“Dax…” The single word holds so much need, my cock strains against her ass cheeks. Dipping my head, I score my teeth along her neck and bite down gently on the shell of her ear. Still working her nipple, I pinch her clit, and Evianna shatters. Her entire body convulses, and she throws her head back against my shoulder. “Oh God. You’re…you’re…”
“Shhh. Just…breathe, darlin’. I’ve got you.” Against her ear, I whisper, “You’re more, Evianna. You’re…so much more.”
If only I knew what…more was. Or how to figure it out.
“Text from Clive,” my phone says, shattering the silence that’s filled the hotel room for the past half an hour.
“VoiceAssist: Play message.”
“I’m downstairs. Checked in with Ronan. No unusual activity. Safe to come out.”
“Are you ready?” I tuck the Bluetooth into my ear and adjust my glasses. “I have all of Kyle’s notes and the answering machine.”
“Yes,” she says quietly. “You’ll…um…come get me at the end of the day?”
My eyes burn. How could I have ever put that doubt into her voice? Pulling her against me, I drop my cane and thread my fingers through her hair. She left it long today, and the silky strands let me guide her head just how I like it. When I crush my lips to hers, she parts for me, and fuck. If we had another half an hour, I’d lay her down on the bed and take my time with her. Show her just how much she means to me.
Evianna melts in my arms as I come up for air. “Darlin’, I will always come for you. I promise.”
“You…promise?” Her voice trembles, and she rests her forehead against mine.
“Yes, baby. I promise.”
“Here, boss,” Clive calls as we exit the elevator.
Evianna tries to let go of my hand, but I hold tight. “Clive, this is...my…” She tenses, and shit. How can she possibly think I don’t care for her? I can’t say the words. I don’t have them. Don’t even know what they are. “Evianna. Nothing is more important than her safety. You understand?”
Maybe Evianna’s right. Maybe I’m more than my blindness. Because I hear the hitch in her breath. Feel the little wobble in her knees. Her fingers tremble in mine.
“Got it, boss. Car’s at the curb. You want me to stay outside her office all day?”
No. I want to stay at her side all day. Somewhere far away from here. With a bed and room service and no one else around.
“No,” Evianna answers before I can respond. “No one’s going to come for me at work. There are twenty other people there, including two security guards. I won’t leave.”
“See her all the way to the elevator, Clive. Then drop me off at Second Sight and go visit your mom. Pick me up at seven, and then we’ll get Evianna from her office. We’re going back to the Fairmont tonight.” And maybe once we’re alone again, I can fix whatever I broke this morning.
As Evianna opens the car door and guides my hand to the frame, I don’t even think about her touching me. I can sense her. Every movement. Every emotion. I don’t have to see her to know her. Even though it’s still the one thing I want more than anything else in the world.
The ride passes with little conversation, but when Clive pulls up to Evianna’s office, I tell him to give us a minute.
“I need to get to work, Dax. I’m late already. We’re so close to launching Alfie. I should have been in by seven,” she says, her tone distant, though she hasn’t let go of my hand the entire ride.
Sliding closer, I cup her cheek, and I can feel a muscle in her jaw tick. I’ve fucked this up in the worst way, and I have to fix it. “Darlin’, I wish I could tell you what we are. What you mean to me. But, I don’t have all the pretty words you deserve to hear.”
“So you won’t even try?”
Pain crushes my heart when her voice breaks. “No. Yes. Fuck.” I lift our joined hands to my lips and ghost a kiss to her knuckles. “For six years, I thought everything good in me was dead. Tortured and killed and left to rot in Hell. But now…”
Clive raps on the window. “This is a three-minute loading zone, boss,” he calls. “And there’s a traffic cop down the block.”
Holding tight for one last second, I squeeze her fingers. “Give me a little time, darlin’. Please. Don’t give up on me.”
Evianna opens the door and climbs out of the car. But before her heels click on the sidewalk, she leans back down so her breath whispers over my cheek. “Don’t give up on yourself either, Dax. I don’t need all the pretty words. Just honest ones.”
24
Dax
