Chapter 10
Arianna
We stayed like that for what seemed like hours.
Just holding each other. Silently communicating our acceptance of each other’s situations, and what they might bring.
It was a gamble. I had learned that life was a gamble.
But you have to chance it in order to experience the highs and the lows. The good will only come if you have felt the bad and it won’t always come in the order you expect. In fact, I had come to expect the unexpected.
Denham nuzzles my shoulder, and sighs into my hair. My big, strong man. My fierce protector with such a gentle heart. His arms tighten around my waist, and I know if one of us doesn’t move soon, we could stay like this the whole evening.
“Denham,” I say softly
“Mmm hmm.”
“Are you okay?”
He doesn’t answer immediately, and I’m about to ask again when he speaks.
“Yes. You make everything okay.”
This makes me choke out a laugh, which strangely enough, lightens the mood.
“I make things ten times worse!” When I say this, I’m not exaggerating. It’s the truth. The guilt for bringing so much trouble to his door stabs at me, but I’m in too deep to run away.
“Don’t say that, Stunner.” Denham pulls back with a frown. “You’ve made everything so much more exciting.”
“Is that what you call it?” My lightheartedness breaks the marred lines across his forehead, and he smiles a lopsided grin, which shows off his dimple. I cock my head to the side and smile back. I love it when he gives me that smile.
“Well, you are a pain in the butt. But I’ll keep ahold of you, for now.
” He winks, and I know he’s messing around.
“What would you like to do this evening?” he asks, his eyes burning into mine.
The subtle shift in his hips tells me what he has in mind, and I feel ripples of anticipation run from my head to my toes.
Every time with him is different. Every time I think it can’t get any better than the last, and every time, it does.
I decide to play with him a little. “How about we grab something to eat, and we play a board game. Or cards, you could teach me how to play Blackjack better?” I say with a sweet innocence to my voice.
“You wanna play a game?” he raises his brows, and I giggle and nod. “Sure thing, Stunner. You go freshen up. I need to make a few calls, then I’m all yours.”
“I like the sound of that,” I say, kissing him on the cheek and sidestepping him to go to the bedroom.
He grabs my arm at the last minute and pulls me back to him.
His lips meet mine, fast and firm and I actually feel my legs weaken.
He pulls away just as fast as he pulled me in, leaving me breathless, and wanting him even more than I did before.
“Now you can go.” He smirks, and it takes me a second to get moving again. He slaps my ass as I walk off and I yelp. It doesn’t hurt, in fact the small sting it leaves is more of a delicious tingle, which makes me smile wider, and I shake my head at the way he can turn my mind to mush.
The shower feels wonderful. After a long day at the boutique, my feet are killing me from being squeezed into high, pointy heels all day.
My calves ache and my head is tense. The hot water goes some way to making me feel more relaxed, and the thought of the evening ahead, lazing with Denham helps immensely.
Although I wasn’t happy initially about being followed around by security, it now puts me at ease to know that we can cocoon ourselves safely up here.
The door is locked, there’s no one but Denham and I, and this is fast becoming my favorite way to have things.
I take my time in the shower, shaving everywhere, and making sure every part of my body is buffed and cleansed. Then I hop out, dry off, and take time to moisturize my skin, and comb my hair through. I don’t bother drying it; I just clip the soft damp curls to the side, out of the way.
When I come out of the bedroom, Denham is nowhere to be seen, so I call out.
“Denham?”
I walk through the lounge and he appears in the doorway of the balcony, with a bottle of beer in his hand.
In the time it’s taken me to shower and preen, he’s changed out of his suit pants and shirt, and into loose fitting gym shorts.
That’s it. No top. No shoes. It’s not like I’ve never seen his body.
In fact, I’ve touched every inch of it. But every time I see him looking casual like this, it makes me appreciate his fine form.
“Okay?” he asks with a knowing look on his handsome face.
I grin. “Yes.”
He holds out an upturned palm, and I cross the room, placing my hand in his.
“Come with me,” he orders softly.
He leads me out of the lounge, across the balcony, and stops at a door that I hadn’t noticed before. I frown when he opens it out toward us and gestures with his hand, directing me to go first.
I climb the stairwell, not knowing where I’m going to end up, but trusting him all the same. I didn’t even know we could get any higher than the penthouses, and as I push open the door at the top of the staircase, I realize why. We’re now on the rooftop.
