“I know,” I attempt to placate him, but it does no good.
“I don’t want you to feel like a prisoner here.” He turns away, pacing slowly to the corner of the room before turning to face me again. “You are free to ask for an escort to go anywhere you want. But you have to tell me.”
“I—” I open my mouth to say ‘I know,’ again, but he surges toward me with a speed I’m not expecting.
“Don’t,” he commands. “Just don’t do it again.”
“I won’t,” I promise.
“Ever,” he demands.
“I won’t,” I swear. My heart is beating in my throat.
“I know that this isn’t the kind of life that you wanted. I know that I’m not the kind of husband you envisioned yourself being with,” he says, moving on to the next topic now that my repeated escape attempts have been addressed.
“But—” I attempt to smooth things over, eager to tell him that I’ve reconsidered.
“Just let me finish,” he begs.
“Okay,” I say on an exhale.
“This is hard for me. I love you,” he stops, as if he’s just dropped a bomb and is waiting for me to defuse it.
But I don’t. In fact, I pile on the fuel. “I love you too.”
“Then don’t leave,” he pleads, coming toward me with desperation in his eyes. “Stay with me. I promise I can fix this. I can make it all go away. We could be happy.”
“I want to stay,” I assure him. “I spoke with Brandon, and he agrees. He actually left. I don’t know where he went, but I promised him I would text him when it’s safe to come back.”
Francisco looks at me as if I’ve just given him a winning lottery ticket. He doesn’t believe me at first, but then the words sink in and he realizes that I’m serious. “You want to stay?”
“I do,” I insist, tears in my throat.
“Oh, Marlena,” he whispers, picking up both my hands and placing them on his chest.
“I love you,” I repeat, pulling my hands free so that I can wrap him up in a hug. Tears slide down my cheeks as I hold him tight.
He feels so solid, so masculine, so alive in my arms. This is all I’ve ever wanted. I don’t care about propriety, or what anyone else thinks. I may not have fallen into the best situation with Francisco being the Dom, but this is my life, and I cherish it.
We kiss, and in that moment, all of the boundaries between us dissolve. He pulls me tight, knowing that we’re always going to be together. Forget Brandon, forget Andretti, forget everyone who has ever tried to keep us apart. We are two lost souls who have found each other, and that is all that matters.
Francisco doesn’t have to clear the desk this time. There’s nothing on it; all its contents litter the floor already. He shrugs his way out of his jacket, tossing it to the floor.
He grabs my thigh, hauling me up to the desktop. I straddle him, digging my fingers into his tie to undo the knot. He tugs it off, casting it away before reaching for my shirt. I’m wearing pants this time, not a skirt that would be easy to push aside. But he deals with that easily, undoing the clasp at my waist with nimble fingers.
I find a gun holster on his hip. He puts a hand over mine to protect me before unhooking his belt and carefully removing the weapon. He sets it down on the floor, not wanting to leave me for long enough to put it in a drawer. Then he pops back up to kiss me again.
We work our way out of our clothes, every moment we have to spend shedding fabric feels like a lifetime. He kisses me again and again until I finally let go of my guilt. We’re here together. All is forgiven. What’s left is a lifetime of happiness that we’re both eager to begin.
I spread my legs, pulling him against me. He cups my ass in one hand, using the other to caress my jawline. I reach behind my back to undo my bra, dangling it over the side of the desk seductively.
We’re several days into our marriage and we’ve yet to make love in a bed. The thought amuses me, and I laugh. He doesn’t even ask me what I’m laughing about before joining me. We pause for a moment to allow the desire to peak before coming back together with even more passion.
With only our underwear remaining, we press ourselves together, glorying in the sensations. I drag my fingernails up his back, the muscles taut. He slides my panties to the floor before shedding his own boxers. Now we’re naked and starving for each other. There’s almost no foreplay before he guides me down onto my back.
I gaze up at him between my legs, satisfied at long last. This has been a whirlwind few days, and I’m thrilled to finally put them to rest. Nothing matters anymore, as long as we’re together. And I want to be as fully and completely close to him as possible.
He fits himself inside me, sending my eyes rolling toward the ceiling. It feels so good, I can hardly stand it. I want to come, but at the same time, I never want this to stop. Francisco completes me in a way that no other man has.
