I enjoyed making her come until she was a quivering mess, and hurting her in a way her body ate up in bliss, and most surprisingly of all I enjoyed making her pasta while she watched me.
She looked more beautiful than ever as she stood by my side at the kitchen counter, swamped in one of my clean shirts from the wardrobe. Her hair was wild, and her eyes were wide, and her grin was wide to match.
I knew one thing for certain before I’d even finished slicing the salami. I was going to enjoy hurting the people who’d hurt her. I was going to savor every fucking second of it.
“Have you quit the day job now, then?” she asked me, with a twinkle in her eyes as I stirred the pasta. “Is it still none of my business?”
I couldn’t hold back a smile. “I haven’t quit the day job, no. I’m taking a vacation.”
“A vacation?” she asked, then laughed. “I can’t imagine you ever taking a vacation.”
“You and the rest of the populous who know me.”
It was a very true observation on her part. I couldn’t recall ever taking a vacation in my life. I hated non-productive time.
“So . . . where are we going on this vacation?” she laughed. “A beach resort somewhere amazing?”
I tipped my head with a smirk. “Kington Peak. I’ve heard there is a nice little countryside house which needs some gardening work.”
I loved the way she grinned.
We ate largely in silence as we munched at our pasta, but this time it wasn’t tense; it was easy. A lovely ease between two people who really like each other’s company. Like was an understatement, but I was still struggling with speaking the word in my own mind, even to myself. Two people who really love each other’s company.
I couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked at me with love in their eyes like Elaine did for me. It was a stunning thing. Her eyes had never looked like such magical pools of blue as they did when they were filled with happy adoration. I’d never grow tired of looking back at them. I could only assume that mine were filled with a sheen of adoration to match. Even the thought was still too bizarre to imagine.
Still, I may be a lover, but I was a hater, too. The love for Elaine fueled the evil inside me in other directions, and it fueled it hard. I despised the men who’d broken her pretty little soul when she was a sweet young butterfly with innocent wings. I’d always enjoyed hurting people, but I’d never wanted it with the passion I felt down deep as I thought about tearing those sickos to pieces.
“You going to curl up with me on the sofa like a boyfriend?” Elaine giggled as she collected my dish from me. “Is that what you are now? Are you my boyfriend?”
She was joking. Her humor was all over her face. I didn’t answer her humor with more. My reply was deadly serious.
“I’ve never been a boyfriend in my life. I’ve never even been close. This situation is entirely new ground.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve never been a girlfriend, either.” She laughed. “I was being silly, not serious. I’m hardly going to be talking marriage and kiddies next, am I? Just because we like playing around with orgasms and eating pasta together doesn’t mean we’re suddenly soulmates.”
“It would be hard to be soulmates with someone who’s soulless,” I told her. “Believe me, sweetheart. I’m pretty damn soulless.”
Her eyes were wide as she looked at me. “Yesterday I’d have believed you.”
I couldn’t find a reply to that. The whole concept of having a soul and a girlfriend and any kind of romance was enough to make me feel strangely fluffy inside, and I didn’t like fluffy. Fluffy was for pathetic wimps and pussies.
Even in my fluffy loved-up state I couldn’t bring myself to curl up on the sofa with Elaine and watch shit on TV. I made for an early night, and she headed along with me with no mention of the room down the hallway. She climbed straight on into my bed along with me once we were done with our showers.
“Are you going to actually fuck me soon?” she asked as I pulled her close under the covers.
“It’s the jewel in the crown,” I said. “When I take it, I’ll be taking it slowly. It’ll be worth waiting for.”
Her little giggle was cute. “I’ve been waiting quite a lot of years for it. I’m sure a little while longer isn’t going to hurt.”
Her sweet little yawn was divine. Even the most innocent things she did made her a pure temptress.
I wish I could have gone to sleep when she did. Her flutters of breath were sweet against my chest. I held onto her as she slept, loving the heat from her and thinking about how fucking bizarre my life was turning out to be. I hadn’t given a thought to Seamus or Duncan or Morelli Holdings. I’d been thinking of nothing but Elaine since the very second I left the office that morning and came speeding back home to find her outside.