Making Their Vows

“Goddamn, I love you sitting at my table. Eating food I made myself.”

Speaking of spaghetti, my knees suddenly have the consistency of wet noodles. “I love it, too,” I manage. “Kind of like…the grown-up version of playing house.”

“A lot more grown up, if you want, beauty,” His eyes are hot on mine, glittering and dark. Hungry. “I’m going to take you somewhere we can be alone. You good with that?”

I’ve barely nodded before North is pulling me along, to the edge of the roof.

“Watch your step, Gracie,” he says, holding me by the waist and helping me step across the slight gap between buildings. And then we’re simply walking across rooftops in the fading orange light of sunset. It’s magical. Holding the hand of this young man I’m rapidly falling in love with, allowing him to lead me on an adventure in this unfamiliar place, so far from my upper-crust zip code and all the expectations that comes along with it.

We’re walking for about five minutes when North stops outside of a steel door located on one of the roofs. He lets go of my hand and produces something metal from his pocket, using it to jimmy the lock. It pops open, groaning on its hinges, and North guides me into the near darkness, smirking back over his shoulder. “Having second thoughts?”

“No,” I admit quietly. “Is that crazy?”

“If you were with someone else, yeah. Letting them take you into a strange building at night would be crazy. But you’re with me.” He squeezes my hand. “And you’re not going places with other guys anymore. Not even as friends. Are you?”

His possessive tone causes a lustful twist beneath my belly button. There’s a part of me that knows I should pump the brakes on his ownership of me. I’m not like this. I don’t let anyone treat me like property. Collier tried to do that very thing before and I refused to allow it. In fact, it outraged me. With North, though…I like the way he claims me. I want to be claimed by him. To be unquestionably his. Is it okay to be possessed by someone as long as you’re choosing to be? Yes, I think so. And thank God for that, because I’m not sure I could deny what’s happening between us even if it was wrong.

“No,” I say to his back. “I’m not going anywhere with other guys anymore.”

“Say the rest.”

My nipples turn to spikes. “Not even as friends.”

“Good girl,” North says, stopping abruptly, turning and pulling me up against him. I expect to be kissed and I’m dying—dying for his mouth. So I’m surprised when he touches something behind me on the wall and the lights come on.

A gasp turns into a laugh as I register our surroundings.

We’re in a giant, windowless space.

There’s a pool. Several of them. Steam rises from their surfaces.

There are big, oversized lounge chairs around the perimeter of the room. Stacks of fluffy white towels on racks. The gentle hum of jets releasing bubbles beneath the water.

“What is this place? A…bath house?”

“More like a fancy club. I found it by accident. There isn’t even a sign downstairs to mark the entrance.” He looks around with a raised eyebrow. “I think it’s in Southie for a reason—whoever comes here wants to be off the radar.”

“Oooh. You think a lot of clandestine meetings take place in these heated pools?”

He shrugs. “You can’t wear a wire if you’re naked.”

I laugh, letting him pull me along slowly. “Do you come here a lot?”

“Only when I’ve had a particularly bad fight and I need to soothe a muscle or something.” We stop at the edge of a small, ornately tiled pool, steam rolling off the surface to curl around us. “Or if, say, I meet the girl of my dreams and want to impress her.”

“Who me?” I say, acting surprised.

“Yeah,” he rasps, brushing back my hair. “You, Grace Foster. Only you.”

I lean into his palm when he cups my cheek. “Well you’ve already succeeded. This is the best date I’ve ever been on. Eating spaghetti, meeting your sister. Doing science? The whole day, everything about it, has been perfect.”

He hums, tracing the line of my mouth with his thumb. “We haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.”

My breath runs short. “Are we? Going to get to it?”

“If we don’t, I’m pretty sure I’m going to die, so yeah. We’re getting to it. I just…” He blows out a breath that stirs my hair. “This is important. You’re…God, you’re so important. I’m making sure I do this right. I’m making sure you’re locked down before we go any further.”

A breathy laugh puffs out of me. “How much more locked down can I get?”

North’s eyes track over my face, his gaze taking on even more intensity—and I didn’t think that was even possible. But now? His energy is…adult. Male. Dominant. A little dark. And it excites me. Beyond my wildest imagination. “I’m going to undress you while we talk, Gracie.”