped.
Trembling and holding onto each other with slick, hot hands, Brandon makes love to me for hours in that bed.
And before we leave the next morning, he makes good on his promise to fuck me on the balcony, too.THE LAST TIME I went on a date, it was with Jarrett.
I don’t want to compare. Fuck, the whole point of dicking around with Kade was to distract myself from the fact that Jarrett had pulverized my heart. And the surprising fact is that it’s been working… until now.
Because now, I’m staring in the mirror moments before Kade is picking me up for our first official date, and for some reason, it all feels wrong.
It feels wrong to be thinking about the way my stomach fluttered the first time Jarrett took me on a date, or how he made me come home with him when I was sick just so he could take care of me, or how he flew in from New York and hung out with me and my sorority sisters, which made them fall just as in love with him as I was.
It feels wrong because it’s a past, not a future — and tonight, I start something new with someone new.
I sigh, rubbing the edge of my lip with my pinky to fix a bit of lipstick smudge. It’s slightly cool tonight — for South Florida, at least — so I landed on my favorite pair of Spanx leggings, a burnt orange crop top, and my favorite black booty heels. I layered a cream, high-low cardigan over the top, and did my makeup mostly natural, except for the smoky eye. My blonde hair is down and curled, falling over my shoulders, and I stare back at the golden eyes in the mirror with a pit in my stomach.
Because as much as I’m thinking of Jarrett, perhaps what fucks me up most is that I don’t think I miss him anymore.
I don’t think my heart breaks as much when I think about him. I don’t think I care what he’s doing or who he’s with anymore.
And more than anything, I don’t think I’m sad that it’s not him picking me up tonight.
The truth is, I’m excited for my date with Kade.
And for some reason, that fucks me up.
That’s what feels wrong.
Skyler pops her head into the bathroom, dancing a little with her eyebrows waggling like a cartoon character. “He’s here,” she whispers. “And he’s smokin’!”
“Are you hitting on my boyfriend, Sky?”
At that, her mouth pops open. “Oh, I didn’t realize he was your boyfriend.”