Her arms were still loosely wrapped around me, but her lids were shut. I did not want to wake her up. I just wanted to watch her … forever. Other than her skirt gathered around her waist, she was naked and her hair looked disheveled. Very gently, I brushed some stray hairs away from her face.
I could have sworn she was smiling in her sleep. Maybe that was the same spirit of contentment that was also all over my face.
Heat engulfed my chest as my eyes ran down her body to the curve of her breast. It was pressed down on my chest. I wanted to feel that breast in my mouth again, but I didn’t want to wake her. Having her like this was precious. As I stared down at her, the woman I’d done everything over the past several weeks to keep out of my mind and distance from. She used to terrify me. The pull she had on me made me feel weak and vulnerable, but now finally I understood—there would be no running away from her. The further I ran away from her, the nearer I got to her.
I was just punishing us both.
She’d said I could quit in the morning, but I could never leave now. At the thought a chill settled in my chest. Having her would not be easy—a lot was at stake. One, was her father and his cherished dream of keeping the family business in the family. I would also have to give up my childhood dream of being a champion fighter … just when I was so close too. But I knew in my heart, my dream would be nothing without Sienna. If I could not have her, then nothing would be worth it.
She was my dream now.
Without warning, the woman in my thoughts fluttered her eyelids open. There was no moment of confusion for her. Her eyes zeroed in on mine. For the longest time, she simply held my gaze.
I stared into those beautiful emeralds and the world fell away. There was nothing left except us. I felt as if eons were passing by. Then she slid up along my body to kiss me. The feel of her hand as it rested on the side of my face was warm and sweet. My eyes closed to savor just how much such a simple touch did to me. It sent waves and waves of bittersweet, fiery sensations through my body that chased off the cold worries in my chest.
“Can we take a shower together?” she asked. “Our time’s not over yet.”
Her suggestion was perfect and exactly what I wanted to do. I slid out from under her and pulled the skirt down her legs. Then I stood over her and looked down. God, she was a beauty.
“Come on then. It’s cold without your warmth,” she coaxed.
I scooped her into my arms. Her arms encircled my neck and she buried her face in my chest.
When we arrived in the shower stall, I didn’t put her down, but changed her position so she was hanging off me like a little monkey.
“Aren’t you going to put me down?” she asked with a giggle.
“Nope,” I said and turned on the faucet. A warm cascade of water poured down on us. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. “You look like a drowned mermaid,” I observed.
“Or rat,” she muttered.
“Well, you’re the best-looking rat I ever saw.”
“If you keep holding me glued to you like this, I’m going to want to fuck you all over again.”
“That was part of the plan.”
She rubbed her wet crotch against my lower belly.
A storm began to brew inside of me. The water poured down on us as I slammed her against the tiles and fucked her hard. No condom. No thought of a condom. There could be nothing between us again. Not even the thinnest piece of rubber.
She was mine. All mine. And God help anybody who tried to get in my way.
I buried my seed deep within her body and I hoped it would grow.
She cried into my neck and clawed vicious marks down the skin of my back, and when we finally parted, she asked me a question in a small voice. “Is this truly our last time together?” She couldn’t meet my gaze.
I wanted to tell her everything would be okay, but there was much to be done before I could say this. Let her think nothing had changed. It would be safer for her that way. I told her the only truth I could. “I don’t know.”
Chapter 37
Sienna
“I heard everything.”
I looked up from the bagel I’d been mindlessly lathering with cream cheese, and met Charlotte’s eyes.
She was watching me with a naughty smile on her face.
At first, I tried to brazen it out. “It would have been strange if you hadn’t” I said, returning my attention to my bagel. “We were pretty loud.” Then I turned an accusing glare on her. “‘Were you even drunk? I keep thinking that whole drunken drama you pulled yesterday wasn’t very real.”