Chapter Twenty-Four
BEC
Rome leaned in the bathroom doorway. We were the only two in the house; the rest of the family was at the restaurant for the weekend dinner rush.
His black hair was wet from his earlier shower.
Water droplets fell from his hair and traveled down his tanned skin.
He was only wearing grey sweatpants that sat far too low on his hips to be decent.
“You’re staring,” he mused with a chuckle.
“Shut up,” I said around my toothbrush. Compared to him, I was rather homely at the moment, dressed in his shirt, my hair piled in a bun on the top of my head.
He chuckled lightly and came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder, “You’re stunning, you know that?”
I rolled my eyes and spat the toothpaste out of my mouth. I looked at Rome through the mirror. We were very domestic-looking at the moment, both of us dressed in our pajamas as we got ready for bed side by side.
His hand traveled up my side and underneath my shirt, “A little birdy told me that you’re cleared for all activities.”
“Is this your version of foreplay?” I asked with a raised brow.
“You’re lucky I’m coherent enough to form words. All of the blood in my body is currently in my dick,” he explained and kissed my neck lightly. “Plus… we’re the only ones here, so my parents don’t have to listen to me fuck you.”
A startled laugh fell from my lips, “You really have lost your mind.”
“Yup,” he explained. His hands traveled back down my body and out of my shirt. I opened my mouth to question him, but my answer was given as he dropped his pants.
The thing about Rome… he wasn’t just in shape, he looked to be chiseled from the gods.
I knew he worked out every day, but damn, did he have the body to prove it.
He wasn’t lying when he said all of the blood had travelled down his body.
His dick was an angry red, pulsing for me.
“What’s the plan here?” I asked, looking him up and down in the mirror.
He smirked and kicked my feet apart before reaching and pulling my underwear down my legs. “Bend over for me, sweetheart. I wanna see your face in that reflection while I fuck you.”
My heart fluttered at the insinuation. “Your family could be home at any time.”
A mischievous gleam flashed in his eyes, “Makes it more exciting, doesn’t it?”
He pushed my shoulder down slightly, forcing my hands to catch me against the bathroom counter.
Rome pulled at my hair tie, freeing my hair, which fell in waves around my shoulders.
Though that wasn’t his plan. He scooped the hair up in his hands and wrapped it around his fist before pulling slightly. “Ready, sweetheart?”
I didn’t have time to answer. Rome used his free hand to guide himself to my entrance, which was embarrassingly wet from his foreplay alone. He thrusted in with ease, bottoming out with a groan that reverberated in my ears.
“Rome,” I moaned.
He smirked, forcing my head to watch in the mirror, “Hold on, sweetheart.”
Hold on, I did. He thrust in and out of me with all of his might, keeping a steady hold on my hair… the stinging in my scalp only adding to the pleasure. He managed to hit the right spot with each move and talk me through the entire thing.
“You’re doing so good, sweetheart,” his voice low and husky as he spoke. “Such a good girl.”
I couldn’t speak, my mind unable to form words, lost in the pleasure and the pain. He pulled me up with my hair, his hand bracketing my back against his chest as he continued to fuck me.
“Take off my shirt, I want to feel you against me,” I commanded.
He smirked, “Gladly.”
He let go of my hair and pulled my shirt up and over my head. His arm wrapped under my leg, lifting it to allow him to get a better angle.
“Fuck,” I moaned, “I’m close.”
He pulled out quickly, lifting me by the hips and placing me on the counter and stepped between my open legs, bringing us face to face.
“I wanna watch you while you cum,” he grumbled.
One hand stayed on my hip, holding me in place, the other reached between us and strummed my clit, pushing me closer to the edge.
“Cum with me,” I spoke through heavy breaths and moans.
“I’m ready to snap,” he explained, his forehead wet with perspiration. His dark eyes were dilated and trained on me. Everything about him was taut as he held back his own release.
I couldn’t take the intensity for one more moment, his stare, his hands, his body all pulling me over the edge, and I crashed. The orgasm flooded my body, and I came with a cry. I could vaguely hear Rome roar as he came inside me with a final thrust, his head collapsing into the crook of my neck.
We sat for a moment as we both came down from our mutual highs, my chest heaving from the intensity.
Then the front door opened.
Rome sat upright fast, his panicked eyes looking at me, “Fuck.”
“Close the door,” I exclaimed.
That would have been the logical choice, but I should have expected Rome to do the exact opposite. He lifted me over his shoulder and ran to his room, buck-ass nude. Voices wafted up the stairs, but he managed to kick the door close before they could get to us.
He collapsed onto the bed, pulling me down with him. I laughed with my whole body. “Well, that was close.”
