Chapter 37
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN
SLOAN
Taking a deep breath, I wanted to take a shower to try to loosen the tension building in the forefront of my mind. I grabbed a cream silk nightie with a matching robe from what I like to call my brother’s brothel closet and walked into the en suite bathroom, closing the door behind me.
Turning on the shower next, I set it on the hottest temperature possible and slipped out of my clothes before stepping inside the steam-filled ceramic walls. I welcomed the heat against my anxious body and allowed the hot water to burn into my pores, hoping it would relax the strained muscles in my back and neck.
I pressed my hands against the shower wall and leaned my forehead against the cool tile. Closing my eyes, I still felt Luke’s strong, callused fingers all over my flesh.
His body on top of mine.
Hearing echoes of his reassuring words and his hurtful ones.
No matter how much I tried, how much I wanted to push away the unrelenting questions with no answers, it was no use.
My mind ran wild.
I couldn’t get it to stop playing image after image from today in front of me. I stayed in the shower until the water ran cold over my aching body. After drying off, I threw on the nightie and robe, wrapping the ties around my waist and knotting it off in a bow.
I finished brushing my damp hair, going about my nightly routine before I cleaned up my cheek the best I could. Nav had everything I needed. I shivered when I opened the door, and the cool air hit my warm skin. I immediately walked over to the bedside table to turn on the lamp.
Instantly sensing I wasn’t alone.
I rapidly spun back around, shrieking as soon as I saw Luke sitting at the table by the sliding glass door in the dark room.
Placing my palm on my chest, I yelped, “You scared the shit out of me. Why are you lurking over there, sitting in the dark?”
His regard quickly turned predatory as he raked my body with his intense glare. It was somewhere between wanting to fuck me and kill me. At least I was somewhere in the middle.
He was like a snake slithering in the grass, drawing you in with its sinful allure and hypnotic trance before it unexpectedly struck you.
A hint of amusement crept in his eyes. “Out of everythin’ in that closet, that’s what you decide on?”
I shrugged. “I could have picked naked. Besides, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”
“Cute.”
“I thought so.”
I tried to pretend that small exchange from the first time we met didn’t mean he was warming up to me. Luke was the most difficult man to read. One minute, he was Jekyll, and the next, he was Hyde. It was hard to keep up with his mood swings.
I sat on the bed with my foot tucked under my ass. I started mindlessly playing with the seams in the bedding, not knowing where to go from here. Once again, there was a shift in our relationship.
In the past three months, so much had changed in my life. The loving man was slowly fading away and leaving behind a man who now hated me.
I missed the way his hands felt all over my body.
The way only he could ever make me feel.
I missed him.
And he was right there in front of me, yet still felt miles away.
Most of all, I missed his arms around me when I slept. His eyes were cold, dark, and soulless. I didn’t know what was happening. Every day, it was something different. I couldn’t keep up with the roller coaster of emotions with him anymore.
Especially coming from someone who had never experienced them. It was literally a stage 5 hurricane, and I was merely hanging on to a very thin branch on its last leg. He was trying to push me away, deliberately shutting me out of his life.
As the minutes carried on, more insecurities came forward, making themselves known and not allowing me to rest for one second. I didn’t even recognize the woman staring back at me in the mirror. Maybe I never did.
I was losing myself to self-doubt and uncertainties like one of those pathetic girls who only relied on their feelings for a man. I was better than that.
Stronger.
Who am I joking?
Question after question sent me on a downward spiral with his scent all around me.
“I’m watchin’ over you,” he simply replied in a hard tone.
I smiled, trying to break through his icy demeanor.
“I’m gonna shower.”
I nodded as he stood, and he made his way into the bathroom.
Then all of a sudden, he expressed, “On second thought…” He sharply turned and grabbed my wrist…
To handcuff me to the iron bed frame.
“What the fu?—”
He didn’t pay me any mind and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. For the next twenty minutes, I tried to break free and only ended up turning my wrist a bright-ass shade of red.
When he stepped back into the bedroom, he only had a white towel wrapped around his waist. Water droplets slid down his chest, and his big, thick cock just hung soft but looked hard against the thin cotton fabric.
I resisted the urge to lick my lips. “I’d get you some clothes,” I pointed out. “But you decided to go all Master on me.” To prove my point, I lifted my cuffed hand in the air. “Should we have a safe word?”
Again, he didn’t pay me any attention whatsoever. Instead, he looked in the drawers, finding a pair of gym shorts.
And what does the bastard do next?
He dropped the towel to the floor, and my eyes flew to where I wanted to look the most.
His dick.
It didn’t take long to begin getting hard, triggering me to announce, “At least somebody still likes me.”
“I like you, Sloan.”
Our eyes locked as he dressed, staying shirtless.
“Prove it.” I lifted my hand again, clinking the chain against the metal.
He shook his head. “Not tonight, darlin’.”
“Wow,” I breathed out. Not having a right to get offended. “You really don’t trust me, do you?”
“Why would you think I would?”
“Oh, I don’t know…” I mocked in a sassy voice. “Maybe because I kept all your secrets and didn’t tell my dad a fucking thing about you. And in honor of my loyalty to you, tonight there was a gang bang schedule just for me. How about that?”
“You think that changes who you are?”
“No, but I do think it changes how you see me. I guess I’m wrong, and I’m just another Del Toro to you.”
I couldn’t control my anger. It was a battle I was willing to lose. I know I lied to him, but I had to get credit where credit was due. I kept my loyalty to him, and that had to count for something.
“What do you expect from me?” he remarked, shaking his head. “All the memories I have of you are now jaded with thoughts of what was planned or meant to be?”
“Care to elaborate?”
He sat in the chair, leaning forward to put his elbows on his thighs and got right down to business…“The kickboxin’ night. Were you followin’ me?”