Chapter 20 Belle and the Library #2
“Do you know,” Ronan murmured as he reached out to push a stray lock of hair behind my ear, “that every single thought you have writes itself across your face?”
Immediately, I flushed. “I doubt that’s true.”
A heated smile hooked that broad mouth. “Oh, it’s definitely true, Ari. And it’s one of my favorite things about you.”
He slipped an arm around my waist and tugged me closer, allowing his scent—something dark and expensive mixed with sandalwood and fresh paper—to wash over me.
It was making it hard to think.
This whole situation was making my head spin.
“I—wait,” I said just before Ronan’s mouth found mine.
He straightened up. “What’s wrong?”
“I—I don’t know.” It was the truth. “Everything is just moving so fast.”
For some reason, my conversation with Dad came back to me. The heartbreak in his voice when I’d told him I’d gotten married without him. The disillusionment I’d felt when I realized he wasn’t going to fight for me, even when he thought it was best.
The realization that I wanted him to, even if it was just a little.
How could I explain that to Ronan now that I was here?
“I just… I know we’ve been…”
“Talking about everything we want to do to each other for the last two weeks?” Ronan completed.
I rolled my eyes. “You’ve done that. I’ve just—”
“Listened quietly and helped yourself to an orgasm or ten on the other side of the line,” he finished once more.
My mouth fell open. “You weren’t supposed to know that!”
He bent down and nipped my bottom lip. “Please. Like I don’t know what kinds of sounds you make when you come, baby. First thing I memorized when you finally let me bring them out of you. They’ve been haunting my dreams for fourteen days.”
My cheeks felt like someone had touched them with hot burners. “Ronan…”
“But you need to take it slow?” He started nibbling the side of my neck in a way that was very distracting.
“I—” What was I saying? “I—yes. Yes, I do.”
With a petulant sigh, he stood back up. “But why?”
“Why? Why? Because we’ve spent all of five minutes in each other’s company,” I sputtered. “This morning, I had to tell my father I married a stranger, and now I’m standing in your room that I’m apparently moving into, and I’m telling you, Ronan, I don’t do things like this!”
I pressed a hand to my heart, which was starting to beat in a way I didn’t like. I closed my eyes and sucked in a long breath, then held it for several beats before blowing it out slowly.
“Whoa, baby. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” Ronan’s voice had gone from playful to soothing in less than a second, and before I knew it, he was guiding me to the edge of the bed to sit, not play, as he rubbed my shoulders and urged me back to calm.
It was so easy when he touched me like that. When he hummed in that deep voice. It would have been so easy to let him take it further. Wherever he wanted to go.
But I needed time. At least more than a few minutes. “
“I told my dad it was kind of temporary,” I said quietly. “I don’t know why I said it. It just came out. And then you sent me that contract. And now I don’t actually know if I was right after all about what this is.” I gestured between us. “What we are. If anything.”
Or if men like you really do want to be with women like me.
The contract, with all those zeros and terms, had solidified the fact that Ronan Black had clear expectations. Needs, even. And he was willing to pay a lot to have them met.
The problem was, I wasn’t sure I was the person who could do that.
For a long moment, he didn’t say anything as he studied me. Then he pushed that stubborn lock of hair behind my ear again, his touch lingering down my cheek. “What do you want us to be?”
“I don’t know. That’s the problem.” My heart was starting to beat too fast now. I’d taken a pill on the plane, but I was probably going to need another one soon. “I know we said we’d try. But Ronan, I need to take this slow. I just need to find my bearings. Does that make sense?”
Something flashed in his eyes—frustration, maybe, or desire. Or something deeper, more protective. For a second, I thought he might argue, or else tell me to leave completely.
Instead, he kissed me.
It wasn’t the heated kiss he’d delivered on the tarmac. This one was softer, gentler than I’d known he was capable of. It was a kiss that asked me to take the lead. Or at least gave me time to set the pace.
“Slow,” he murmured against my lips. “We can do slow.”
Something like relief—oddly mixed with regret—washed through me as he nuzzled my nose. “Really?” The contract came back to me. All those requirements. Bodily requirements, even if they were mostly about my pleasure, not his.
“Completely sure,” he said. “It’s a partnership, right? Speaking of, as my partner, you are going to meet with a cardiologist next week. No arguments. Just call and tell them you’re my wife. He’ll make the time.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re worse than Megan.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” His thumb traced my cheekbone. “I don’t know what it is, but something about you makes me want to be better. Makes me want to be… I don’t know. A person worthy of you.”
“You’re already worthy,” I said and found I believed it.
His Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed. “I don’t know about that, Ari. But I’m trying.”
He shoved a hand back through his hair, causing one of his curls to fall down over his forehead. My favorite curl. The one that never quite behaved.
I reached up, tugging lightly on it before letting it spring back into place. “You’re worthy. I don’t know much, but I know that.”
We watched each other for several long seconds. His near-black eyes to my green. Honesty meeting honesty. Maybe for the first time.
Ronan took a deep breath, then expelled it suddenly. “Fuck it.”
Then his mouth was on mine, and he was kissing me again. Only this time, it wasn’t soft or gentle. It was the tarmac times ten, his hands in my hair, pulling my head back so he could take what he wanted completely.
I’d said he was worthy, and I’d meant it. But I’d also thought he was ready to be gentle. I’d never been so wrong, or so glad for it.
When he finally pulled back, I was panting, my lips swollen, my entire body thrumming with want.
“What,” I managed, “what happened to slow?”
Ronan just grinned. “I said I would try, Ari. But nobody’s perfect.”
“Ronan…” I found myself leaning forward, but just as quickly, he stood up from the bed, brushing his pants off in quick, harsh movements.
“You need to change,” he said. “We’re going to a party.”
Lord, this man was going to give me whiplash. “What?”
“It’s just a company event. Nothing major.” He was already heading for the door. “We’re celebrating a recent acquisition, and it’s an opportunity to introduce you to the board members.”
“I—we have to go out tonight?” My voice sounded like a squeak. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Well, I was going to mention it earlier, but then I was too busy kissing you, and it slipped my mind.” That grin appeared again. It made me feel lightheaded.
“Ronan!”
He shrugged, and the grin broadened. “You’re cute when you’re pissed at me, Ari. Listen, don’t worry about unpacking. I sent my assistant to get some things for you, and you’ll find them in the closet.”
Closet? Clothes? Was this man ever going to make me feel anything less than reeling?
“Get dressed,” he told me. “I’ll be waiting downstairs. And Laney?”
I turned. “Yeah?”
The grin turned rakish and even more devastatingly handsome. “Wear something hot. I want to show off my beautiful wife.”