Chapter 14
RENéE
He pulled himself out completely, and I gasped, my fingers digging into his shoulders as he slid back in with a slow, torturous precision that made my breath hitch. I was still adjusting, trying to steady my breath through the sensation that was part ache, part ecstasy. But it was all worth it. I didn’t even care.
“Don’t stop,” I whispered, barely recognizing my own voice. In response, he caught my lips in a deep, bruising kiss, silencing any further plea I might have made. I’d barely regained my senses when he withdrew fully, only to thrust back in, making my back arch as he filled me completely. My body moved instinctively, tilting my hips to take in every inch, and the groan he let out against my lips was intoxicating. I wanted more—I needed it.
Everything about him consumed me. The way he claimed me, each thrust stoking a fire that left me breathless, mindless. His lips trailed down my neck, grazing and biting, each one setting off a fresh spark of pleasure until his mouth found the soft valley between my breasts.
The mix of his hand tangled in my hair, his other sliding possessively down my body, had me teetering on the edge. When his fingers found that sensitive spot and circled, I nearly lost myself right then and there. My breathing turned shallow as the knot in my stomach tightened, each touch, each thrust driving me closer to the peak. It was right there—I was almost—
And then he stopped. Completely.
“You’re kidding me,” I hissed, throwing him a glare so fierce I thought I might actually burn him alive. My chest heaved as I caught my breath, and I couldn’t stop myself. “You—you fucking asshole!”
He just grinned, unbothered. “Didn’t you hear me earlier, Renée?” he murmured, lowering his head until his lips brushed the curve of my ear. “I gave you a chance to ask nicely. But you missed it.”
The nerve. “Screw you,” I spat, squirming against him, feeling his arousal pressed insistently against my thigh. But before I could move an inch, his hands locked onto my wrists, pinning them above my head, and he leaned in, voice barely a whisper against my skin.
“I think I’m hearing things. Here you are moaning and begging me to let you come, and I’m hearing… ‘screw you’?”
“I hate you,” I growled, every inch of me straining against him, wanting him to make good on his teasing threats.
“Mm-hm,” he tsked, feigning disappointment. “And here I thought you’d learned.”
Then his lips crashed onto mine, stealing the retort from my mouth. I bit down hard on his bottom lip, making him pull away with a low hiss. “Renée,” he whispered, his gaze a stormy gray. “You’re dangerous.”
He held my gaze with an intensity that left me squirming. The ache was unbearable, and without thinking, I found myself whispering, “Please.”
His body tensed, but he couldn’t hide the smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. “See?” he murmured, tracing my jaw with his lips. “Was that so hard?”
I barely had a second to process the taunt before he surged forward, his thrusts harder, faster, with a delicious brutality that had my nails digging into his skin. Every bit of him was relentless, leaving no part of me untouched by his intensity.
“Harder,” I breathed out, my voice thick with need, and he didn’t hesitate. Instead, he shifted my leg over his shoulder, angling himself to hit just the spot I craved. Each thrust drove me closer to unraveling.
The heat between us built to a fever pitch, and the knot in my stomach coiled tighter, my body clenching around him as I reached that blinding edge. His hand found my clit again, and with two more strokes, I was gone, swept into a dizzying climax that left me gasping. The pleasure surged through me, pulse after pulse, even as he kept moving, coaxing every last bit of sensation from me.
I didn’t have a chance to come down before he was right there with me, thrusting harder, his breath hot on my skin. His own release followed a rough groan against my neck, and just the sound of it drove me over the edge once more. My body trembled, every nerve alight, and for a blissful, fleeting moment, there was nothing but him.
He finally rolled to his side, pulling me close as we lay tangled together. He pressed a soft kiss to my temple, and my hazy mind was barely aware of the ache settling into my body, every touch and kiss still vivid on my skin.
“Get some rest,” he murmured, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. I wanted to protest, to savor every last moment of this, but exhaustion crept over me, dragging me down, his warmth a comforting weight at my side.
JAVIER
Those last days with Renée blurred into one long, heated stretch. That hotel room felt like it was just made for us—her laughter, her breath, her body filling every inch of it. I couldn’t keep my hands off her; it was like we were consuming every piece of each other, leaving nothing untouched. And for a while, it felt like we could stay locked in that intensity forever. But then, the end came in the form of her flight to New York.
The second that door closed; reality sank its teeth back into me. I thought I’d slip back into my usual routine, and focus on work. Instead, the hotel room felt colder and emptier than it ever had. Her absence felt like a wound that wouldn’t heal, pressing on me in the quiet. All I could think about was when I’d see her again, and how we’d be back at the office soon.
But coming back didn’t bring the relief I’d banked on—she was on leave. Just not there. No sight of her, not even the briefest glimpse, and that hollow ache only deepened. I’d underestimated how much I’d come to rely on seeing her across the room, the way she brought a kind of warmth even I couldn’t push away. The city seemed to get it, too—pouring rain every day, a gloom that wouldn’t lift.
By the time a few days turned into weeks, I was done with patience. I’d been walking around in this gray haze, snapping at anyone who got in my way, trying to distract myself with work that didn’t help. The team was picking up on my mood, careful to avoid setting me off. And then, one morning on the way to the office, the clouds broke just slightly, and this sharp beam of sunlight hit me. It was like her somehow—cutting through that cold weight I’d been carrying, just like she always did. But the emptiness was still there, gnawing at me every damn minute.
Three weeks passed like that. Just as she’d be back, I’d have to leave for a business trip. It twisted something deep in me, something I couldn’t quite name. And as much as I wanted to brush it off, the thought of missing her return made me colder than any rainstorm could.
I hated how much she’d gotten under my skin, how her absence filled my mind like she’d left an open wound. Every thought spun back to her—where she was, who she was with, what she might be doing. It was a foreign feeling, something I couldn’t even name—couldn’t pin it down or make sense of it—and that only pissed me off more. But somewhere in the middle of it, I knew the truth. I liked watching her—Renée. Liked being near her. Every time our eyes met, it reminded me that some things in life are worth chasing, no matter how impossible they seem.
I cut off that thought fast, slamming my laptop shut hard enough to send the people around me jolting upright, eyes wide. Their looks were like static in the background as I got up and headed to my car, just wanting to drive—to the airport, to anywhere that’d keep me moving.
But as I was stuck in the sluggish mid-morning traffic, my boredom twisted into something else as I caught sight of Renée up ahead, walking along the sidewalk. My pulse picked up, and for a second, everything else fell away. When did she get back?
Just as quickly, that moment soured. There was a man beside her, his arm draped casually over her shoulder, and the sight made my grip on the wheel go white-knuckled. Jealousy hit like a punch, sharpening into anger as I watched them, his hand brushing her arm like it was the easiest thing in the world. She laughed at something he said, and it twisted in me, that laughter hitting too close, too sharp.
My jaw clenched as the image burned into my mind, filling me with a sudden urge to pull over, step out, and make my presence known. But my flight was ticking closer, the seconds slipping through my fingers, and I knew I couldn’t miss it, couldn’t turn around. I forced myself to face forward, leaving her with him in the rearview mirror, but every inch I drove away felt heavier, that scene still searing into me. Renée walked away, out of reach, with another man.