He held my gaze. “I’m not fucking anyone else, Devi.”
“Great. Don’t lie to me again.”
“I won’t.”
“I told you that you could trust me,” I said. “I need to trust you, too.”
I left him there, in the living room with his scotch. I went to shower and wash off this fucking night.
After I’d gone to bed, I heard Dane come in to shower.
Then I woke up to feel him getting into the bed. But he didn’t settle on his side of the bed. He slid right over to me and kissed me.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered against my lips as I stirred beneath him.
Then he kissed my neck. He kissed my breasts.
He pushed off my panties, and I helped him do it.
He held me down and fucked me… until I rolled him over, climbed on top, and I fucked him. We came together in the dark, kissing while we climaxed, and no more words passed between us.
I really didn’t want to fight with him anymore.
He didn’t seem to want to, either.
I felt close to him as we pressed together, naked and hot. I wanted to trust him.
He kissed me, slowly, afterwards, and studied my face in the dark. He ran his hands slowly over my body, like he was still learning the terrain. Memorizing me. Getting used to me.
Wanting more of me.
When we had sex, he took his time giving me pleasure… made me feel good in ways that he didn’t need to make me feel. In ways that had nothing to do with some power play.
And all I wanted was more of it.
More of Dane, in these soft, dark moments… when he actually let his guard down and let me into his space.
And for just a few moments, I felt likeanythingwas possible between us. It was terrifying and it was beautiful.
I had no idea which way we were headed. So in the dark, in the night, I just held on.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Dane
Almost a week later, I was back in Toronto.
Officially, my mother was over punishing me—more or less—and had moved on. She’d bought into my marriage, frankly, because the media had bought into my marriage. And because she found Devi suitable.
Like I told the guys, as long as the marriage worked, my mother probably didn’t actually care if I was in love or what. Maybe she knew it was a calculated move, on my part, to secure my family’s trust in me.
At least, it started out that way.
I wasn’t even sure what it was becoming.
Either way, my mother had told me that my grandmother was “satisfied” that my life was back on track. And urged me to come back, even for a few days, to put in an appearance at head office.
When I arrived at Valhalla Media Group’s headquarters, I could feel the attention converging on me. Some people darted out to greet me and congratulate me on my marriage, while others vanished. I’d always had this kind of welcome in the halls of Valhalla. Those who were forced to speak to me being overly polite. Those who could get away with never speaking to me just avoiding me altogether.
