“This is my room.”
He sighed. “No, Ashley, you agreed to share my room. All of your things have been moved to my room.” He held out his hand. “Come and see.”
I stared at his hand, worried at first that it would bite me. I had issues.
Standing up, I placed my hand within his and followed him out. Again, I didn’t take in any of the views as we made our way past several doors. People moved out of our way, but I kept my gaze on the floor. The truth was I was so close to tears, and I didn’t get it. I didn’t have any reason to cry.
We stopped outside of a door, and he pushed it open, waiting for me to go inside.
See, a monster could be a perfect gentleman, and that was exactly what I was getting. I stepped into his bedroom, and the sheer scent of him assailed my senses. I liked how he smelled, how it was musky and sweet at the same time. Catching sight of the bed first, I stayed still and tense, not wanting to think about everything that was going to go down on that very bed. Ugh, the thought of losing my virginity out at sea was enough to make me feel sick. Knowing my luck, the moment it happened, we’d have world domination by sharks.
Weird.
I was about to turn toward him when something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.
“Is that … my notebook?” In fact, as I looked closely at the room, I noticed several of my things. On the vanity table were my makeup box and the clips I used to pull my hair back. Without waiting for permission, I went straight to my notebook, and there it was. My food notes. I didn’t keep a journal. Talking about my feelings on the pages never appealed, but here, I had everything I’d ever cooked. Well, just a volume of part of what I’d been doing with my life. “How did you get this?”
“The same way I got you. Easily. I emptied yours and Emily’s apartment.”
“All of my stuff is here?”
“Some of your stuff is here. The rest I’ve had sent to one of my residences.”
I looked at him, rubbing the back of my neck. “Your home?”
“I have several all around the world. My mood depends on where I go as to what I do.”
I licked my lips. “You’re not just going to be done with me in a couple of days?”
Earl moved across the bedroom and picked up a picture frame. It was one of Emily and me, taken a few months ago. In a rare circumstance where I got Emily to smile. It had been hard to do, but she’d tried for me. “You two are really close?”
“Of course.”
“One day, you’ll get to talk to her.”
“I will?”
“I’m not a complete beast.”
“You never refer to yourself as a monster,” I said.
“That title is claimed, and I’m nothing like the Crude Hill lot.”
“You make them sound like children.”
“They are.”
“It’s rather insulting, don’t you think?”
“I’m not here to win any games with them. I’m not looking for a competition. Do you like your new room?”
“This is your room?”
“Yes.” He leaned back on his hands.
My gaze fell to his crotch, to the obvious outline of his erection. He was hard and looking right at me.
“It’s nice.” I opened my book, seeing a cross through fennel. I was making some soup, and I clearly didn’t like the addition of the vegetable. Beside it, I’d put seed, and again, this was crossed out.
“Put the book down and come here.”
I looked up at him and found that he was still watching me. Slowly, I put the book down, but I didn’t want to do that. I knew I didn’t. With each step I took, I got closer to him until I stood right in front of him.
He took my hand and locked our fingers together. “You did really good today.”
“Thank you.”
“Always so polite.”
He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. I watched him close his eyes and then let go of me. The tips of his fingers brushed across my thigh, teasing along the edge of my dress.
His touch should have repulsed me.
It didn’t.
I didn’t understand why not.
Staring at him, I waited for the chills, the sick revulsion, but nothing came.
“Sit. Put your knees on either side of me.”
“What?”
He sat back on the bed and tugged me close. I had no choice but to put my knee on either side of his waist, moving onto the bed. The angle put my pussy directly over his dick. I didn’t sit down, but his hands went to the curve of my ass as he moved me into place.
The hard length of his cock touched me. He was still wearing pants, and I wore my underwear, but I felt him. Pure steel. I gripped his shoulders, trying to hold on. I was far from sickened. I liked it.
Staring into his green eyes, I waited for him to strike, to make me do something I really didn’t want to do.
His hands went back to my ass, and he held me in place.
“You know, all day, there was something I’ve been wanting to do to you. Do you know what that is?”
“Fuck me?” The words spilled from my lips before I could stop them.
He chuckled. “I want to do that. It’s a given, but no.” He pressed his face against my neck and I gasped. He hadn’t even kissed me yet. Just the tip of his nose brushing across my flesh. This shouldn’t feel so good.
I was a horrible friend. The worst kind of person.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment I saw you this morning.”
I jerked back, but I didn’t get far as his hands were on my ass. “You do?”
“Yeah, I do.”
I couldn’t help but look at his lips. They looked tempting.
They belonged to my enemy. Earl Valentine was the enemy, wasn’t he? I shouldn’t want to kiss him. His cock between my thighs shouldn’t arouse me. There were so many things wrong with this picture. The fact I was enjoying all of this made me a horrible friend. Emily deserved better than me.
Even as I screamed and cursed myself, demanded better, I put my hands on his cheeks.
No words formed on my lips. I moistened my own as I looked at him.
One hand glided from my ass to grip the back of my head, and then he pulled me down, just a little. Our mouths were so close, sharing our breath. Would it be so bad? One kiss. I’d never experienced this before.
I didn’t know who moved first, him or me, but in the next second, our mouths met. Eyes closed, I didn’t even imagine it was anyone else. There was no reason to. Earl consumed me. His lips danced across mine, and I knew I had to be awful at this. There was no way I was any good. I’d never taken the time to practice kissing. Not even on my hand. There was no point to it.
Men never held any appeal.
His fingers massaged the back of my head, and I gasped. This gave him an opening, and he deepened the kiss. When his tongue touched my lip, I jerked back, breaking the kiss. I hadn’t been expecting it.
I covered my mouth with the back of my hand. “I’m so sorry.”
He was smiling though. There wasn’t a hint of anger in his gaze. “I’m trying to kiss you.”
“I’m so horrible at this.”
“You’re a lot better than you realize.” He rubbed my knee. “You’ve got to learn to relax. It will go much better.”