“Can you imagine?” He asked with a smirk. “I’m close to my family, but not that close.”
I laughed again, and the cool air in his room wafted against my sweaty skin. I crawled under the blankets, pulling Rome under with me.
He breathed heavily next to me, the sweat that covered his body glistening in the moonlight. He was gorgeous in the dim light, the shadows highlighting his jaw and cheekbones. He was the definition of beauty in that moment.
My hand traced the center lines of his abs slowly, watching the skin grow goosebumps under my hand. Rome was larger than life. He was unmovable, unshakable, yet I had the power to bring him to his knees.
It was a power most men I had been with in the past despised. They couldn't handle me being richer, smarter, and more powerful than them in any capacity. It truth, it was this power I had in my work that ended all of my previous relationships.
“Does my work bother you?” I asked.
He stared at me for a moment, looking thoroughly confused, “No?”
“Other people I’ve been with were intimidated. Men seem to have a problem when they’re not the breadwinner or some shit in a relationship,” I tried to explain.
Rome turned to his side, propping his head on his hand, “Why would I be anything but proud of you?”
I shrugged, “I… I just want us to work, okay?”
Rome smirked as he looked down at me. He reached forward with his free hand, tucking my hair behind my ear, “Are you trying to communicate right now?”
I rolled my eyes, “You’re obnoxious.”
He laughed, “And you love me even more because of it.” It was meant to be a joke, one of his many offhanded comments, but it hit me straight through the heart, because I did.
I loved him. His smiles, his jokes, his obnoxious behavior. All of it. I loved it. I loved him.
Shit.
Now what?
Rome looked at me with confusion, “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
How did I explain that I was having an existential crisis because I loved him? That sounded ridiculous. What if he didn’t love me back? It would be embarrassing to tell him and for him not to feel the same way.
Yeah, nope, not doing that.
“Bec?” Rome asked, now moving above me as he held his weight, one hand on each side of me. His usual smirk morphed into a look of concern.
“How can we get me back to work?” I asked suddenly. It was on both of our minds, seemed like a valid topic, and would also help him move on from my internal crisis.
Rome sighed and kissed my nose lightly, his biceps flexing from the motion. “Do we have to get you back?”
I nodded, “I want to go back, Rome.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. It was as though he was forcing himself to respect my choice. That was one thing I loved about him. While he would always share his opinion, he wouldn’t fight me on my choices when it came to my own life. He respected me as an individual.
He opened his eyes again and stood. He wandered over to his bookshelf and pulled out a folder.
“I’ve thought about this. From the perspective of your head of security, and the perspective of your boyfriend.
” He turned to me, the folder outstretched.
“This was the best compromise I could come up with.”
I raised a brow as I took the folder and pulled the sheet up and under my arms at the same time, “You had this ready to go?”
He nodded, “I knew you would want to go back as soon as you could. I’m still working on tracking down who tried to take you and figure out why, but I wanted to be prepared in case I didn’t solve it before you were fully healed.”
I flipped through the folder. It held personnel files, official ones from the Army. There were five men, all former Rangers who had worked with Rome in some capacity for a period of time. The final paper broke down their potential employment, pay, benefits, and schedules. “Who are these men?”
“I worked with all of them. They passed the most brutal security backgrounds I could put them through. They have no affiliation with anyone in Bly Enterprises, and while I don’t fully trust them, I know they will do whatever they need to in order to keep you safe.
” He explained and crossed his arms over his chest. “During the workday, all five of them will be assigned to you. At night, they’ll take shifts maintaining a perimeter around you and wherever you may be. ”
He was gearing up for an argument; I could see it in the way he set his jaw. He assumed I would fight back like I had in the past, never accepting the additional security he wanted.
I looked through the papers one more time. The men had stellar records, similar to Rome. “I don’t know about this, Rome…”
“Please, Bec. If not for you, for me,” he pleaded.
I smiled softly at him. “I just meant, we should pay them more. They deserve twice as much if they have to deal with the two of us all day, every day.”
Rome sighed in relief, his arms falling to his side. “It didn’t feel right paying them too much, considering it would be you paying them, not me.”
I chuckled, “I wouldn’t even notice these withdrawals. It would take millions for me to finally notice.”
Rome rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. He took the file and placed it back on the shelf, giving me a great view of his backside. I could flip a coin off those cheeks.
“Okay, rich girl. God forbid I try to make sound financial decisions,” he joked.
I barked a laugh. Rome turned back to me with a smile on his face. I pointed at him, “Can you maybe put on some pants? It’s hard having a serious conversation with you with that thing waving about.”
Rome smirked, “I can tell you something else that is hard.”
“Oh, don’t you worry, I’m very aware.”