He does. Slowly at first, then passionately, and I match his assault with every shred of emotion I can conjure.
‘Please.’
He lifts me onto him, filling me. He holds us still for a moment, his eyes closing, his Adam’s apple sliding up and down the taut skin of his throat. Then he draws back slowly and thrusts.
‘Scarlett.’ My name sounds coarse and indulgent all at once.
Emotions threaten to overwhelm me. I dig my nails angrily into his bare flesh.I’ve killed a man.I clamp my teeth down on his pectoral muscle as he draws out then rams into me again.
‘Gregory, again. Harder.’
He pulls out to his tip then thrusts back into me hard, forcing me back against the tiles.
‘More,’ I beg. Whilst he’s driving into me, I can’t think.
He goes again, harder, faster, moving in and out of me exactly how I need him until I can feel my clit swelling, my muscles clenching.
My mouth takes his, tongues swirling, lapping as I build, losing my grip on everything except his touch, the feel of him right at the most sensitive spot inside me. My back arches and my swollen breasts press against him, the hard ends desperate to feel the rub of his firm chest. He pulls my lip through his teeth and I match his next drive, forcing him deeper, taking him to the end of me.
He barks my name as my orgasm takes over my body. Onone last powerful blow, I feel the force of his warm release inside me and the sight of his strained neck as he throws back his head.
‘Thank you,’ I whisper, as he presses his lips to my temple and leans against me, the wall taking my weight.
3
‘You know why I had to do it,’ Gregory says through gritted teeth, as he and Jackson drink coffee at the breakfast bar.
‘I know why youthinkyou had to do it but I’ll never understand it.’
‘And I can’t explain my need but I have to make this right in a way that means she can move on.’
My heart falls to the pit of my stomach at his words. I suspected I’d fallen too deep too quickly but I’ve never worried that he doesn’t want to be with me. Until now. I pause on the stairs, not knowing whether to continue towards them or run back to the safety of Gregory’s bedroom. The floor creaks beneath me as I turn on my bare feet and two sets of eyes regard me.
He knows I overheard, his expressionless face telling me he doesn’t know what to do. With all the fake confidence I can muster, I descend the remaining stairs, tucking my shirt into my tapered trousers.
He watches me from his stool on the other side of the breakfastbar as I make my way towards them. He looks tired after a long night and only a few hours’ sleep but no less perfect than usual, his tight, black T-shirt fitting exactly the contours of his toned body north of his dark, low-rise jeans. The casual version of the CEO.
‘Coffee?’
‘Please.’
Gregory pours me a drink from the filter machine of his pristine kitchen and quickly turns his wary eyes back to me like I’m cracked glass, ready to shatter at any moment. I take the cup between my hands and bring it to my nose, inhaling the rich scent. Both men regard me, neither speaking.
‘Don’t mind me,’ I say, wanting them to pick up where they left off.
Looks are exchanged between the three of us but no words are spoken. I refuse to be first; I want to know what they’re thinking.
After minutes of exasperating silence, Jackson speaks.
‘Scarlett, we need to know what you said to the police.’
It’s not what I was expecting.They don’t trust me.I shake my head, a sharp shake that betrays my irritation – and take my coffee with me to stand in front of the panoramic view across London.
Bright November sun illuminates the skyline and beams down on the River Thames. South Bank is bustling with people enjoying their Sunday, strolling with hot drinks, sitting outside cafés, snapping pictures of London’s Tower Bridge and generally going about their lives, as if last night, I didn’t kill a man in cold blood.
Ikilled a man, yet it’s Gregory whose suffering has only just begun. I can’t let him take the blame. I won’t. What if he’s convicted? He could go to prison and all these years, all theyears he’s worked to be free from his father, would be for nothing. He’ll be caged like an animal, all because his own blood cursed him the day he was born.
Fire burns in my eyes. I know what I have to do.
