32. Effie
32
EFFIE
I startle as a door closes behind me, but despite my need to open my eyes, I do as I’m told and continue counting.
Nine, ten, eleven, twelve…
What the hell is he doing?
I squeeze my eyes tighter, my hands twitching at my sides with my need to pull the blindfold off.
Everything is silent around me, the air sweet yet fresh.
I have a couple of ideas spinning around my head.
But why? That’s what I can’t figure out.
Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen…
My imagination begins to get the better of me.
Has he brought me somewhere kinky?
I’m sure places like that exist here. I’ve just…never had a reason to look into them.
My heart pounds harder and my body trembles as I count down the final numbers.
Eighteen, nineteen, twenty…
Blowing out a long breath, I try to steel myself for what I might find when I pull the blindfold off.
No sooner do I slip the satin fabric from my face, the light burns, and my eyes water. But despite my view being blurred, it doesn’t stop me from gasping in shock.
I am in the most beautiful hotel room. And hanging before me on the four-poster bed is...the dress.
My heart jumps into my throat as I vividly remember the moment when Kieran stepped into my dressing room and helped me zip it up. The way he looked at me, and the way I burned for him.
If only I knew then what I know now…
My core clenches as I think about what could have happened.
I shake my head, a salacious smile playing on my lips.
What has he done to me?
In only a few days, all of my thoughts somehow lead back to sex. And not just sex. Sex with Kieran.
I’ve never really cared before. If I had an itch, I scratched it. But it never consumed my life.
I’m starting to think that it could become a problem.
Taking a step closer, I reach out and drag my knuckles down the smooth fabric of the dress.
“Kieran Callahan,” I breathe, my chest tight and a messy ball of emotion clogging my throat.
There is a tag on the hanger, and when I turn it over, I find the words “wear me” in Kieran’s writing.
I shake my head before I look at the bed and find a box.
“Open me.”
With a smirk playing on my lips, I pull the lid from the black box and peer inside.
There’s a beautiful pair of shoes. Ones that I always gaze at in the mall but would never buy myself. There is also a pretty lace pair of panties. And then there is another, smaller box.
I frown. It’s too big for jewelry.
“Oh my god,” I gasp when I get my first look at what lies inside.
There’s another note.
“Wear me. I dare you.”
Plucking the pink silicone toy from its box, I hold it up, studying it. Desire courses through my veins as I try to imagine what it’ll feel like inside me.
Thankfully, he left the instructions with it—which I embarrassingly read to make sure I wear it right. I’m not exactly a sex toy expert.
With it still in my hand, I look up at the dress as butterflies flutter in my belly.
He wants me to dress so beautifully and yet…beneath the surface…
He’ll be the only one who knows.
Everything south of my waist tightens and my temperature rises.
I’m still standing there when my cell pings in my purse.
I immediately pull it free, because I know it’s him.
Kieran: You have one hour.
“Oh my god.”
Picking everything up, I take it with me to what I’m hoping is a bathroom hiding behind the door on the other side of the room.
The moment I step inside, my chin drops.
The counter is covered in my things.
I spin around and look into the shower, finding my shampoo, conditioner, and favorite shower gel.
A laugh tumbles from me as I take in everything he’s done.
My cell dings again.
Kieran: Fifty-five minutes.
I twist around, expecting to see him standing in the bedroom watching me. But he isn’t.
He just knows you that well , a little voice says.
“Okay, okay,” I say as if he’s watching before placing everything on the side and stripping out of my clothes.
I shower, and then I do my hair and makeup. I keep it light and natural. I want to look like me, not some of the girls he spends time with.
Jealousy threatens to bubble up at that thought, but I swallow it down. There is no room for that tonight.
With a towel wrapped around me, I sit on the edge of the bed with the sex toy in my trembling hand.
I have never done anything like this before.
But I want to.
Sucking in a deep breath, I lie back and open the towel.
A gasp rips from my lips as I push the cool silicone inside myself and my core tightens around it.
“Kieran,” I moan as I push it deeper. It moves easily. Considering I’ve been alone for almost an hour, I’m embarrassingly wet.
All probably part of his plan.
I sit up and gasp again as the part of the toy inside me hits a spot that threatens to make my eyes cross. The part on the outside presses against my clit.
This is a bad idea…
But that doesn’t mean I lie back and pull it free.
No.
Instead, I get to my feet, wiggling my hips to test how it feels.
Closing my eyes, I take a moment to savor the feeling.
Tomorrow, everything is going to change.
I’m going to get in my car and follow Kieran back to my old life.
My heart aches, but it’s time.
Refusing to linger on those thoughts, I grab the panties Kieran bought for me. After pulling them on, I reach for the dress and slide it up my body.
It’s not until I have the zip halfway up that I remember why he was in the dressing room with me that day.
