“Sorry, love,” he said, pulling my shirt back down and the strap of my bra up over me. He leaned his head back and met my gaze. “I’m sorry.”
I realized he wasn’t talking about this moment anymore. I raised my head to look into his eyes, and he looked back at me gravely. He was apologizing for choosing his business over me. In the distance, I saw the familiar Bentley at the end of the road. I clung to him for a minute, resting my head on his shoulder, and he let me be. There was perfect silence, and all I could hear was his racing heart, his gentle breath, feeling his arms holding me close.
So close. He felt like home.
24
AVA
Twenty minutes later, we reached Desmond’s penthouse, kissing each other in the elevator and the corridor.
The lights were dim when he paused to open the door, and in seconds, we were undressing each other in the hallway.
Fingers fumbling with need, I pulled his jacket off and undid the buttons of his shirt while he slid my clothes to the floor, leaving me in my underwear. He picked me up just as I could make out a long hallway and a crystal chandelier at the entrance before he whisked me off to a room on the left. I squealed as he walked into a huge room with a large four-poster bed at the center, where two of the walls had floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
We were twenty floors up with a dark sky outside. I’d never seen New York at night from a floor this high up. Lit square windows dotted skyscrapers nearby, and I felt deliciously a part of a world I’d never belonged to before.
Desmond deposited me on the bed before getting in with me.
The sudden surge of nervousness that had swelled up within me now receded, replaced by something strange. Something warm and fuzzy, something unlike the usual emotions of fear and loneliness that normally occupied my heart. I’d felt so alone for most of the past year, and I’d lost all ability to comfort myself in the depths of my loneliness. Desmond’s presence had the solidity of a wall—calm, unyielding, and justthere. It wouldn’t go away so easily.
He shifted closer to me, his fingers lingering on my boring hipster panties. It signified a life that was in sharp contrast to his, making me feel embarrassed.
“Can you please let me …” I began and then stopped.
“That is so you, sweetheart, and I love it,” Desmond said as he gently ran his fingers over the edge of my underwear, caressing my skin, drawing little circles around my belly button.
Little tingles now made my heart trace and brought the rest of my body to life. My legs were moving of their own accord, and my body shifted sideways to his, entangling my legs with his.
His mouth betrayed a small smile before he reached over and took mine in a deep kiss that was filled with a longing from the past many weeks. I opened my mouth as our lips met and felt his tongue reach out to stroke mine.
“I was a fool to resist you for so long, Ava,” Desmond said in between kisses while my hands went up to grab fistfuls of his thick, dark hair. “But seeing you with someone else? That hurt like someone had brought a knife to my chest.”
Before I knew it, we were sitting up in bed, kissing to oblivion and letting our hands roam around each other’s bodies.
His fingers grabbed the sides of my waist and trailed upsensuously, getting closer and closer up to my chest when I broke the kiss.
I took a breath and looked at him, into his eyes, scanning his face, and his immediate word was, “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” I asked.
“Don’t start rationalizing. Nothing about this night has been rational,” he said, pulling me to my feet and drawing me to him with force.
I felt the length of his torso hit mine, my hips connecting with his.
“You’re not getting away from me tonight, sweetheart,” he said, nuzzling my neck.
“Not that I want to,” I responded.
His kisses—gentle, slow, and teasing—found their way down to my breast. He kissed my peak, his tongue swirling and then tugging on it, and my body arched against his mouth.
He stopped and then looked up at me, an evil glint in his eye. “Do you really want me to stop?”
In response, I tugged at his hair and brought his head back to my breast. He uttered a laugh that was part growl and began licking and sucking my nipple with his thick lips. He pushed me to the back wall, as his mouth devoured my breast, squeezing and pinching the other with his fingers as my moans filled the room.
Before long, he slid his fingers down, pulling my panties to the side. He uttered a small laugh, seeming pleased to find how wet I was.
“Is it too late to insist that I’m not into you?” I remarked with a smile.
