Page 26 of Skin
The man’s eyes widen with shock at her words, and then he glances past us, to either side of us, as two security guards pass us and take him by the arms and muscle toward the exits.
“Avery,” I breathe, taking her into my arms. My heartaches. “I love you.”
“That’s...that’s just insane.”
She throws her arms around my neck and kisses me, standing on her tiptoes and pressing her warm body into me.
I am drunk on her. Her taste, her fire, the way she makes me feelsettledandexcitedall at the same fucking time. Her softness, her heart, the way she broke free of those bars and followed me into my limo like the good girl I knew she was.
My good girl.
“Baby, let’s go home,” I say.
She takes her mask off. It’s strictly forbidden, but I don’t stop her. Because that’s all I wanted - to see behind the perfect facade she’d erected over the surface of her skin.
Now I can see all of it.
I feel like I am gasping for breath, and my cock is roaring. I want to mark herhereand take what’s mine. Again and again.
“Let’s go home,” she agrees.
I take her by the hand and we start toward the exit.
And we grab our coats, make our way toward the snow-dusted street, and I know where we are both going.
Epilogue
Avery - One Month Later
My eyes areopen now in a way they weren’t before.
I was looking, but not seeing. I could walk through the door, but I wasn’t free to leave.
Gabe grunts with that sexy, mysterious smile as he pushes open the door to our bedroom. He asked me to put on a black lace thong and bra, and told me to stay home while he went out to pick up some sushi and warm sake.
It feels good being taken care of. I was so used to taking care ofotherpeople.
Sometimes, it was because I wanted to. I stayed by my dad’s side until the very end, and it was wonderful, bittersweet, and infuriating to be there for him. I wanted to remember the good times we had together, and I did, until I lost my job as a file clerk at the library and had to go to work at the massage parlor. That’s when the bills started piling up,even withthat very generous advance from the massage parlor.
And then when I started working there, and working on my massage therapist certification, I liked it at first, as I recently explained to Gabe. I liked taking care of people, making them feel good. And I’m good at it.
But I’m just now realizing I should be as generous with myself as I am with others.
I kneel on the bed as Gabe closes the door behind him and starts unbuttoning his shirt, revealing that impossibly gorgeous body beneath the impeccable clothes. He pulls his shirt off and tosses it onto the floor as I feel my body heat in anticipation.
“Get over here, baby,” he says, pulling his undershirt off and tossing it to the floor.
I crawl across the bed and my fingers fly to his belt, and I lick my lips and look up at him.
“No, love,” he says, pushing my shoulders away gently. I fall back on my elbows and he kneels between my legs, crawling toward me as I scoot backwards on the bed.
Just having him so near me is making me wet, making my clit jump when his lips come down on my inner thigh.
“Ohhh…”
His fingers slip under the thin black fabric at the sides of the panties he’d selected for me. I can feel the sticky sweet moisture between my legs, and as he glides the sides of my panties down, they stick to my body. He leaves the panties there as he grins up at me wickedly, and my mind spins as he licks against the edge of the fabric and I throw my arm over my forehead, gasping and smiling and closing my eyes when my head falls back onto the bed.
“Bad baby girl is already so wet for her man,” he growls, hooking a finger behind the soaked fabric, grazing his finger against my clit as he moves.
