Page 30 of It Destroys Me
My phone lit up on the nightstand, his name on the screen.
I grabbed it and read the message.
On my way home, sweetheart.
His message was just five words, but I read it multiple times like it was so much more. I’d had to restrain myself from texting him, but in the end, he gave me what I wanted anyway. Before I could think clearly, I texted back. Can’t wait to see you.
His three dots didn’t pop up.
My mind and heart soared in the clouds. As if I hadn’t seen him last night or the night before, I was excited. Excited like it was our first date. The first time we would sleep together. He made me so nervous…his stare, his presence, his natural intimidation…and I’d become addicted to it.
I got out of bed and opened the drawer of my dresser until I found the stuff I’d picked out with Scarlett. Lacy black lingerie that she insisted every man loved. I hesitated as I felt the satin in my fingertips, unsure if I could pull it off the way his favorite whores probably did. But then I ignored all the doubt and insecurity and put it on. I didn’t know how close he was to home, so when I went into the bathroom, I brushed my hair and added some mascara to make my lashes look thicker. Then I got back into bed, my heart racing, and waited.
Ten minutes later, the door opened, and a mountain of shadow entered the room. He was just in his boxers as he approached the bed, his skin and muscle his armor, his ink his scars. He pulled back the sheets to get into bed beside me, but he hesitated when he spotted me in my crotchless bodysuit, my tits pushed up so high they looked several cup sizes bigger. He continued his stare, his hungry eyes roaming over my body like he’d never seen it before.
Guess Scarlett was right.
His knees sank into the mattress when he moved onto the sheets. His body came over mine, and he immediately adjusted me underneath him, folding me, bending my knees, getting me into the position he wanted to fuck me in. Didn’t even kiss me. Just got straight to the point, and I liked that.
He knew the lingerie was crotchless without checking, and he slicked his head before he pushed himself inside me, forcing himself without any gentlemanly patience. He just took what he wanted like I didn’t matter, and I also liked that.
When I felt him plow into me, I released a gasp, my nails sinking deep into his flesh, his muscles hard as rocks. It had been just a moment ago when he’d laid eyes on me, and within the snap of a finger, he was at full mast and hard as steel…for me.
He could have anyone else, but he wanted me.
It was the kind of fuck that knocked the headboard into the wall and made a mark. It was the kind that his butler probably heard two floors below. The kind that would make me come and make me sore. The kind that made me feel like a woman he spotted across the bar and had to have.
The kind that made me feel secure for the first time in a long time.
I was in my bedroom when he texted me. I’m taking you to dinner. Be ready in an hour.
As always, I read his message several times because I was always shocked by the things he said. With another guy, I wouldn’t appreciate being bossed around like that, but Theo was different.
He could boss me around all he wanted.
I put on a black dress with another piece of lingerie underneath, a push-up bra with a matching thong. Since the bodysuit had worked so well, I decided to deploy the tactic again. I made my eyes smoky and applied my favorite lip gloss before I headed downstairs.
He picked me up outside then drove several blocks until he handed his Range Rover over to the valet. When he got me out of the car, he immediately grabbed my hand and took me inside. He normally circled my waist with his arm, so holding my hand like this was a first.
I liked it because it felt more intimate. An arm around the waist said this is my woman. But holding hands meant she’s mine…and I’m hers.
He barely checked in with the host before he was given a table farther in the restaurant. Hand in hand, he took me to the table and pulled out the chair for me like he was a gentleman and not the caveman who’d nearly broken the headboard last night. He pushed in the chair to catch my ass then dropped into the chair across from me.
A waitress was there right away, and before she could say a couple words, he cut her off. “We’ll take a bottle of red. Something from Barsetti Vineyards.” He didn’t look at her as he gave the order, just pushed up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows like he was warm on a cold spring night.
She walked away without saying a word.
Once she was gone, I felt my heart beat again. Felt it drum in my chest as the nerves got to me. His appearance was burned into my memory, so it wasn’t like I could ever forget how sexy this man was. But every time I looked at him, I was shocked by it. The jawline. The eyes. The confidence. God, it was all too much.
He ignored the menu and stared at me. A stare that had teeth and ate me alive. It was smoldering and possessive but also intense. He looked like he could either compliment me or scream at me.
I broke contact when it became too much and grabbed the menu.
He continued to stare at me.
Bolton used to look at me in a similar way, but nothing compared to this. He was a spark compared to Theo’s inferno. The longer I was with Theo, the more my marriage felt like a strange dream.
“What are you going to get?” I asked, trying to break the tension, even though I never wanted it to break.