Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Zander
The hotel door shuts behind me with a soft click, and I rest my head against it for half a second. My cheeks hurt from making sure my charm was on display for every interview, and my jaw aches from all the talking and joking.
The interviews were fine. The same old recycled questions get asked—a bunch of what’s next for you and anything you want to share with us, as though the entire world has a right to the blueprint of my life.
As suspected, there were questions about Romy—who she is, how we met, what she means to me.
I was quick to shut them all down and make it clear I wasn’t there to discuss my personal life.
I should be used to it by now. I guess I am, kind of.
But the questions hit differently when Romy is waiting for me.
Every answer I gave today made me feel fake as hell because I was leaving out a big portion of the truth.
Not telling anyone that the best thing in my life is holed up in a hotel room on the other side of the city, hidden away from cameras and waiting for me, felt like shit.
I run a hand over my face, scrubbing at the stubble, and toss the key card on the table near the door. The suite is quiet and dim with only one lamp lit in the corner.
I step into the bedroom, assuming Romy will be asleep, but she’s sprawled across the bed like a fantasy wrapped in black lace and silk. Her legs are crossed at the ankle, one knee bent, teasing me with what’s underneath. Her belly, round now, rises beneath the delicate fabric of her lingerie.
She props up on her elbows, smirking because she knows exactly what she does to me.
“This is a welcome surprise.”
“Long day, superstar?” she asks with a low purr.
I freeze for a second, caught between exhaustion and the sudden spike of lust. “You trying to kill me?”
“Like it?” She shifts, and the lace cups over her breasts shift, showcasing the pronounced swell of her breasts. “You were gone all day. Thought I’d remind you what you’ve got waiting for you back here.”
I toe off my boots, never stripping my eyes off her. “Trust me, sweetheart. I didn’t forget. I could never forget—even if I tried.”
She tilts her head, lips quirking. “I bet you smiled your perfect smile, answered all those intrusive questions, and didn’t even give me a second thought.”
I tug off my jacket and toss it on the chair. “The whole time I was thinking about how fast I could get here. How fast I could get you on that bed.” I nod to the bed she’s lying in. The one I can’t wait to join her in.
“Well, you are a superstar. They’re expecting you to tell them how you swept me off my feet.”
I lean on the edge of the dresser, crossing my arms. “Did I?”
For a second, the air tightens between us. She swings her legs over the edge of the mattress and stands.
“You know you did. Now, you worked so hard today…” She walks toward me slowly, hips swaying, looking like a fucking sex kitten. “You deserve a little reward.”
My pulse kicks up the closer she gets. Then she stops in front of me, tilting her head back to look me in the eye.
I brush my knuckles over her cheek. “You’re gonna spoil me for sitting through six hours of questions about whether I’m secretly married?”
“You aren’t, are you?” she teases, lips curving into the cutest smile.
“Smart-ass.” I grip her chin gently. “You know damn well you’re the only woman I want standing in front of me in lingerie, which make note of, is about two seconds away from getting ruined.”
Her breath catches, then she smirks. “Well, that will have to wait. I have other plans.”
My hand flexes at her hip.
“Sit,” she orders softly, pushing at my chest.
I let her move me until I drop onto the edge of the bed. She falls to her knees in one smooth motion, hair spilling over her shoulder, eyes locked on mine.
My throat grows so tight it’s hard to get out any words. “You don’t have to—” I start, even though my body is already betraying me.
“I want to,” she interrupts firmly. “I’ve missed you all day, Zander. Let me show you how much.”
Her fingers work my belt before she tugs it free and pops the button on my jeans.
I swallow hard, gripping the edge of the mattress, watching her every move like a man starved.
She drags the zipper down, her knuckles brushing over my bulging cock begging to be let out, and my head tips back on a curse.
“Impatient,” she murmurs.
I help her get my pants off, then she slips her hand inside my boxer briefs and wraps it around me.
My hips jerk at the contact of her hand. “Fuck, Romy. You’re evil.”
She smirks, pulling me free, stroking slowly and deliberately. “The best kind of evil.”
“Fuck yeah.”
She leans forward, pressing a kiss on the tip. My vision blurs at the edges when she slides her tongue along the length of me. I groan, fisting my hands in the sheets, every muscle in my forearms tight and straining.
Her lips close around me, and her hot, wet mouth makes me nearly bust a nut right then.
“You’re killing me,” I rasp. “You know that, right?”
Her eyes flick up with a mischievous glint, and she takes me deeper. My head falls back, a guttural sound tearing from my throat. Every nerve in my body is strung tight, wound up over the sight of her on her knees, the feel of her mouth on me.
The thought that she’s mine. She’s mine—even if she doesn’t deserve everything that comes along with me.
I thread my fingers into her hair, guiding her gently, but she sets her own rhythm. A tortured, slow pace at first, then faster. Her hand works in tandem with her mouth, and I can’t help it, my hips raise, chasing heaven in her mouth.
“Romy, baby… I’m close.”
She hums around me, the vibration shooting sparks down my spine. Every muscle trembles as I come hard, spilling into her mouth with a groan that could shake the walls. She swallows every last drop and pulls back, licking her lips as if she’s straight out of one of my wet dreams of her.
I collapse back on my elbows, breathing hard.
“Feel better?” She grins.
I laugh and pull her onto my lap. “So much better. But now… it’s time for me to reward you for being such a good girl.”
I nuzzle her in my arms, recovering for a minute before I repay her for her excellent blow job. “So, tell me how boring your day was.”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Of course I want to know.” Even I can hear the edge of concern in my voice.
“Okay,” she says. “I’m just getting tired. I’m just… growing tired.”
My chest seizes, and it feels as if the oxygen has been ripped from my lungs. “Of us? Of me?”
She runs her palm over the scratchy surface of my beard. “I’m tired of living in a hotel. I’m going stir-crazy, Zander.”
Relief that it’s not me she’s tired of barrels through me. I can fix anything as long as it’s not me. “The hotel life’s not glamorous enough for you?”
“Please.” She rolls her eyes. “The walls are closing in on me. I miss fresh air that isn’t from a balcony. I miss walking through The Harvest Depot. I miss grabbing a cider and not feeling like I’m sneaking around.” She shifts off of me so she’s beside me on the mattress. “I miss normal.”
The word twists something inside me. Normal. I can never give her normal.
“You’re telling me room service and Egyptian cotton sheets aren’t enough for you? Some women would kill for a life like this.” I try to keep my voice light, not knowing what to do with her confession.
She narrows her eyes playfully. “I’m not some woman. And besides, the pancakes downstairs are dry.”
“Maybe I’ll fly Jensen in to make you pancakes.”
My joke falls flat, and she doesn’t say anything.
“All right. We’ll get you out. I’ll talk to Beau. Maybe we can sneak you out somewhere.”
Her eyes soften, and I’m grateful I can make her day a little bit better, but there’s a niggling worry at the back of my mind that it won’t be enough.
She nestles against me, her belly pressing into my stomach and her head tucked beneath my chin. And for a long moment, we just breathe together.
Her warmth. Her scent. The feel of her curves in my arms.
It’s the only place I feel steady anymore. The only place that feels like home. I’ve been chasing home my entire life, never feeling like I had one.
But even as I think it, as I hold her, reality seeps in.
The world outside this room is waiting. The cameras, the headlines, the fans who think they own me.
And she’s right.
We can’t stay in here forever.
Sooner or later, she’ll see what it really means to be with me.
The thought guts me because the minute she realizes what it really means, she’ll run. And I’ll have no right to stop her.
So I hold her tighter, bury my face in her hair. I’ll lose her before I let my world destroy her.