We both turned as the sound of the bell above the door jingled and Trent stepped inside. Speak of the fucking devil. I returned his nod, gauging his expression before Tia walked over to him. His curiosity from last night was still in place. As long as he didn’t question Ashrika, we were good.
I turned away sharply, colliding with Ashrika. She stumbled and I pinned her between my arm and chest, stopping her fall. “Always falling for me, aren’t you?” I smiled but not quick enough to hide the truth behind my words.
She opened her mouth to say something but then a blast of air, as the air-conditioner kicked in, blew a strand of hair across her face. Without thinking I reached up and brushed it back behind her ear. Her lashes drifted down at my touch. I stared at her angelic face, assailed by the memories of last night. The sound of her soft moans, the feel of her skin against my hands, and the essence of her taste. What would it be like to have her in my bed every night? I clenched my jaw to stop the groan cresting my throat.
Ashrika opened her eyes and I kept mine locked on hers, anywhere else spelled trouble. The crush of her tits against my chest already tested my restraint. There were only so many cold showers a man could endure in a day. Dropping my hand, I immediately missed the feel of her as she stepped back.
“Not hard enough it seems,” she said in a voice that was half laugh, half sigh.
I wondered if she really didn’t remember last night, yet glad she’d chosen to accept our breakfast discussion at face value, as mere teasing. She looked over my shoulder to where Trent and Tia remained chatting near the door and missed my curious expression. Blanking my emotions, I slipped my hands into my pants pockets, waiting for her to acknowledge him. She didn’t, which meant either last night’s memory of him was still a blur or she wasn’t interested in him. Good.
“Come sit with me.” As she took my hand, her gaze fell to my chafed knuckles. “Oh, God.” Undisguised terror stole her smile. “What happened?”
“It’s nothing, Angel.”
“Seriously. You have cuts and bruises on your knuckles, and you act like that’s an everyday occurrence?”
Her feistiness made me smile. “I just got a little overenthusiastic with the punching bag in the gym this morning.”
“A little?” She arched a brow, her expression laced with suspicion before she blew out an exasperated breath, nothing like the shy beauty who walked into the kitchen earlier that morning. “One day, you’ll have to tell me the truth, you know.”
I covered my surprise with a smirk. She’d never really asked me any outright questions before. “Is that a threat?”
“Yes.” She narrowed her eyes then turned and walked off.
Grinning, I followed. This time I didn’t stop my gaze from dropping to the soft sway of her hips in white jeans and a red sweater. My palms itched to grab her, swing her around and crash my mouth to hers until she cried out for more.
When we took chairs on the opposite sides of her table in the office, she studied me for a moment. “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen you look so preoccupied. What’s up?”
“Nothing.” I shrugged, forgetting just how perceptive she was to my moods. I should say something, mention last night, drop a hint, anything to ease my conscience. It was fucking difficult to concentrate on anything other than the image of her face pressed to the counter as she panted her way through multiple orgasms. Christ, I was a bastard for taking advantage of her in her drunken state. Sanity had abandoned me when I had ravished her, mercilessly devouring her sweet cunt and worse, for not telling her. For that, I was guaranteed a passage straight to hell. The fact that she loved dirty talking was unbelievable, unbearably sexy, and downright hot. I lived with this woman for close to four years and had no idea that her mind was saying one thing, but her body was screaming for another. The raw energy of untamed arousal, a burning need for unspeakable rough desires that got me off, got her off as well. It had been too long since I’d commanded a woman or had one whimpering for more.
“Zayne?”
I glanced up, taking in the curious expression of the woman who had my heart firmly entranced in her gilded smile. “Is it my imagination or did the lunch crowd appear larger than usual today?”
Her brow arched as if aware of my evasiveness. “You’ve been gone for close on eight months, it might seem a little overwhelming.” She laughed then swiveled her chair to face the computer.
She was right. While I traveled extensively, it was my way of staying away from her so I could keep my promise. It was hard but doable. The second we discovered her passion for cooking, I’d opened the restaurant for her. Not only had it helped steer her away from thoughts of her identity or the family that hadn’t come looking for her, but she hardly noticed my absence.
“Still not going to tell me about last night?”
“Nothing else to tell.” I looked at her, my expression solemn, not giving my truths away and that under my façade, my guilt was festering like an open wound. She flicked a glance at me before going back to her screen. I raked a hand through my hair and leaned back in the seat, contemplating whether to tell her about Trent then thought better of it. Even though I dreaded it, now was good a time as any to bring up the treatment. “Rika?”
“Hmm?” she answered without looking up. When I didn’t respond, she swung her gaze to me then frowned. “Yes?”
“I just wondered if you’ve ever given Dr. Landers’ advice any thought, you know about the regressive hypnosis?”
“Some.”
“Some?” I gently prodded.
“I don’t know if it would help.” She fingered her chain.
“Remember he said you’d need a couple of sessions.” She stared at me but said nothing. “Look, it’s for your own good, Rika. Don’t you want to find out about your past, about who’d harmed you? Whether you have a family? And what about a simple thing like your birth date.”
She chewed her bottom lip, her expression thoughtful. “I guess you’re right, but I get this feeling there’s something about my past that isn’t nice. That maybe I’m not a good person or maybe I hung out with the wrong crowd and did something terrible that resulted in my attack. I’m scared to find out.”
I leaned back in my chair and gave her a soft smile. “And what if there’s something good you’re missing out on? Love? Family?” The pang in my chest deepened, knowing the truth to that statement.
