‘Walking away from you in your office...’
He closes his eyes and shakes his head. When he opens them again, they’re blazing with hurt and need, pain and desire.
‘It all but killed me. But I can’t play second fiddle in your bed, Lexi. I won’t.’
My heart aches inside my chest. His vulnerability is raw, honest, and all the more powerful as it breaks through the controlled, commanding exterior I’ve been accustomed to these last two weeks, knowing it’s all because of me...
But my heart has no place in this. This is sex. Primal. Safe.
Don’t confuse it. I recall our conversation in Marie’s living room, but so much has happened, so much has changed...
‘I want you,’ I stress, ‘like I’ve never wanted anyone in my whole life.’
It’s the truth, and it’s more than he’s asked for. I’m making myself vulnerable by admitting that he’s always been the one, but it’s impulsive and it’s driven by his honesty.
It’s also the perfect time to tell him everything...not to shy away from it for fear of the damage it will cause.
‘Tell me, again.’ He presses his forehead to mine, his eyes staring down at me.
‘I want you, Cain.’
Now. Tell him now. Tell him it wasn’t a real marriage. Tell him why Liam married you. Tell him about Rose.
But his lips are already crushing mine as he turns me away from the counter and propels me back against the glass doors to the terrace. I can’t think any more. It’s dizzying, disorientating, discombobulating. His body covers mine from head to toe, hot, urgent, and I’m on fire, the delicious throb of pleasure whipping up inside me all the stronger for my recent release.
I take the onslaught of his kiss and return it just as fiercely, just as desperately.
Seven years without anything coming close to this. Seven years of feeling empty, of being alone. And now this—mere minutes after I lost it under his mouth.
I fork my fingers through his hair, down his neck, inside his jacket as I shove it from his shoulders.
A seven-year wait—for this. I can’t trust him with my heart. I won’t. I can’t survive that pain again. But this—oh, yes, this—I can trust him enough for this.
It isn’t about love—it’s about need.
And I need him more than I need my next breath.
His jacket hits the floor as his hands force my dress up my thighs. His fingers against my skin are rough—shaking, even. Or is it me who trembles?
‘Lexi.’
My name vibrates out of him and I realise we’re both trembling, both unsteady as we try and slake this hunger.
I yank at his tie and nip at his bottom lip, delivering a sharp hit that has the breath hissing out of him. He growls and kisses me harder, almost punishing me in return, and I’m losing it. Desperate to have him naked and not able to summon the skill, the wit, to do it.
Buttons are too fiddly, zips catch. I moan in frustration as I claw at his shoulders instead, one leg lifting to curve around him. I draw him close, shamelessly riding his hardness as his tongue plunders deeper and deeper still.
Our kiss is suffocating, neither wanting to break it to draw breath, neither wanting to create any space between us at all, and the friction is so goddamn perfect. My clit is getting the continual grind of his cock as he strains against the confines of his trousers.
‘Oh, my God, Cain...’
I start to pant, my ability to kiss him back breaking as my mouth turns slack, my movements stilted. I’m going to come. I can feel it curling up from my toes, pulling at my core. My body tenses as the delicious heat swells rapidly around me, through me. I try and stave it off, talk it down—not yet, not yet. And then Cain takes the driving seat. He knows and he grinds against me, pressing me back into the glass. His mouth returns to my neck and then his hands are on my breasts, rough, groping...
I want more...so much more... I want his hands on my bare skin...his mouth on my nipples.
‘Damn this dress.’
It’s Cain who says it, as though he’s in my mind, seeing what I want. He finds the zipper at the back and yanks it down. I think I hear it tear but I don’t care.