My breath stills in my lungs, my body tightening with a resurgence of aching need. He doesn’t say that he’s enjoying the taste of me, but he doesn’t have to. It’s there on his face, in the way his lids grow heavy and a hint of color darkens his high cheekbones.
With one final suck, he pulls the now-clean fingers out of his mouth and curves his palm over my jaw. His touch is tender, but there’s no mistaking the savage possessiveness in his gaze as he leans closer, the edge of his thumb stroking over my lower lip.
“You’re mine, Emma.” His voice is low and rough, filled with unshakeable certainty. “And this—you and me—it’s happening. You can fight it all you want, but in the end, you’ll give in. Because you feel it too, this pull between us… this compulsion. It doesn’t matter how different you think we are, or how much it scares you. The fact of it remains, and resisting it will only make it stronger.” His lips twist. “Believe me, I know.”
I swallow, my heart hammering painfully. “And what if I give in? What then?”
Will you break my heart again… walk away and leave me in pieces?
The words dance on the tip of my tongue, but I hold them back. I can’t let Marcus know how much he’s already hurt me—because then he’d know the truth.
He’d realize I’m helplessly, head-over-heels in love with him.
His blue eyes darken, and I wonder if I betrayed myself anyway, if he understood my pathetic “what then?” for the desperate, lovesick plea it was.
Don’t hurt me. Don’t abandon me. Love me.
Slowly, with exquisite care, he presses his lips to mine, the kiss so tender it makes me want to cry. “Then, kitten,” he murmurs, pulling back to gaze at me, “I will give you the world… everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”
And as my heart clenches with agonizing hope, he kisses me again and begins stripping off my clothes.
13
Emma
“Your billionaire better be an alien who carried you off on his spaceship,” Kendall says in lieu of a greeting as she accepts my video call the next morning. “Seriously, Ems, what the fuck? I’ve called you like fifty times since Sunday.”
“Three times,” I correct, wincing internally. “And I’m really, really sorry. I was going to call you back, but it’s been… Well, a lot’s been going on.”
She rakes her fingers through her hair—magically avoiding frizzing up the sleek dark locks. “Yeah, no kidding, Captain Obvious. You and Mr. Billions making out on Page Seven? I better hear all the juicy details.”
“Right, so…” I prop the phone against a flower pot on my grandparents’ lanai table and look around, making sure I’m still alone on the screened porch. The coast seems to be clear. My grandparents are at their morning salsa class, and Marcus must still be asleep. For once, I woke up before him and snuck out to make this call. Taking a breath, I turn back to the phone camera. “It’s kind of a long story.”
Kendall rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Get on with it already. I don’t have all morning. Well, I do, since we’re off this Friday, but you know what I mean.”
“Right.” Without further ado, I launch into my story, filling her in on everything that’s happened since I spoke to her last—from the amazing weekend Marcus and I shared, to his disappearance on Sunday, to the way he chased me down at the airport with his proposal to move in.
“Wait, what?” Kendall looks just as stunned as I felt at the time. “He asked you to move in? So soon? And after ghosting you since Sunday?”
“I know!” My blood pressure spikes anew. “That’s totally insane, right? And when I refused and told him it was over, he came after me to Florida.”
Kendall’s jaw is hanging so loose I’m afraid it might fall off. “And he’s there with you now?”
“Yep.” I glance around again, but the lanai is still empty, so I fill her in on the rest of it: how Marcus pretty much forced me to pretend that he’s my boyfriend, the single guestroom, our beach outing yesterday, his outrageous claim about the timing of my moving in, and so on.
The only thing I keep quiet about is the promise he made to me last night… and the fragile flame of hope it’s lit in my needy heart.
Even so, by the time I finish, Kendall’s hazel eyes are wide enough for a truck to drive through. “Holy fuck, Emma,” she breathes. “Holy fucking fuck. I was just joking about the wedding stuff before, but it’s happening, isn’t it? You’re moving in with him, and before we know it, you’re going to be Mrs. Wall Street Billionaire.”
“What? No! Are you crazy? I’m not moving in with him. And I’m definitely not—”