A secluded rooftop, lit with twinkling fairy lights around the perimeter.
It’s so pretty up here, and as I walk slowly across the open space, I take in the amazing three hundred and sixty degree view. It’s breathtaking.
“I wanted to take you for a picnic.” Denham’s warm breath tickles the back of my neck as he comes up behind me and encircles my waist with his arms. “But you know … circumstances and all that.” I feel him shrug and then rest his head against mine.
“This is perfect. Just perfect,” I whisper. I can’t think of a better way to spend the evening.
Denham takes my hand, and seats us right in the middle of the roof, where there is a scattering of giant plush pillows and bean bags.
Soft music by Gorgon City floats around us, being blown into the Las Vegas night’s sky by the gentle breeze.
In the center of the seating is a low table, it has tealight candles placed in the middle, and delicious picnic food laid out.
“Oh my god. You have melted chocolate and fresh fruit!” I exclaim, my stomach rumbling as if to prove how hungry I am.
Denham pours me a glass of Prosecco and sits next to me.
He passes me the glass but doesn’t let go.
I tug gently but he just looks at me and smiles, raising his eyebrow slightly.
He tugs back at my arm and keeps pulling until the glass is the only thing left between us, and our lips are just a breath away.
His eyes roam over my face, lingering on my lips, and I feel them part in response to his exploration.
He moves in just a fraction closer until his nose is touching mine, and his breaths prickle my senses.
He grins before letting his tongue slowly trail my lower lip.
I can’t help the whimper that leaves my mouth.
I’m consumed.
Consumed by him.
Consumed by us.
And, for the first time in my life there is a greater goal than just staying alive. There’s more to life than just living and breathing. He’s made me feel. From top to bottom. Inside out. I feel every look he gives me, and it’s just as powerful as each touch he graces my body with.
I realize that he’s pulled away, and I open my eyes to find him looking at me with a sexy as hell smirk.
He holds up the glass, and I take it with the hope that he’s going to do the same things as before but he doesn’t.
He places the glass in my hand and reaches for a bowl of olives, offering them in my direction, before popping one in his mouth.
“You’re joking, right?” I say, screwing my face up.
He laughs. “What? You don’t like olives?” He feigns shock, acting like it’s a criminal offence.
“They are the food of the Devil,” I state.
“Just like mushrooms?” he questions.
“Yes. Mushrooms and olives definitely come from the Devil.”
“So you’ll happily drink a Dirty Martini, but you won’t eat an olive …”
“Correct. A Dirty Martini has alcohol in it.”
“You’re crazy.” He laughs, “You do know that you have to eat at least ten olives before you like them?”
“Ten! Why would you eat ten mouthfuls of something you don’t like?”
He chuckles. “Does that mean you won’t kiss me if I’ve eaten olives?” He places the bowl back on the table, and I shake my head gently.
“No, I’ll still kiss you.” I can’t think of anything that would make me not want to kiss him.
“Good. I guess there’s a lot we don’t know about each other, huh?” he muses.
“Yeah, I guess … What do you want to know?”
He reaches forward and dips a strawberry into the melted chocolate, half coating it, and twirling to avoid leaving a trail of chocolate across the table. He cups a hand under my chin and prompts me to open my mouth.
I bite down on the plump strawberry, and the juice runs down my chin. My taste buds go into overdrive. The strawberry is perfectly sweet. The chocolate, a wonderful compliment, and I forget what we were talking about.
“Oh my god, that is heaven,” I moan around the mouthful of deliciousness. “I’m sorry,” I giggle. “Carry on. What did you want to know?” I say, before grabbing a napkin and wiping my mouth.
He shrugs. “I don’t know. Just stuff. Everything and anything,” he says pensively, and I wonder where my bold, confident man went.
I take his chin in my thumb and forefinger and tilt his head up to look at me. “Hey,” I say softly, reassuring him with a smile. “You can ask me anything you like, anything at all.”
“It’s just little stuff, ya know? I mean, I’ve seen every beautiful inch of your body.
” The glint in his eye shows exactly where he’s at his boldest, then his voice drops to a whisper, “And now I want to know about everything in your mind. The thought of another man near your body makes me want to kill someone, but thinking that another man might know your mind better than I do, well, it just makes me feel …”
“Denham …” I take his hand in mine and raise it to my lips, kissing each of his fingers in turn.