CHAPTER 39 - ARIANNA
CHAPTER
Arianna
RED HAS TOLD ME all I need to know. What I asked to know several times before.
Staring at his wide back where he stands facing away from me over by the en-suite, I wait to see if he’ll say anything else, but he doesn’t. He’s resigned himself that the information he’s just given me makes me feel differently and makes me not want him.
Nothing can make me not want him. Not anymore.
Making my decision is easy. It’s time.
“People may see you as a monster,” I say, my voice clear. “Maybe you are. Maybe we both are, but you’re my monster and I’m going nowhere!”
The muscular ridges of Red’s shoulders tense underneath his T-shirt. Even out of his suit, he’s as sexy as fuck.
I remain at the side of the bed as he turns around, his look of surprise at my words turning heated as I pull the belt of my dressing gown and let the satin slip from my shoulders to pool around my feet, my body naked except for my black lace panties.
“Fuck.” Red’s eyes darken with raw desire, and my arousal heightens as his hungry gaze travels over my body.
What I’ve just done is as unexpected to me as it is to him, but my need for this man can be put off no longer. He hasn’t touched me, yet my nipples are hard, aching points, the slickness between my legs ready for him. I step forward. “You wanted to mend me?” I whisper. “Then mend me now.”
“Christ, Arianna.” Red moves towards me then falters. “Are you sure? Do you forgive me for not saving you quickly enough and for what I did to Lorna?”
His words do nothing to dampen my hunger; it only increases with the visible outline of his rock-solid shaft. I move closer, my breasts pressing against his chest and raise my face, his hitching breath turning me on further. “There’s nothing to forgive. I realize that now.”
Red’s lips find mine. They’re gentle and soft. He nips my bottom lip, and my heat burns deeper. Wrapping my fingers in his wayward curls, I dart my tongue along his bottom lip and his mouth parts, his tongue tentatively taking my mouth.
I moan softly against his warm breath, my other hand palming the hardness pressing against my stomach.
“God, Arianna,” he growls, kissing my neck, leaving a trail of butterfly wings down my throat and along my collarbone.
I’m praying he touches me and takes me, but he’s holding back. “Red, please... I need...”
My prayers are answered as he trails his fingers up my thigh to brush the edge of my panties. With a sense of urgency, I fumble for his belt buckle, but he stops me and instead walks me backwards and sits me on the bed, his eyes shining with a mixture of raw lust and love.
It’s at this moment I know I need not fear that I’ve been tainted.
I have not.
Still fully clothed, he drops to his knees at my feet, his gaze locked on me. Slowly and excruciatingly, he parts my thighs and with a moan of expectation, I lay back, unable to prevent my hand from slipping into my panties and into the slick wetness.
I’m not trying to torment him; I just need to come. It’s what I’ve yearned for since lying next to him last night. My sexual desire is back from the dead, and I want Red Bateman - my husband - to reclaim me.