I laugh at my reflection in the mirror before letting my arms drop.
I’m about to give up and turn around when the bedroom door suddenly opens.
His eyes land on me and I stop breathing.
His chin drops as his gaze roams over me, his green eyes darkening with each second that passes.
“I forgot how fucking outstanding that dress looked on you.”
A smile pulls up the corners of my lips as my skin tingles with awareness and my pussy clenches around the toy inside me.
“C-can you?” I ask before spinning around, giving him my back.
I shudder as he steps up to me and his warm breath washes over my neck and down my back.
“Oh god,” I breathe.
The room is so silent that the sound of the zipper climbing is almost deafening. Although, the moment he leans closer and whispers in my ear, he is the only thing I can focus on.
“Have you been a good girl for me?” he asks as his hand skims down my side, over my hip, and then cups me between my thighs, over the dress.
“Kieran,” I gasp as he presses against the toy, increasing the pressure on my clit and forcing it deeper inside me.
A groan rumbles deep in his throat as he teases me. But almost as soon as he’s discovered the toy, he releases me and takes a huge step back.
“Shoes on, Luck,” he commands.
I glance back over my shoulder and find him standing with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face.
“Uh…okay,” I whisper before doing as I’m told.
As soon as I’m ready, he takes my hand and leads me across the bedroom toward the door.
The thought of having to spend the evening surrounded by other people when the only one I want to spend time with is him makes my steps falter, but he doesn’t allow me to stop.
“I hope you’re hungry,” he says before pulling the door open.
But the hallway I was expecting to find on the other side isn’t there.
“Are we…are we in a suite?” I stutter as we walk into a huge living room. Beyond the massive cream couches there’s a dining table set for two in front of floor-to-ceiling windows that showcase the city Grams loved so much.
“Just me and you, baby,” he says before leading me over to the table and pulling out my chair.
“W-why?” I ask.
“Why not?”
I watch as he pulls out the chair opposite, his eyes on me the whole time.
“It’s our last night. I thought we should do something special.”
“You know I don’t need all this,” I say, gesturing to the over-the-top hotel suite.
“Maybe not. But you deserve it.”
I shake my head.
This is a man who claims he doesn’t do romance.
This is?—
“I’ve got something for you,” he says, lifting a small black box above the table and holding it between us.
“I think you’ve already done enough. The dress, the shoes, the?—”
“Toy?” he adds with a wiggle of his brows.
My cheeks burn red hot, and I wriggle on my chair.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?”
I bite down on my bottom lip.
“It’s okay, Luck. You can tell me how wet it’s making you. How badly you need to come already.”
“Jesus,” I mutter.
“Open it,” he urges, holding the box closer.
With a nod, I reach for it.
My heart jumps into my throat.
This one has to be jewelry.
The thought of him buying me a new ring flickers through my mind, but I quickly shut it down.
Tomorrow, the facade will be over.
Lifting the top, my breath catches when I find a pair of diamond-encrusted angel wings staring back at me.
My eyes burn with emotion.
“They open,” Kieran says softly as I pull the necklace from its silk cushion.
“Oh my god,” I gasp when I separate than, finding a photograph of both of us and Grams at one of his high school football games. “Kieran, this is?—”
“I had to put myself in there too,” he says. “Didn’t want you to forget about me.”
I sniffle, desperately trying not to ruin my makeup already. Something tells me he’ll want the pleasure of doing that a little later.
“As if that’s possible,” I whisper, my voice cracked with emotion. “Thank you.”
As I move to put it on, he’s out of his seat and coming to help me.
“She’ll always be with you, Effie. But now, she really is right here,” he says, tapping the wings that lie beside my heart. “And so am I.”
He’s gone before I can blink, and I watch as he lowers himself back into his seat.
He’s wearing a simple white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and the first three buttons undone. It’s understated but hot as hell. So are his black slacks that fit him like a second skin. They’ve been custom-made; there is no way a pair from a store would hug his ass and thighs the way they do.
“I ordered all your favorites,” he informs me before a knock sounds and a man with a tray appears.
A basket of calamari is placed between us and my stomach growls.
“Wine?” he asks, gesturing to the ice bucket beside the table.
“Thank you,” Kieran says, speaking for both of us.
The server fills our glasses before he disappears again.
“For someone who doesn’t date, you’re doing a pretty good job.”
His smile grows. “I don’t date because I don’t want to, not because I can’t. And…is this a date?” he asks, quirking a brow.
“Looks like it.”
“A pretty dress. A fancy meal. Enough orgasms until you pass out. I guess it sounds like it too.”
I laugh, although there isn’t much humor in it. Just sadness laced with a powerful coating of desire.
Tomorrow, this is all going to be over. Is it bad that I’m already mourning the loss?