Is it so bad to need something that’s wrong for you?
“We had sex,” she murmurs. “I felt you come inside me.”
“Did it feel good?” I ask, caressing her arm.
She nods. “But I don’t feel any different.”
I raise a brow. “Did you think you would?”
She pauses. “I don’t know. There should be blood, right?”
I laugh. “That’s an old wives’ tale. Not all women bleed.” I get up from the bed.
“How do you know?” She sits up too now. “You’ve fucked many?”
I run my fingers through my hair. I guess this question had to come sooner or later, but it is fast. “A few.” I turn my head to look at her beautiful naked body, and a devious, proud smile spreads on my lips. “But none compare to you.”
She tries to hide her smile by biting her lips, but I still spot it. After all this tugging and fighting and underneath all that façade of independence, she’s still the insecure princess she always was. All because her father taught her that she was worthless. But I’ll prove her wrong.
“There is no one I’d rather be married to than you,” I say. “And that’s the truth.”
She folds her arms, her tits becoming all perky, which almost gives me another boner. “Really?”
I narrow my eyes. “You have to stop thinking everything I say is a lie.”
“Sorry, it takes time to get used to this new you,” she retorts.
I shrug and shake my head as I put my pants back on. “Take all the time you need.”
“For what it’s worth”—she sighs—“I want you to know that I’m sorry about your father.”
I glance at her over my shoulder. “Why would you bring that up?”
“I don’t know.” She tucks her hair behind her ear. “I guess I just feel a little bit guilty. If it wasn’t for my father, yours would still be alive.”
I put my shirt on and tighten my tie. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“But you were mad about it,” she says.
“I was, but I’ve moved past that.” I press a kiss to her forehead while she continues to stare at me as though she’s seen a ghost.
“You’ve changed a lot,” she says.
I shrug. “Maybe.”
I grab a drink from the table in the corner and pour myself a rum. Then I check my phone.
Several missed text messages pique my attention. I open it up and check them out. The hairs on the back of my neck all stand. They’re all from her father.
Davis: You’re never satisfied. I know that now.
Davis: I don’t fucking believe you when you say she won’t run away.
Davis: If she isn’t with you, my life will never be safe.
Davis: Any man who’s been by her side is a threat.
Davis: If you won’t take this seriously, I will take matters into my own hands to secure my own life now. I fucking hope you’ll be happy.
That last message was sent an hour ago.
Fuck.
This could go south very quickly. I have to act fast, but what do I do? How do you beat a man who has nothing to lose at his own game?
Easton Van Buren: Come to my house now. I’ll end this myself.
I tuck my phone into my pocket and rush toward the door.
“What’s going on?” Charlotte asks.
“Get dressed,” I say, and I immediately walk out and slam the door shut behind me before bolting down the stairs.
I don’t even call my driver. Instead, I head straight to my car and jump behind the wheel. No time to waste. I have to get there before he does. I have to …
Or else it’ll all have been for nothing.
Chapter 23
Charlotte
It takes me a while to get out of bed and get dressed. The way Easton just left me after his huge emotional reveal has me stunned. I can’t help but stare at the door, wondering if he meant what he said. If he actually loves me. If he even knows what that word means.
My hand instinctively reaches for my chest. Only as my hand touches my skin do I remember that I’m naked underneath this blanket … and that I’m in his bed in a room I’ve never been in before. A room decorated in black and red with a comfortable sofa in the corner, ceiling-high windows, and a cabinet probably filled with even more toys than what hangs on the wall.
The sight of them on full display makes me swallow as my pussy thumps.
I’m still trying to come down from the high that I was on while we were having sex.
It all happened so fast that I can’t form proper thoughts.
All I know is that he got what he wanted all along … my virginity.
And I gave it to him freely.
I take a deep breath. I don’t regret it. I gave my body to the only man who ever fought for it. The one man who wanted me more than anything and would sell his soul to make me his.