Page 34 of Enthrall Ecstasy
He and I would never be more. I was merely the girl he’d rescued. The fact he had checked out my social media accounts made sense. He had to make sure I wasn’t a risk to either Carrie or him.
His gaze traveled over my body. “Want a sweater?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“If you need anything, let me know,” he said.
“I want you to take me back.”
His expression went from amused to serious. “On your knees.”
It was as though he’d flipped a switch—that rare moment of kindness morphing into dominance, causing me to freeze.
“Rue?”
I hurried forward and dropped to my knees, bowing my head and avoiding eye contact, shivering with a delicious sense of obedience. My body flooded with arousal and I was overwhelmed with sensations I couldn’t define.
It was like I’d been out at sea for weeks and finally glimpsed the lighthouse, that moment where I escaped this gut-wrenching grief—all that had gone before that hurt me, dimming in my heart.
The sounds of the ocean were a backdrop to this glimmer of peace.
I felt the warmth from his touch on my cheek, his fingers trailing through my hair, twisting a strand, making my scalp tingle. His thumb glided to my mouth and brushed over my lips.
My eyes fluttered at the way he touched me, the way he wasn’t scared of silence.
He patted the seat beside him. “Up here.”
Rising, I sat next to him, resting my hands in my lap, feeling like my life was spinning on a different axis. Spinning back into control.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
How did I feel? Like I was in the presence of a true master—a man who’d stormed into the fire to retrieve me like I was important, like I meant something. This man was the kind who would find you if you got lost and bring you back from the brink of danger. He would be unfazed by any challenge.
“Tell me more about you,” he said softly.
“Nothing much to tell.”
“Any siblings?”
“Just me.”
“I’m an only child, too,” he offered up. “You used to live in that big house in Beverly Hills alone?”
“Yes, I didn’t mind. It’s got all the memories. Dad’s law office was a few miles away. Mom was a surgeon. She worked at Cedars. They had me when they were in their forties after going through fertility treatments. When I was born, they were very protective.”
I was rambling.
He made me that nervous.
I cleared my throat. “A year after Mom died, Dad was in a car accident.”
He gave a look of commiseration.
“I can’t afford the mortgage on my salary. I don’t get my inheritance until I’m twenty-five.”
“I see.”
“I’ve been staying at Majestic.” I continued to bleed words of misery.
