Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ALORA
I smile, embarrassed that I was too starstruck to realize I hadn’t asked already.
“Of course.” I step to the side and he walks past me into the store.
I look out to see the two cars of guards parked down the street as they wait for their boss.
I close the door and flick the lock and turn to see Edward walking into my office.
Nerves dance and I close my eyes to try and calm myself before I walk in after him.
“I thought you must have forgotten about me?” I joke, but it’s not a joke. I’m deadly serious and even more needy.
He takes me into his arms and leans down and kisses me; his lips linger against mine as he holds me close with a warm tenderness. “How could I ever forget about you?” he murmurs. “You’re all I fucking think about.”
Oh….
And it’s there again, the pull to him. A magnetism that I have no chance of fighting. So strong that it’s a tangible force.
“I haven’t seen you in four days,” I whisper.
Shut. Up.
Stop being so needy, play it cool for god’s sake.
“I know.” He kisses me again, his hands slide down my behind. “I have a lot going on at the moment.” He takes my face in his hands and stares down at me, he seems different tonight, more in touch. “But I’m here now.”
“Thank god.” I smile against his lips as we kiss again, deeper, more urgent. I feel his erection up against my stomach. Desperation hits and he pins me up against my desk.
“Let’s go back to my place,” he whispers, his hand moves up my leg and under my skirt. His fingers slide beneath my panties to find me dripping wet and his eyes darken with desire.
“But I live closer, let’s just go to mine,” I pant as arousal begins to pump through my bloodstream.
“I….” He slides a finger deep into my body and I whimper, he adds another and I clench around him. “Staffing issues, you need to come to mine,” he says, distracted.
“Oh…okay.” I clench around his fingers and he inhales sharply as he plunges them deeper. “We need to….” My eyes flutter closed, I can’t speak while he’s doing that.
His teeth drop to my neck and he bites me hard, goose bumps scatter up my spine.
I want a full night together.
“I’m not having sex here, Edward. Wherever we are going, we need to go now.”
He withdraws and puts his fingers into his mouth and as his eyes hold mine he sucks them dry. “Fuck…. You taste good.”
I feel faint.
“Let’s go.” He takes my hand and nearly pulls my arm out of the socket as he pulls me toward the door.
“Wait, I have to lock up.”
“Hurry up about it.” He drags his hand through his hair as if trying to calm himself down.
I grab the keys and my bag and we walk out the door and I turn, lock it and pull the security door down while he waits. I glance over at him, his dark hair is messed up and his big red lips are a wonderful shade of come-fuck-me.
“This way.” He leads me to his car and now that we’re out the front his demeanor feels different, he’s not holding my hand like he usually does. Is that because the guards are watching or does he just not want to?
Oh my god, Alora. Stop overanalyzing every little thing.
He opens the back door of the Bentley and I slide in and over, he crawls in behind me and sits down. “My apartment, please,” he says, void of emotion.
“Yes, sir,” the driver in the front says, I don’t know this guard, I haven’t seen him before. He glances up as we pull out onto the road and we make eye contact in the rearview mirror and I drag my eyes away from his.
How many women has he driven back to Edward’s apartment?
Edward sits on his side staring out the window, his elbow is on the door and his thumb runs back and forth over his lips as if he’s deep in thought.
With every mile we drive I feel him pull away from me a little more.
Just ten minutes ago he was all over me like a rash and now we sit in a car together and he’s staring out the window, ignoring me.
Is it the guards?
The half-hour trip from Nice to Monaco is made in complete silence, and I wish that I could say I didn’t notice it, but his deafening silence makes me feel like we are driving to a cavern of uncertainty. One I should know better than to visit.
The car pulls into the underground parking lot and over to the elevator. The guards stay in the car while Edward comes around and opens my door for me, has he told them to do that or….
“Here we are.” He forces a smile as he takes my hand in his and helps me out.
“Thank you.”
He drops my hand again and we walk to the elevator and get in and turn to face the doors, still not a word said.
What the hell is going on here?
He drags his hand through his hair and seems weird and distracted…off. Something is not right with him.
This man is so confusing, he tells me that I’m all he can think about and then pulls away. Why would he….
Is he still in love with his ex? Is that what this is…guilt?
The double doors open straight into his apartment and he strides out. “Would you like a drink?” He disappears into the kitchen.
“Yes please.” I put my bag down on the side table and look around the swanky apartment. “It seems surreal that this apartment is above a nightclub and yet so silent,” I call.
