For once, he couldn’t read the expression on her face or the flash of an emotion so profound, it humbled him, except he had no idea what it meant.
“I don’t feel shame.”
“Yet, you said you became a whore...for me.Was that how you felt all the time?”
“N-No...I...can we please not talk about this anymore?”She yanked harder on his fingers.“Please, you’re hurting me.”
“Then tell me, Angel.”His grip softened, his thumb brushing over her pulse.“Why the shame?”
Her breath shuddered.“Because I liked it.”The words were raw, torn from her.“I liked being used like that.I liked being yours and Master Coop’s.And I hated myself for it.”
“There is no shame in allowing yourself the freedom to be who you want to be...even if only briefly.That’s what the lifestyle is about, Angel.Freedom to choose.You said it yourself.”
“I know, and I realized it—when I saw the way you looked at me after.Like I was enough.”Her voice broke.“Like I was yours.”She took a deep breath.“Even if only for a little while.”
The air between them crackled, charged with something neither of them dared to name.Slowly, his hand slid from her throat and cupped her face.He brushed away the tears running over her cheeks.
“You are enough, Xia.More than you’ll ever know.”
Her breath hitched as her eyes searched his.“Then why does it still feel like I’m not?”
His jaw tightened.“Because I didn’t give you what you needed.I took, but I didn’t protect.”His voice roughened with regret.“And for that, I’m sorry.”
Her lips parted in shock.“You’re...sorry?”
“Yes.”His thumb traced the curve of her cheek.“Not for what I did, but for not properly preparing you.I’m sorry I didn’t see you.Not the way I should have.”
Her breath stuttered.“Rex...”
He pressed his forehead to hers.His voice lowered into a growl.“Always remember, Angel, you are a very, very special woman.The man who finally realizes that will be the luckiest bastard alive.”
He ignored the startled look on her face at his words.Nothing had changed.She was still leaving.She still didn’t tick that one box.The sooner he broke this bond between them, the better.
But not just yet.
She stared at him, her eyes wide with disbelief for a moment, then she blinked and buried the confusion from her gaze.Clearing her throat, she looked at him.He smiled as her eyes flashed with that familiar sass.
“So, does this mean we’re done with the deep and meaningfuls?Because I really need another drink.A double this time.”
The rich and warm tremble of Rex’s laugh filled the space between them.“Not quite.”
He stood, pulling her up with him.The music had shifted, the beat becoming slow and sensual and wrapping around them like a promise.
“W-What are you doing?”she asked in a breathless whisper as he led her to the dance floor.
Yes, Oliver, what the fuck are you doing?Didn’t you just tell the guys that everyone will know she means shit to you by the time we land?
He ignored the voice in his head and smiled.“Dancing,” he murmured as he pulled her into his arms.His hand settled on the small of her back to press her close, while the other locked in her hair, tilting her face up to his.“I haven’t danced in ages.”
“And you should,” she huffed, though her body melted against his.“With Pixie.Preferably.”
“Nawh.”His lips brushed against her temple.“I feel the need for an angel...for now.”
She stiffened, her breath catching.“I think you need to have your head examined.”
He chuckled, his hand sliding down to cup her ass, pulling her flush against him.
“Oh!”she gasped as his hard cock pulsed against her stomach.
