Page 74 of Embrace
“The press can get out of hand. And people in general are fascinated by idols. We become unreal to them. Not even human, and they’ll treat us that way.”
I smoothed my hand over his chest, indulging in the way his nipple felt against my palm. No wonder men loved tits and nipples so much. I wanted to suck his, too, and make him stiffen and grow hard again so he could pound the hell out of me. But I couldn’t get “they’ll treat us that way”out of my head.Does he mean him and me or his family in general?
Finally, he kissed my forehead. “We should get up and go. We have to get some sleep. We’ve had a long day.”
I raised my head off his chest. “Get up and go? You don’t want to sleep here?”
He kissed my forehead again. “No. My bed.” He elbowed the mattress. “We almost broke this fucking thing. And I’m not done with you yet.”
I gave him a lopsided smile. “I thought you said we had to sleep.”
“We’re going to sleep for a little while. Then I’m going to fuck you again, hard, until I get the picture of Greg fucking you out of my head.”
My eyebrows pulled together. “What?”
“I know it’s not fucking rational, but it’s there.” He pointed at his skull. “In there.”
* * *
Asherand I stared into my nearly empty suitcase. He kept reminding me that I didn’t have to bring a lot of clothes. The penthouse we would be residing in had been prepared for our arrival.
“It’s not the same penthouse that I’m used to?”
He’d said Gina thought she could sell the property to Julia without his permission, which meant the penthouse was currently tied up in a real estate deal. I was shocked the two women were associated in such a way. Gina was Asher’s ex-girlfriend too. That explained how Julia had found Asher.
“Gina and Julia are that close?” I asked.
He closed the suitcase and secured the clamps as he said, “No. Julia’s never close to anyone. The people she gets to know and everything she does is for her benefit. Remember that and stay the hell away from her.”
“Warning heeded for the umpteenth time,” I said.
“Good. Keep heeding it.” He snatched my suitcase off the bed. “Let’s get out of here.”
I was still processing the last of his continued warnings about Julia. She was my sister. And at some point, I would have to really mull over that fact—or maybe not. I’d gone so far in life without knowing her. Our blood relation came from a very dark source. Perhaps that was what my mom’s running away and changing her identity was all about. Asher had done the same.Who am I to say they were wrong?Julia and I had never been sisters and never would be. And that was that, and it was okay.
We walked into the living room, and I stopped at the front door for a final once-over. It was much cleaner. All the stray clothing, pieces of mail that had been on the coffee table, my robe, which had been draped across my office chair, and the one house shoe that had been sitting beside the couch were all put away. I had a strong hunch that I would not be back to the place that I had made home for the past seven years.
“Are you ready?” Asher asked.
Choked up, I nodded.
“Ooh, one more thing,” I said and raced to my bedroom.
I opened the closet. Behind rows of shoes I’d never worn, broken umbrellas, and a coat that had dropped off the hanger was the box where I stored important documents. I opened it and shuffled through the pages and envelopes.
“You okay in there?” Asher asked.
I smiled at the envelope my mom used to make me keep with me whenever she went off to do whatever she did to acquire money and drugs. “I am. Got it,” I called.
“Got what?” Asher asked.
I showed him the box as I walked back into the living room. “This.”
Suddenly, that feeling that I was leaving something behind was gone. I had everything I needed with me and next to me.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Personal documents and stuff.”
