Playing with Fire: A Standalone Dark Romance

Chapter Twenty-eight

I should have heeded my own warning.

Letting him have even an inch will be my ruin.

I’m pretty much naked in our bed, makeup still on, hair a mess and there’s an unmistakable ache between my legs. It’s been a while since a man has been anywhere near me and I’m certainly feeling it now.

What did I do!?

I can’t even blame alcohol for my behavior. Stifling a groan so I don’t wake him, I glance toward him where he lays next to me. There’s space between us despite there not being a wall separating our sides, and even in sleep, he’s fucking delicious.

Asshole.

Slowly, and quietly, I climb from the bed, wrapping an arm around me to cover my naked breasts and tiptoe toward the bathroom. My cheeks heat as the memory of his fingers working through me shoves itself to the front of my mind. Fuck it felt good, to be touched like that, to be caressed and looked after, his skilled fingers using precision to bring me up that peak I was more than happy to fall right off of.

But it shouldn’t have happened. It crossed a line.

Maybe I can pretend it just never happened.

I jump in the shower, washing away the traces of makeup left on my face and give my hair a good deep condition before I brush my teeth and sneak back out of the bathroom.

Malakai still sleeps but he’s rolled onto his front, one leg kicked out from the sheets and arms buried beneath the pillow. It’s actually kind of adorable, with his sleep mused hair and sheets tangled all up around him. I figured he would have been, a sleep on his back and don’t move kind of sleeper, he just gives that vibe, but I guess I was wrong.

I dress quickly in a pair of sweats and oversized hoodie before I flee from the room and follow the smell of coffee wafting up from the kitchen.

I’ll go into the hotel again today; I have some calls I want to make for the event, and I need to try and coordinate the last minute changes I decided to put into place after I’d looked over the plans.

It’ll be a grand evening, full of all the magic winter can offer. Sure, it’s a little later than I would have had it, but it is still winter, so it’s fine.

I greet Louis with a smile and slide onto the stool after I’ve fixed a coffee.

“You’re positively glowing!” Louis comments with a grin, eyeing me.

“What?” I blush, “No I’m not.”

I swear if he mentions some weird after sex glow myth to me, I will actually die.

He quirks a brow as if he knows but thankfully keeps whatever comment he wants to say to himself.

I don’t make conversation today, just accept the breakfast he makes gratefully and eat in silence, wondering just how last night happened.

It was the dancing and the playfulness in the car. It was the way he held me because my feet were hurting and gave me his coat because I was cold.

Shit. This is bad. Very bad.

Once I’ve finished my breakfast, I clear away my dishes and make another coffee, sighing as I take a sip but then I hear his steps and my spine stiffens, my stomach swirling with butterflies.

He stops in the doorway, eyes finding me immediately, “Did you really cut holes in the toes of all of my socks?” He says in way of a greeting.

Oh shit. I forgot I did that.

I hide my smile behind the rim of my mug, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His eyes narrow, “You’re a terrible liar, kitten.”

“I’ll be sure to pick you up some new ones in the city today!” I put the mug down, “And on that note, I have to get ready. See you later!”

I try to flee past him to get back to the bedroom now that he’s out of it so I can fully get ready for the day, but I have no such luck.

His arm captures me around my middle, and he draws me in close, “You used my wash.” He inhales deeply. “I have to say, kitten, I like my smell on you.”

My body remembers. It remembers the pain from his teeth and the soothing caress of his tongue and how he played my body like an instrument. My core clenches in response, thighs aching as desire heats me from my center.

“I ran out,” I force my voice not to waver, put on a good show of not being affected by him. “But if you don’t mind,” I wiggle, “I have things to do.”

“Is that what we’re going to do, darling?” His mouth drops to my ear and his breath sends a rush of goose bumps to rise on my skin.

“What?”

“Ignore what happened?”

“Nothing happened,” I lie.

His chuckle is quick and short and not at all filled with humor.

“I was drunk,” I lie, “It was a mistake.”

His arm drops so quickly you’d think my ass was on fire. I look at him, keeping my expression purposely blank. His jaw pops as he grinds his teeth, any softness or light he had in his eyes when he came down is now gone.

Because of me.

Everything in him has changed in a second, standing in front of me is not the man I watched in the mirror last night, no, this man right here is the current leader of a deadly group of assassins. This man is a killer.

I step away from him, fear working in at the edges of my emotions. I’d be stupid not to be scared of this man.

I can’t let his soft strokes and pretty words fool me.

My husband is not a good man. Pushing him and fucking him is one thing but whatever I just hit with my words has had an entirely different reaction than I was expecting.

His eyes remain on me, but he doesn’t say a word and he doesn’t stop me as I start to edge away from him, putting distance between us.

I feel his eyes on me even when I’m halfway up the stairs and still feel the phantom burn of them long after I’ve locked myself in the bedroom.

I change quickly into more appropriate clothing for the hotel, a nude pencil dress with black heels and dry my hair before I use my flatiron to tackle the wavy mane. I leave my makeup light but give my lips a burgundy gloss, then I grab my purse and head out.

When I return downstairs, Malakai is no longer in the kitchen.

“Where did he go?” I ask Louis.

He winces, “Gym.”

“Did you hear?” I ask.

“The boss cares for you,” He says, his back to me, “And he doesn’t care for anyone.”

I scoff, “No, he just likes the challenge. He doesn’t know me well enough to care for me.”

Louis shrugs, “If you say so, Olivia. Dennis is waiting outside for you.”

“Okay,” I nod, looking toward the patio doors that would lead me to the gym, “Could you let him know I’ll be right there?”

I cross the space in the kitchen, opening the doors and shivering against the cold bite of the wind.

“Mrs. Farrow, perhaps now isn’t the right time to see him,” Louis suggests.

But I ignore him, closing the door behind me as I hurry over the stone path in my heels, trying not to get them stuck in any cracks so I don’t break a damn ankle. As I get closer, I can hear this kind of rhythmic thumping, and I pause at the door, waiting to hear anything else. When I don’t, I carefully crack the door open.

The door is far enough away from the main hall that contains all the gym equipment that I can see through without being heard.

And Malakai is right there, in the middle of the gym, bare feet moving over a mat as he pounds into a punching bag, the leather sack swinging roughly with every smash of his fist.

Sweat pours from him, dampening his hair and bare torso and he’s completely focused, brows low, eyes on the target.

He has that same pissed off expression marring his handsome face, and guilt gnaws on me as I realize I shouldn’t have said it was a mistake.

Being a bitch isn’t necessarily the goal here, but I panicked.

Letting out a breath, I backtrack out the door, gently closing it behind me and then take the path around the house, finding Dennis waiting just like Louis said.

“Hi Dennis,” I smile but it’s short and not entirely all real.

“Mrs. Farrow.”

“Olivia.” I correct.

His lips twitch as if to smile but it never comes and he opens the back door for me, waiting until I’m inside and safely buckled in before he shuts it behind me.

“Where to?”

“The hotel,” I stare back toward the gym, “I’ll be a few hours again today so there’s no need to wait for me. I can call you when I’m done.”

“I’m all yours for the day,” He pulls away from the house, “I’ll just wait.”

“I know it’s useless fighting you,” I say, “Actually before we get to the hotel can we stop at the mall?”

He nods and then switches on the radio, cutting all conversation as he drives me into the city.