“You were beautiful. You still are,” I tell her. A smile lights up her face, and that’s all I need. I want her. Despite how gorgeous she looks in the green dress; I need to see her out of it. I need to devour her and make her moan and scream while digging her nails into my back. I need all of her, and I need it now.
Wordlessly, I take her hand and pull her towards one of the private rooms. I’m done with other people having the unearned privilege of being allowed to look at her. Every stranger’s glance takes something from her. Something that belongs to me.
She ducks inside the room, and I follow, letting the sapphire blue velvet curtain fall behind us. She takes another sip of her drink before setting it on the small golden table in the corner, and I close the space between us. I pull her against me, and her arms wrap around me as our mouths crash together at the same time. We both want the same thing; need the same thing.
I bring her body closer to mine; my posture curves back and hers arches into me. We fit together so perfectly that I am dead certain she’s ruined me for anyone else.
“Mmm…” the first of what I know will be many more moans escapes her mouth and into mine, sending a chill down my spine and heat everywhere else. The power this woman has over me, the way she can rattle me with the smallest of gestures is untouched by anyone I have ever been with.
“Tell me what you want,” I whisper gruffly against her skin. “You can have anything, Mariposa.”
Ellie’s head falls back as she closes her eyes. I can feel her nipples hardening under the sheer satin of her dress, no bra underneath, as I nibble my way down her neck. “Why do you call me that?”
“Butterfly. Because your soft beauty is unmatched, and every time I am around you my heart speeds up, like the flutter of wings,” I say. I pull back and press my forehead to hers. “Now tell me, Mariposa, Miss Bates,Ellie, what do you want?”
“I want you to make me yours,” she says softly. I have never seen her eyes more direct.
“I make you mine every time we are together,” I say, my thumb tracing her jawline down to her lips, tugging on the bottom one as it trails down her chin.
“I know,” she says, leaning into my touch. “I mean…really yours.” My dick hardens in my slacks and my jaw unhinges at what she is implying. “I want you to make me forget who I am outside of that.”
Something within me awakens. It’s primal and springs free of its cage. But I don’t pick her up. I don’t pull her against me. I don’t toss her onto the chaise lounge or pounce on top of her. I don’t even kiss her. Instead, I grab Ellie by the hand and guide her out of the room towards the door.
For a moment, she struggles to keep up, probably due to the pointed stilettos she’s clopping across the floor in. When we stop to open the door leading into the entryway, it gives her a moment to catch up. “Where are we going?” she asks.
I wait until we are outside climbing into the back seat of the waiting car before I answer. “My house.”
In all my years, I have never brought a woman home with me. I tell her that on the drive back to my sprawling estate.
“Never?” she asks.
“No,” I answer. We had the driver take us back to the hotel, where we got in my car. For the last ten minutes, we have driven mostly in silence. A hot, thick, anticipatory silence. I am a man with no need for filling moments like that with unnecessary words. But for some reason, I found those words to be…necessary. I want her to know what kind of man I am, and what kind of man I’m not.
“Why not?” she asks hesitantly. I’m sure she assumes I’m not going to be open to such questions, but walls are a lot of work to maintain. I bite my bottom lip and drag it through my teeth.
“I’ve never wanted to,” I simply state. I let that hang in the air between us, and after a moment or two she breaks the silence.
“Have you ever been…” Ellie trails off.
“In a relationship?” I ask. “Not really. Not in the sense of the definition of the word. It never goes that far for me. It’s too messy, too disingenuous, and I’ve never let anyone that…close.”
“I was going to ask if you’ve ever been in love, but I guess that answers that too,” she says, and I feel a little foolish.
“I know how that must look. Being the age I am and never going down that road, but I have my reasons,” I say as I turn onto the street where I live.
“Too work-centric? Wanted to build your empire before settling down? You don’t have to make any excuses for me, Damien. I get it. I never thought…I mean…I never planned on getting involved with my ex either. I was determined to succeed and wasn’t going to let anything get in my way,” she says, swallowing hard before gathering herself and going on. “So I get it.”
Normally, it would make my skin crawl with jealousy hearing the catch in her throat over her ex, but I know it’s not him that she feels betrayed about. It’s the way things turned out.
“I haven’t personally had a lot of relationships, romantic or otherwise,” I say as I pull into my driveway. To my relief, the exterior of my home is distracting enough to let the subject drop.
“You live here?” She asks as we get out. It’s not modest, I am well aware.
“This is my home, yes,” I answer as we make our way up the steps.
“By yourself?” She asks as I open the door.
“By myself,” I nod.
