Page 44 of Wreck Me

I want to inhale it.

I want to inhale her.

‘Did you miss me?’ I pull out the chair beside her and lower myself into it.

‘Was it a condition of our agreement?’ she teases.

‘It was a question.’ I drop the bottle of whiskey on the table and pour two large measures but I don’t drink it. Not yet. The only thing I want to drink in is the woman beside me. The way her lips turn up at my words. The way her platinum eyes blaze with a need she has no idea how capable I am of satisfying.

‘Maybe. This is a big old place to ramble around in alone.’ She glances up at the high ceilings.

‘Tell me about it. I’ve been doing it for years.’ A small tinkling laugh permeates the air. God she’s so beautiful. Of all the times I’ve summoned her face to my mind over the past few weeks, I realise my memory never once did her justice.

‘Bloody hell, Scarlett, you look incredible.’ Gone is the girl-next-door look, replaced with expertly tailored dresses and a newfound air of sophistication. She always had it, but now it radiates from her. And I’m happy to see she’s put on a little weight. She was too skinny before. Rosa must be taking good care of her.

‘I hate that we have to go out tonight. We could have so much more fun at home.’

‘Not part of our arrangement.’ She smirks as she closes her laptop. ‘Might be safer if we go out.’

‘That’s a killer dress.’ As good as it looks on her, it would look better on my floor.

‘Thank you.’ Her eyes rake over my suit, before returning to my eyes. ‘You spoil me.’ She sweeps a hand across her outfit and glances at her phone.

‘And you spoil me.’ I pull out the tie from the inside pocket of my suit and place it on the table.

Heat flushes her cheeks. ‘It was sort of a joke.’

‘Sort of?’ I zero in on her lips, the way she licks them with a nervousness, or perhaps hunger. ‘Do you sort of want me to tie you to my bed post with this?’

Her eyes glaze like she’s imagining it and her throat flexes as she swallows. ‘What I want, and what I can have, are two very different things.’

‘Actually, Scarlett, they are one and the same. All you have to do is say the word.’ Why is she holding back on me? Nerves? Fear of the first time? Energy swirls between us in a thick haze of sex hormones. ‘Did I buy you this dress?’ I appraise her like a lion sizing up its prey.

‘You did.’ She crosses one long leg over the other.

I run a finger over the silky fabric of the dress, cruising from her waist, over her hip, and sliding off her thigh. A tiny gasp permeates the air. ‘Give me a twirl.’ I make a circular motion with my finger.

She rises from the chair and slowly spins on her heels. The back of the dress is entirely absent, showcasing the elegant curve of her spine and a swathe of silky skin. Her head angles as she spins. Those enormous eyes seek something from me. Admiration? Approval? Either way, she has both, by the truckload.

I devour every inch of her with my eyes until she stops where she started, her breasts rising and falling mere inches in front of me. ‘You’re killing me, Scarlett.’ My voice rasps with need.

Mischief gleams in her eyes. ‘You weren’t wrong in your text, you know.’

‘I’m never wrong.’ My Adam’s apple bobs. ‘But specifically?’

‘I like your eyes on my body. On my skin. I feel like I’ve been in hiding for years, but now finally someone sees me.’

‘I see you, sweetheart.’ I swallow hard. ‘Every damn time I close my eyes and even when I dream. I see you.’ My hand reaches up to stroke her face, but Scarlett’s mobile buzzes on the table, piercing the heavy air surrounding us.

She glances at the screen, then snatches it up so fast her fingers fumble and she drops it on the floor between us.

I crouch and swipe it up. A name glares back at me from the screen.Nathan.

‘Who’s Nathan?’ The question comes out more suspiciously than I intended thanks to the green-eyed monster sitting on my sternum.

‘No one.’ Her quick response oozes guilt. ‘Well, I mean, he’s an old friend.’ Her eyes travel the entire room twice,before returning to mine. ‘Of my mother’s.’ She swallows hard. ‘Sort of.’

Curiosity supersedes my jealousy, but before I can ask any further questions, Rosa arrives with entrees. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day, lovebirds,’ she coos.

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