Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
E den
“Marius King! You come out here right now,” I bark when I step out of the elevator into our penthouse apartment.
He walks out of the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of black basketball shorts. “Was your date awful, dear?” he asks with a chuckle.
I glare at him for a few seconds before walking past him on my way to our bedroom. “Well, my date was rude to the waiter, and you thought it was a good idea to crash the whole show. Awful doesn’t cover it.”
Behind me, Marius laughs. “Rude to the waiter? Seriously? Where does Ava find these guys? I think I’ll have to tell my brother to fire that son of a bitch. Being rude to wait staff is so fucking…well, rude.”
Spinning around, I stop and shake my head as I look at the man I love with utter astonishment. “And you showing up wasn’t rude?”
That gets me one of his trademark smiles that never fail to remind me of a pirate. “That wasn’t rude, and if it was, it was only rude to you. He was rude to a perfect stranger just trying to do his job. Big difference. I ordered in food. You hungry?”
“It’s been a hell of a night, Marius. I lied through my teeth to Rob from IT because I can’t tell my best friend I don’t need to be set up with any more guys because I already have one I’m normally perfectly happy with, although at this moment I’m not sure about that.
I had to fake being sick so I could end the date early, which I guess is more lying.
You know what? I’m tired of lying. I don’t want to do it anymore. ”
He walks over and wraps his arms around me in a hug I had no idea I needed so much. “Aww, let Marius take care of everything.”
I look up at him and sigh. “You’re part of the problem, you know.”
“I know, but you love me.”
This man is going to drive me nuts. “And somehow that makes it okay? I thought I was going to throw up when you were standing at the table with us. I had no idea what you might say from one word to the next.”
He throws his head back and laughs. “At least I brought a little excitement to what sounds like a pretty terrible time.”
I sigh and hang my head. “What am I going to do with you?”
Marius slides his finger under my chin and lifts it so I can’t avoid looking up at him. “For starters, you can eat some of the dinner I had delivered.”
“I’m not hungry,” I say defiantly, setting my jaw. “I’m not going to be seduced by food, Marius.”
He tilts his hips forward so his hard cock presses against my abdomen. “Oh, don’t worry about that. The real seduction is what happens after we eat. As you can tell, I’m all ready to go.”
I look into his dark eyes and say, “What if I don’t want that?”
That question assumes I could say no to him when it comes to sex, which has never happened in the entire time we’ve been together. Sometimes I think I should hold out and not sleep with him so he’ll agree we should tell everyone about us, but I’d be hurting myself if I did that.
When you’re crazy about someone like I am about Marius, sex is something you want to share with them. When they’re as good at it as he is, it’s ridiculous to even think of denying yourself such an incredible time.
He knows all of this, so the fake look of hurt and shock on his face right now is all for show.
“You don’t want to go upstairs and have mind blowing sex for the rest of the night? Where did my Duck go, and how can I get her back?”
“Your Duck is right here, Marius. She’s just sick of being a rotten liar.”
With a grin, he says, “So you do want to have mind blowing sex all night. You just don’t want to lie about it? Is that what I’m understanding?”
Frustrated, I place my hands on his naked chest and push him away. Turning on my heel, I head for the stairs. “You’re intentionally being obtuse, Marius. You know what I mean.”
Behind me, he sighs. “I do, Eden. I was just trying to be playful.”
I turn around to see him looking sad as I set my foot on the first stair. Whenever he uses my given name, I know he’s being serious. “I know, and I love that about you. I’m just unhappy about lying to everyone.”
“What if I promise to make you forget about everything tonight? Will that put a smile on your face?”
I could respond that what would put a smile on my face is telling the people we love the truth about us, but I don’t feel like talking about that anymore.
I don’t know if it was the terrible date with Rob or feeling like I had no control over anything at dinner tonight, but I don’t want to think about anything until tomorrow.
Marius walks over to where I’m standing on the first stair and kisses me. “I love you more than I can say, Eden. I know you want to go public, but can’t we have just have a little while longer when it’s only us?”
Nodding, I smile because this isn’t an issue that’s going to be solved tonight. “I love you too. Let’s table this discussion because I don’t feel like talking about it anymore.”