“Yes.”
I peek around the corner and see him down a glass of scotch in one gulp and then with a shaky hand fill his glass again.
I don’t know what’s going on with him, but I do know I need to calm him down.
Ha, the irony, Miss Freaking Out Herself has to calm him down.
He reappears with two glasses of wine and passes me one. “Here you are.”
“Thank you.” I smile, I hold my glass up and touch it with his before taking a sip. “Are you alright?” I ask.
“Yes,” he snaps way too quickly. “Why do you ask?”
I shrug as I try to think of the right wording. “You seem unsettled.”
“Nope.” He rolls his lips as his eyes hold mine.
“Is this about Hermione?” I ask softly.
“What?” He screws up his face. “Why would it be about Hermione?”
“Do you still have feelings for her, is that why you’re acting weird? Do you feel guilty for being here with me?”
His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Trust me, I do not have feelings for Hermione. We are well and truly over.”
“Oh.” I force a smile. “I just….” My voice trails off, embarrassed that I brought her up. “Never mind.”
“What were you going to say?” he asks.
“You just seemed to change once we left the store.”
“I…my apologies.” He gives a subtle shrug. “I have a lot on my mind lately.”
Hmm…. About what?
It’s obvious he isn’t going to elaborate, so I try to change the subject. I sip my wine again as I look around. “Do you know how many times I’ve watched the video of you jerking off in my store?”
His eyes darken as he sips his wine again. “Do you know how many times I’ve jerked off thinking about you in your store?”
“How many?”
“Too many.”
“Why would you jerk off thinking about me when you can have the real thing?”
He opens his mouth to say something but no words come out.
“I like you,” I whisper.
“I like you,” he replies without hesitation.
“But you make me feel needy,” I murmur. “I’m not used to this feeling, and if I’m being honest, I’m not sure that I like it.”
Satisfaction flashes across his face before he quickly covers it. “You just like my cock.”
“Probably.” I smile as we stare at each other and like smoke in the wind I feel the tension leave his body.
Whatever I just said made him feel better. You make me feel needy, is it possible that he’s feeling needy too?
“So now that you have me here, what are you going to do with me?”
“Hmm.” He rubs the backs of his fingers through his stubble as his eyes drop down my body and back up to my face. “I’m going to get you naked. Tie you up and put my cock so far down your throat that you choke.”
I snort my wine up my nose. “What?” I splutter before launching into a full-blown coughing attack.
“Just like that.” He smiles as he rubs my back.
I cough and cough and cough and he gets me a glass of water and passes it to me. “Drink this, wimp.”
I take a sip of the water. “You did say you wanted me to choke.”
“On my dick, not air.”
I bite my bottom lip to hide my smile. “Is that why you were nervous in the car, you were frightened that you were going to choke me to death.”
“Not nervous.” He smiles. “Excited.”
“About?”
“Finally getting you alone.” He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear and cups my face in his hands. “You’re all I’ve thought about all week.”
The air swirls between us, a magical aura that only he can activate.
He’s just so….
“Same,” I whisper.
His lips take mine as he kisses me softly, his eyes flutter closed and I know he’s as lost in the moment as I am. We kiss again, more urgent, and him confirming that he and Hermione are well and truly over has taken down my guardrail.
I am irrevocably his…. Even if only for tonight.
I don’t want to think about tomorrow, I want to be lost in the here and now.
“Can we shower?” I murmur against his lips.
“Hmm.” He bites my bottom lip as his two hands grab my behind and drag me across his erection.
I’ve been at work all day, if I’m getting tied up I at least want to be clean and fresh.
He takes my glass of wine from me and puts it down on the counter and leads me to the master bedroom. He turns the shower on and comes back to stand in front of me, his dark eyes drop down my body and my breath catches in anticipation.
This is where the dynamics change between us; from the moment he gets me naked we both know I hand over my control.
He leads, he dominates and conquers my every fantasy.
And I, well, I just ride the waves of pleasure as he dishes them out.
Watching and feeling him come undone as he uses my body for his pleasure is my most favorite thing in the world. And it’s hard and messy and rough and a level of arousal that nobody else has ever brought out in me before.
He begins to undo the buttons on my blouse one by one.
“You incite a darkness in me that I didn’t know I needed,” I whisper.
His eyes rise to meet mine. “You incite a lot more than that for me.”