When he didn’t answer, I sat up, turning my back to him. “I won’t be going back to Tore’s Santa Rosa home for a few days. During that time, don’t write me. Don’t call me. I won’t answer. I don’t want to hear from you. I don’t want to see you. Not unless you’re certain of what this is between us, whatever that may be. You can be a prisoner, a don, a president, a fucking emperor. I don’t care. It won’t change who I am and what I want.”
“You’re leaving me with very few options. I don’t like getting boxed in.”
“Take this time as a breather. You haven’t really had one since you got out of prison.”
“You think you can get rid of me so easily?” he growled.
“Is that what I’m trying to do?”
His eyes bounced between mine, searching.
“I want you to choose me.” I grabbed his hand. His engulfed mine—strong, powerful—his hold steadfast. If only it were more than just his hand. “I want to believe that I fell for you despite everything because we’re soulmates. Love me or not, it’s up to you. Rank your priorities, but I won’t settle for less than number one.”
“Ainsley…”
I couldn’t resist the deep, gravelly plea in his voice, even if I tried. I was so weak for him, and he knew it. Barely had I looked up when he grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled. My lips met his, hard and unyielding at first, our teeth almost clashing, just like his unwillingness to concede any ground. Until his grip relaxed an inch, until his lips weren’t mauling me but instead coaxing me. A slight bite here, a graze there, then he was skimming his lips over mine, and Ihadto chase them. We collided over and over, our two mouths joining with messy desperation, like we were trying to rewrite our history. It felt forbidden and frantic, the only kiss we might ever get, yet a plea all in one. Warm and comforting. Harsh and demanding. Loving and full of abandon. Everything bundled together.
We tore at each other’s clothes. My robe unraveled with a quick swipe of his fingers. His dress shirt ripped open with one harsh pull, buttons flying. His pants were unzipped just enough to slip down his hips. We fell on each other, our lips never separating, our skin connecting, my breasts compressed under his weight, one hand in my hair, his other roaming down my body. I don’t know when I lost my underwear or when he pushed his boxers down. I was too focused on the heady rush from our kiss and the sweet torment of his fingers between my legs. They caressed and kneaded. They worked their way in circles to my opening, slick and relentless, plunging inside.
I moaned and gasped into our kisses. His hand firmly kept my head in place, our lips attached, as his fingers toyed with my clit, spread my lips, and pumped in and out of me. Only him. There had only ever been him. I was his. There was no denying it. No changing it. Even if I never acknowledged it out loud. In moments like this, lying was pointless.
The rush started low in my belly, tingling and building, stronger than any orgasm I’d ever given myself. I writhed as it grew, grinding myself harder and harder on his fingers untilthe bubble finally burst. Ecstasy hit. So hard, I convulsed and shuddered.
Before I knew it, he flipped me around onto my belly and tugged my hips up until I was on my knees, his hand on my back to keep me down. Blissed out, I let him. His hot breath fanned over my pussy. His tongue swiped through me. I moaned, rocking backward to feel more. It must have been what he wanted because his arms locked around my thighs, and his mouth sucked me in like I was his favorite dessert. He devoured me from seam to clit without pause until I was a writhing mess, begging for a second release. It crashed over me with the strength of a tsunami, and I collapsed under the strength of it. When he pulled away, he spanked each of my ass cheeks twice, jolting me forward before massaging away the sting. I wasn’t even angry about it.
He bent over my ear. “See? We’re so good together. Tell me you want me. Tell me you want me to fuck you.”
“I do,” I whispered despite myself. I wanted more of him, so much more.
“Say it.”
I shivered with anticipation. “Fuck me, please.”
The instant I answered, he flipped me around and positioned himself over me, his silky cock pressed to my core. With a groan, he buried himself inside me in one strong thrust. I whimpered from the suddenness. No prick of pain this time, but I was so full, I could feel him through the press of his weight on my belly.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful like this,” he said, caressing my face.
He kissed me again, stealing what little breath I had left as he thrust hard, over and over. With each pump of his pelvis, I lost myself a little more to him. He didn’t go slow. He didn’t relent.
“I was going to be good.” He pulled my legs over his shoulders and slammed into me harder. “It didn’t matter how you made me feel. I was going to give you the last thread of decency in myshattered soul and leave you be. But then you gave yourself to me. Heart, body, and soul. And now, I’m never letting you go.”
He drove me into the mattress like a man possessed, while I snapped my hips up to follow his frantic pace. So good. We broke our kisses between strangled gasps, staring into each other’s eyes. Eyes so green, like a forest, they pinned me there, saying everything I wished he’d voice.
My third climax hit me out of the blue. One second, I was along for the ride, and the next, I was tumbling into an electric storm, my face flaming, my ears ringing. He followed with a strangled grunt, his head thrown back, face tight.
The high fell quickly. He was still inside me, his cock slowly softening, both of us breathing hard. We were nothing but a sweaty, sticky mess of half-naked limbs, and yet reality didn’t wait.
When his fingers scooped up his cum slowly gliding out of me and pushed it back in, I flinched. Blissful one second, awkward the next. It was a harsh reminder of what we’d just done when I’d asked him for time. I shouldn’t have agreed. We shouldn’t have done that.
Catching my breath, I looked everywhere but at him. He kissed my forehead, my chin, and my lips once more. On the last touch, I stiffened.
“What?” he asked with a sigh, rolling to his side.
“You need to leave.” I pulled my robe closed and tied it. Still, it felt like I was on display. I clutched it shut to the neck. “Please. Now. Go.”
“Ainsley, this was fucking good. We have something.”
“No. Stop. What I said still stands, and I want more than sex.” I scooted off the bed with as much dignity as I could muster while his cum leaked down my inner thighs. “Just think of this as a one-time release in tension.”
