Chapter 33 #2
Nobody’s ever looked at me like that before. If I could capture this moment and this feeling in a bottle, I’d do so and keep it forever.
“Knox…” Her pulse trips.
I press my mouth to her collarbone, tasting the heat of her skin. “Clothes off, Isla. Now.” The command slips out, rough and quiet. “Strip for me.”
Her breath falters, and her skin flushes, but her hands lift shakily to find the zipper on the back of her gown.
She keeps her eyes fixed on me as she slides it down. There’s a built-in bra on the dress, so when the black silk slides down her body, her gorgeous breasts spill free. Her rosy nipples are already puckered and hard with arousal.
Heat punches through me so hard I almost stagger. Jesus. I’m wrecked just looking at her.
The fabric pools at her waist before she pushes it further, letting it fall in a soft whisper around her feet. She stands there in nothing but a lace thong, black heels, and trembling need.
My blood spikes, every thought in my head disintegrating with the primal need to claim her.
Slowly, like a predator closing in, I walk her back inch by inch until she meets the cool glass wall behind her. She gasps at the contact, her bare skin pressing against it, nipples tightening even more from the chill.
“Can…anyone see us?” Nervously, she glances behind her at the city below.
“No. Only me, love.” I trail a finger down her belly. “And I want you right here. Against my glass. Where only I get to see you like this.”
A shiver rolls through her, and her thighs press together.
I brace one hand beside her head. “Look at you,” I rasp, dragging my gaze down her body. “Pressed up against my glass. You have no idea what you do to me.”
Her lips part, and she trembles. “Tell me. What do I do to you, Knox Vale?”
I catch her throat with my free hand and lean close so my forehead is on hers.
“You drive me fucking insane,” I growl, my mouth hovering above hers but not touching. “I don’t know what you did to me, but I can’t think straight. All I can think about is you. I can’t work. I can’t fucking breathe. Wanting you is the only thing that feels real. Mine. My girl.”
I brush my lips over hers, but her sudden grip on my shirt stops me from deepening the kiss.
“Are you mine, too?” Her voice trembles, barely a whisper, like she’s afraid my answer might break her.
The question rips through me. I feel it everywhere. Raw and brutal. Undeniable. There’s nothing to decide. Nothing to question. The answer is carved into me.
“Look at me and tell me what you see.” I hold her gaze, unblinking.
Her pulse kicks. “Sometimes my eyes deceive me, and I need to hear… I need to hear you say the words.”
I slide my hand to her jaw, forcing her to see the truth in me. “I’m all yours, Isla Vale. I’ve always belonged to you.”
The guard in her eyes slips, dissolving in a single breath. The last piece of her wall finally gives way, falling for me.
“Mine, too?” she speaks in a listless rasp, like she can’t believe what she’s saying.
“Yours, love.” My voice drops into something hungry and possessive, something only she’ll ever hear. “Always yours.”
I press my mouth to her neck, kissing the smooth skin slowly, so I can savor the taste, then I move down to her chest and lick the swell of her breasts.
Her breath breaks in soft, desperate sounds that go straight to my cock, but I hang on to the little control I have left.
I trail my lips between her breasts, down the center of her stomach, savoring the way she arches for me, offering herself without even realizing she’s doing it.
When I reach the lace at her hips, I look up at her. “Hold still.”
I hook a finger under the waistband of her thong, then lean closer to grip the delicate lace between my teeth.
Her breathless gasp ruins me. Still, I tug on her thong, dragging the fabric down her legs with nothing but my mouth.
The intimacy of it hits both of us at once.
My cock twitches at the sight of her bare pussy. Her thighs tremble, and my control fractures.
When the lace reaches her ankles, I guide it off with my teeth and toss them carelessly to the side.
Her breathing comes fast and uneven. I run my hands up the back of her calves and up her thighs, gazing at her perfect body. “Keep the heels on,” I mutter, my voice husky with lust. “I want you in them.”
“Okay…” she whispers back in that sultry, breathless tone.
“Time to feast on your pussy. I know how much you like that.”
I drop to my knees, kneeling before her like the goddess she is, then spread her legs wide and tongue her clit.
Her hands fly to the glass behind her, fingers splaying.
I suck the hard little nub and drag my tongue over her wet slit.
“Oh, God… Knox.”
Her helpless cry drives me wild, and I dive deeper, burying my tongue into her.
She writhes against my face, and I respond by giving her more. Her body shakes, and her breaths become shallow. Still, I give her more, holding her down so I can eat her out.
I know her body by heart, so I sense the point where she’s about to break. And that’s when I stop and pull back.
“Oh my God, nooo. Please, you have to make me come,” she whimpers. The only sound I like better than her moans is her begging me.
“When I’m inside you, love.”
She slumps against the glass, her knees knocking together and her thighs quivering as though she’s in physical agony.
That’s okay. I’m about to relieve her pain.
I strip out of my jacket and shirt in one motion, then shed the rest of my clothes just as fast.
I want her from behind first, so I turn her to face the wall and force her legs apart.
Her body is already ready for me, so I slide inside her with ease. Just like always, I feel like I’m home. Like I’m where I finally belong.
I thrust my hips, sliding deeper into her pussy. I pump once, twice, then harder and faster, and she cries out.
“Knox, I’m coming,” she screams.
“Come for me, baby. Let me hear your pleasure.”
Her walls grip my length, sending a jolt straight through my cock. “Fuck. Goddamn,” I gasp out, thrusting my hips harder against her ass. Then I lose my mind and fuck her like this is the last time I’ll ever have her.
