Page 60 of Ruined
CHAPTER 16
Lucas
The soft morning light filled the bedroom, crawling over Haley’s skin. Her makeup had long since teared down her cheeks and was now barely visible. When she had fallen asleep, her skin had been tender and red from my rough handling, but now, there were no marks on her skin. After I had taken her virginity, I had played with her body and mind until she collapsed from exhaustive pleasure and pain. It was then that I had carried her to one of the bedrooms and tucked her in, falling asleep next to her.
It was no surprise that she was still asleep. I had worked her hard. She deserved the rest.
I left the room as quietly as possible and went to the kitchen. The hotel’s penthouse came with a fully stocked fridge and pantry as well as room service, should we need it. I wasn’t great at cooking, but I could make a decent cup of coffee. Well, at least it wouldn’t be burned. And I knew Haley liked coffee.
After I ground the beans and put them into the pot, I listened to the gurgling machine. From what I had seen on the live stream of the Greenhouse bedrooms, it was a lively, loud place. I doubted there was much time when she had this much peace to herself. I hoped the machine’s noises wouldn’t wake her up.
There was no mistaking it. I had feelings for Haley.
It had been over ten years since Isa had left me for Aldrich, and I had vowed never to let another person, be it a friend or a lover, that close ever again. But getting revenge on Aldrich had led me to Haley, who reminded me that sometimes, you could trust someone. She had nothing to hide anymore. She saw me. It wasn’t about my money, or what I could do for her.
And now, I had the urge to make her life better. If that meant giving her a few extra minutes to sleep in, demanding her to come, or helping her realize that her mother had always loved her, even if she had done some things Haley disagreed with, I wanted to do it. I wanted to do it all for her.
I called room service, ordering one of every item on the breakfast menu. Taking care of breakfast was easy. But there was one difficult task I had to do to make this right: I needed to call off the bet.
I texted Aldrich:Meet at eleven, your headquarters, important discussion.Then I went back to the bedroom. Hearing my footsteps, Haley stirred and turned over. She rubbed her eyes.
“How are you already dressed and I’m still asleep?” she asked.
“Early riser,” I said.
“Of course you are.”
I leaned on the wall, looking at her. Damn it, she was beautiful. Her emerald eyes shone in the light, a pureness still there, even when I swallowed her inside of the darkness. It wasn’t about her lost virginity, but the way she saw me, how she trusted me, even when she knew she shouldn’t. Her lips curved into a smile, one that I found irresistible, because I knew how that mouth wound around my cock. How her bottom lip trembled as I ripped orgasm after orgasm out of her soul.
“Breakfast should be here in about twenty minutes,” I said. “There are some extra clothes in the bathroom, in case you want to change.”
She lifted the covers and gazed at her naked body. “I guess my dress didn’t make it.”
“Laundered. In the bathroom too.”
“I don’t know when you had time to do that, but thanks.” She sat up, the covers pooling around her sides, her nipples hard. “I’ll shower then, before breakfast, if that’s all right.”
I went to the kitchen to fix her coffee, adding creams and sugar like I had seen her do before. When I returned, the rain shower head was running. Heat billowed out from the stall, and her bare form was still visible through the glass. Her strong muscles. Thighs and calves that clenched and squeezed each time pleasure trembled through her body.
“You could join me, you know,” she said.
She caught me staring. She could do that to a man. Makeup or none. Curly hair or in a bun. Lingerie, sweatpants, or nothing at all. I couldn’t stop myself.
“It’s tempting,” I said.
“But not tempting enough to wreck another good shirt?” she teased. She licked her lips, then turned over a container of body wash, the gel oozing onto the loofa, and she bent over with her ass to me, exposing her wet, soapy folds. Tinted pink from the agony I had put her through.
It was tempting. Damn it all, I wanted to. But I couldn’t. Not yet.
“Can’t,” I said.
She poked her head to the side. “Something on your mind?”
It wasn’t a good sign that my emotions were that obvious to her now. She knew me better than she should have. I needed to keep my guard up, at least until I figured this out. Or until I made things right. If I took advantage of her any more than I already had, it would be devastating to her.
“Work,” I lied. “I’ve got some things to tie up with a new client.”
She nodded. “If that’s what you want.”