His eyes hopeful, he asks, “Then you’ll come into the kitchen for dinner first and then a night of great sex?”
Marius King is many things, but easily discouraged is not one of them.
I kiss him and whisper against his lips, “I’ll tell you what. Forget dinner and meet me upstairs in five minutes. Be ready to rock my world because after that date tonight, I need to be reminded that sexy men who know how to take care of a woman still exist.”
That gets me a huge smile. “Dinner is forgotten, my lady. As for my taking care of you, well, not to toot my own horn, but I’ve never disappointed you, have I?”
I bite my lip as he leans against me, pressing his hard cock into my thigh. “Never once.”
Looking into those gorgeous dark eyes staring at me, I try to claw back some control. “You know, I should be furious with you.”
He knows I’m not really upset with him, so he simply smiles at my statement. “I just needed to see that guy. That’s all. You can’t blame me for being jealous.”
“I don’t believe for a second you were jealous, Marius. You’re everything he isn’t. You know that.”
Marius pulls me to him and groans as my body melts into his.
“He was out with the woman I love. The woman who makes my world go round. Of course, I was jealous. I wanted to tear his head off, and that little crack when he heard I don’t slave away at a desk nine-to-five every fucking day like he does with his bullshit job pissed me off.
He’s lucky I didn’t put my fist through his smug fucking face. ”
Okay, maybe I was wrong. Maybe he was jealous.
I want to mention the one thing that would have made that dinner date an impossibility, but I’m beginning to sound like a broken record with that. Even more, I don’t want to think about anything but how much I love this man tonight.
Cradling his face in my hands, I kiss him on the lips. “You’re the only man I want, baby. You know that.”
“I do, but that doesn’t change the fact that I had to see you with another man tonight. And before you say it, I know. It’s all my fault that it happened in the first place. I know. I just don’t want to share you with the world yet.”
He really is just the sweetest man sometimes. “You don’t have to share me. Not tonight, at least. Tonight, it’s just you and me.”
That brings a smile to his face. “Just me and my Duck.”
For the first time, I understand what he means when he says he wants it to just be us for a little while longer.
When we’re together like this, only the two of us, we both get to be who we truly are.
I don’t have to be Eden controlling the million things I have to do at my job or the version of me who makes sure to do the right thing so my parents think I’m a good daughter or what Ava thinks I should do so I’m a good friend in her eyes.
And for him, he doesn’t have to be the protective big brother or the King everyone thinks only wants to have fun in this life. Although I know those are both his nature, when he’s alone with me he doesn’t have to be that man. He can just be happy, and that’s all I want for the man I love.
“I love you, Marius. Never forget that.”
He sighs like the weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders. “I never do, Eden. I hope you never doubt how much I love you.”
I shake my head and smile. “Give me a couple minutes to grab a shower. I need to wash this night off me before we’re together.”
The truth is I don’t know if I smell like the restaurant or even like Rob’s cologne. I just don’t want to be with Marius with any hint of tonight or that date on me.
“Take all the time you need, Duck.”
By the time I get into the shower and adjust the temperature of the water, I’ve almost completely forgotten how awful my time with Rob was. Ava means well, but what if I actually was single? Is that the best there is out there now?
I don’t want to think about that, so I squeeze some shampoo into my palm and wash my hair. Next, I grab the conditioner because if I don’t use it, I’ll have hair that looks like a long, black haystack, and no one wants to see that.
Lost in thought about whether I should shave or not, I don’t hear the door to the shower open. Suddenly, I feel hands on my back, and I spin around to see Marius standing in front of me as water streams down over his head.
“I got tired of waiting, so I figured I’d join you,” he says playfully. “Aww, I missed the shampooing. I love that part.”
He can be so silly sometimes. “Sorry to tell you I’ve already moved on to the conditioner portion of the show.”
Marius slides his hands through my hair and smiles. “Did I ever tell you how much I love your hair?”
Since he’s mentioned it many times, I simply shrug. “Maybe once or twice.”
He pushes my hair completely off my face and kisses me long and deep. “It’s one of my favorite things on you. Your eyes too.”
I know what he’s doing. This is his way of apologizing. I don’t want that, though.
“You don’t have to make up for anything tonight, baby. I know why you showed up.”