I fuck her as if I didn’t have her all night and all this morning. Like madness has finally come for me. I know I’m rough and she’ll probably have bruises in the morning just from my hands on her hips, but I can’t help myself. I never can with her.
The fact that she’s pushing into me like she can’t get enough drives me to give her more.
And I do.
I lose time, so I don’t know how long we stay like that.
She comes again, her walls clenching my already swollen dick, then I spill into her, the fucking release going straight to my head.
Christ Almighty, my head actually spins. Ripples of sweat trail down my body, and my heart is pounding so hard I’m sure it will break out of my chest.
Isla is breathing hard, too. When her knees buckle, I pull out of her and catch her, slipping my arm around her waist.
I turn her to face me. She holds on to my shoulders, her skin glistening, her eyes locked on mine.
We don’t say anything to each other. We don’t need to. We just fall into another kiss.
Then I pick her up, her legs wrap around my waist, and I take her again.
It’s been nine days since the gala.
Isla has ruined me.
Nine whole days, and I’m still walking around in a fucking trance.
A trance only she can control.
A trance I don’t want to leave.
I’m sitting on the terrace discussing a security update with Dorian, but my mind keeps drifting back to Isla.
Back to the night of the gala. Back to the way she looked pressed against the glass wall of my office. Back to how she clung to me like I was the only thing tethering her to this world.
And I’m looking at her right now.
She’s out in the garden across from us, sitting on the grass with a paintbrush in her hand and a smear of blue across her cheek.
She’s wearing a pair of tiny white shorts and a tank top that exposes way too much of her skin to the sun.
Her legs are stretched out in front of her, crossed at the ankles, and the sight does nothing good for my sanity.
Dorian’s voice becomes white noise as I think of dragging my wife back upstairs and taking her to bed.
She’d look beautiful covered in paint and sweat and nothing else.
“Knox.” Dorian’s voice finally cuts through the haze.
I blink and look at him. “What?”
“You’re not listening, are you?” he deadpans.
“Yes, of course, I’m listening.”
Dorian arches a brow. “Right. Then what did I just say?”
I open my mouth… Nothing comes out. “Sorry, man. What were you talking about?”
He sighs and starts again. “The IT team is dropping the investigation into the hacking…”
My gaze drifts back to Isla before he can finish.
She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and bends over her canvas. The motion makes her shorts ride up her thighs.
Fuck.
I’m gone again.
A hand waves in front of my face. “Knox,” Dorian snaps. “Jesus, what the hell?”
I jerk my eyes back to him. “Sorry.”
He throws me a look only a brother can give—half judgment, half amusement. “I can see we’re not going to get much done here.” He glances at Isla.
“Just tell me the important stuff, and I’ll figure out the rest.”
He grins, now looking fully amused. “Okay. The IT team is dropping the investigation into the hacking. You know, with Isla’s father?”
The mention of that man pulls my attention back. “Well, I guess we found all there is to find. And there’s nothing else to worry about.”
“Something just doesn’t feel right. I keep thinking there’s more. But…I’m going to lay it to rest. It’s not like we don’t have a mountain of work to do.”
I nod slowly. “We can still keep an eye out. If anything looks off, we’ll reinvestigate. I’m satisfied with what we found.”
He smirks and glances Isla’s way again. “I can see that.” He returns his gaze to me. “That brings me to the other thing. The divorce lawyer contacted me. He wants to know when he should start preparing the paperwork.”
His words hit me like a slap, and he has my full attention now.
It’s a reasonable question. A logical one.
I was the one who insisted everything be ready ahead of time. No loose ends.
Always in control.
But now?
Now the thought of divorce makes my stomach turn and the air in my lungs turn to acid.
I look away from my brother and focus on my wife, the girl I gave my name. I was supposed to give her back to the universe in a handful of months. Give her back so someone else can have her. Someone more deserving than me. Someone more deserving than Chad.
No.
I can’t do it.
I can’t fucking do it.
I’m shaking my head before I even look back at Dorian. “No.” The word cuts clean from my lips. “Don’t get them ready. There will be no papers.”
Dorian nods once. “I thought so.” He leans back in his chair, studying me for a moment. Then he lowers his voice. “The restaurant, Knox.”
Another bomb drops on me.
The restaurant. And my plans.
“You know she won’t be okay with your plans,” he adds quietly.
I stare at him and nod. He amazes me sometimes. Dorian is known for being as heartless and cold as me. Sometimes I wonder if he got it from me, but he’s in a class of his own.
A different kind of monster. But on the rare occasion he shows glimpses of his heart.
I don’t know what he would do, though, if he were in my shoes.
The board was accepting of me because of my plans to demolish the restaurant and venture into real estate.
It was supposed to be simple. Then I fell in love.
I, Knox Vale, fell in love with a woman who was supposed to be nothing more than a contract to me.
“Guess I’ll leave you with that thought.” Dorian stands, claps my shoulder, and leaves me there. Alone with a problem I’ve been avoiding.
I look back at Isla. She’s laughing softly at something on her canvas, completely unaware of the war raging inside my chest.
She won’t be happy at all about my plans.
She’ll hate them, then she’ll hate me.
The truth lands with a quiet, devastating blow.
The plans for the restaurant are my next level. My legacy and mark on Vale Global. Who knows where I could take the company with such a venture?
But I can’t lose Isla.
I’ll have to find a way to keep both.
My plans for the restaurant…
And my wife.
Letting her go isn’t an option anymore.
Not for me.