He shrugged, chuckling softly. “I don’t mind.”
When his lips brushed my forehead, a pleasurable shiver ran through me. I didn’t press him for more. He promised he would share himself with me this week, and I believed him.
In the car, exhaustion overtook me quickly, caused by an adrenaline crash somehow stronger than my unfathomable horniness.
Wes guided me to rest my head in his lap, draping his shirt over me like a blanket. It was warm from his body heat, and it smelled like him. I inhaled deeply, and Wes brushed his fingers through my hair.
As I drifted, I thought of the fear in Wes’s eyes—when I was taken away by the masked men, and when he found me after.
He’d waited for me there, just before the VIP section. Had he tried to get in? To follow me?
Something had happened to Wes to make him afraid, just like something had happened to me. Like something had happened to Lorelei.
The thoughts dissipated like fog over a country road. I melted into Wes’s soothing touch. My breathing slowed.
“I don’t deserve you,” Wes whispered, almost too quiet to hear.
I wasn’t sure if I was awake or asleep or somewhere between.
“But I’m afraid I’m going to take you anyway.”
The next morning, I awoke feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. For several minutes, I simply stared at my ceiling. Inara crawled all over me, meowing and pawing at my face like she’d gone days without food.
“Inara, do you not understand that Mother is having an existential crisis?” I asked her. “Actually, many crises, of the personal, collective, erotic, and socioeconomic varieties.”
Inara had been spayed and didn’t have to pay taxes, so she didn’t understand any of this.
I was terrified to check my phone, but part of me needed to see evidence that last night had really happened. Because as of right now, it felt more like a demented fever dream than real life.
Several texts populated my screen.
Hudson
You are in so much fucking trouble, young lady!!!
Oh shit, I totally may have forgotten to text him that I was alive, seeing as I fell asleep in Wes’s lap on the way home and then zombied my way through my nighttime routine before crashing for good.
I assumed Hudson and Delilah saw evidence of life from my bag by the door and the box of lingerie I’d left on the coffee table outside, hence why they’d allowed me to sleep peacefully.
Jayne
Archer and I are disappointed we didn’t talk more last night, but we’re pleased you and Wes seem to have hit it off. You’re a beautiful pairing. Dinner this week? Our treat.
My stomach twisted with dread. Were they invitingus,or were they invitingme?Either way, hard pass.
Maisy
Girl, you left way too early! The party had just started getting gooood. Archer organized a Sub Olympics, and there was soooo much drama, LOL. Let’s debrief this week.
What in the good God was aSub Olympics?On second thought, I didn’t want to know.
I also missed seventy-two texts from The Circle girls group chat, which had been renamed overnight to Jayne’s Princesses.
Barf.
My heart skipped a beat, homing in on the last missed text from this morning.
Wes
