I’d always hoped to be a mom by this age. I wanted to have someone to read stories to every night and watch fall asleep, console when they scraped their knees, and hug when they were afraid. She’s not my girl, I told myself, but sometimes, like now, it was easy to forget that she wasn’t really mine even though I knew her favorite color and her favorite toys, and she’d confided in me that she was still a bit afraid of the dark. I needed to remember that I wasn’t part of her life in any meaningful way.
I read for ten more minutes but then stopped because I was afraid my voice would wake her up. I slid out of bed carefully, tiptoeing out of the room, and then stood in the doorway for a few minutes watching her sleeping peacefully before closing the door. I nearly checked my phone, but Tate didn’t say anything about already being on his way, so I assumed his dinner with the clients was going to take longer.
He said I could make myself at home and even go to the wine cellar, but it felt wrong to be there without him, like I was snooping. So instead, I went to the kitchen. I didn’t want to have wine while I was technically still working, so I poured myself a glass of orange juice.
I was a bit restless, and I knew what I needed. I was about to start the music, and then I remembered Paisley was sleeping. I didn’t want to risk waking her up, so I put in my earbuds and turned the volume loud, and then I danced.
Oh yeah.
I loved dancing. It was such a playful way to get rid of excess energy. I even did dance workouts sometimes. I shook my booty and my hips, lowering myself to the ground, then pushed myself back up to the kitchen counter, all the while focusing on keeping my mouth shut. Yep, I was one of those who felt the need to sing along every time.
But I danced and danced, twirling my hips, doing a pirouette, and then a second one until I slammed against something. Against someone.
Oh shit.
Blinking my eyes open, I realized that someone was Tate.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” I exclaimed, scrambling to take out my earbuds and dropping them on the counter. Only then did I realize Tate had an arm around my waist. His pupils had dilated a bit.
I was flush against him, and I didn’t want to pull away even one inch. In fact, all I wanted was to get even closer.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” I whispered.
“Clearly. I called your name a couple times.” A smile was playing on his lips.
I felt every word reverberate in his chest and against my breasts. I smelled his cologne, and all I wanted to do was lean in some more to kiss that spot where his neck met his shoulder.
“You do love your dancing, huh?”
“Yeah, but I was wearing my earbuds because I didn’t want to wake up Paisley.”
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he exclaimed. With a start, I realized my pelvis was pressing against his erection. “You drive me crazy, Lexi.”
I swallowed hard, looking up at him. “You do the same to me.”
He feathered his mouth over mine, leaned in, and fully kissed me. My body was covered in goose bumps by the time he pulled away.
“Tell me to stop,” he said.
“Don’t stop,” I whispered.
“Lexi, tell me to take a step back.”
I shook my head again. “I don’t want you to.”
He groaned, sealing his mouth over mine in a fierce kiss that obliterated every thought. My mind was blissfully blank. I couldn’t think at all. I could only feel his mouth on me, his lips on my own, his tongue coaxing mine.
He moved his hands from the small of my back to my waist. One slid toward my ass, cupping it and pushing my hips even closer into him. I groaned when his erection nudged me. Little tremors shook my body as the aftershock of pleasure reverberated through me. He groaned, deepening the kiss. I was desperate for him, for all the things he could make me feel.
I opened the top button of his shirt, needing to feel skin-on-skin contact, trailing my fingers down to the next button. He covered my hand with his, and I stilled. Heat rushed through me when he pulled back and looked directly at me.
“Are you sure, Lexi?”
I nodded, too desperate for words. I leaned back in to kiss him.
My lips barely brushed his when he took control over the kiss again. This kiss was surreal. It was like learning to breathe again, learning to live, as if I’d been in a sleepy haze until now and this was the first time I truly felt alive. Desire pulsed through my veins—a desperate need for him.
Before I knew what happened, I felt my toes leave the floor. He was lifting me by my bottom. I immediately nestled my feet and ankles under his rear, pressing my inner thighs against his torso. He kept kissing me and kissing me, and I lost all sense of time and space, except that we were going up and up.
I tore my mouth from his, looking around us before grinning down at him. “Someone’s super strong, carrying me up the stairs like this,” I whispered, stroking his arms. “It’s sexy.”
“You’re sexy,” he whispered back. His eyes were hazy with lust, just as I imagined mine were.
I realized we’d headed to the same bedroom where I’d slept last time. I lifted a brow. “Why are we here?”
“Because it’s farther away from Paisley’s room. You don’t have to be quiet.”
I licked my lips at the promise in his voice. “I’ll try anyway.”
“You won’t be able to, Lexi. I’ll give you so much pleasure that you’ll lose track of everything—where we are, who you are.”
I pulled him closer to me, undoing the second button of his shirt and then the third one. When he groaned, I looked up in desperation.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I only have condoms downstairs.”
Jutting out my lower lip, I let my hands drop. “Go,” I said. “I’ll wait for you here.”
With a wolfish grin, he said, “I’ll be quick.”
As soon as he left, I turned to look at the bed, taking off the covers. After a brief minute, I decided to take off my clothes too. He wouldn’t expect it, and I grinned, imagining the expression on his face when he saw me butt naked.
I lay down on the bed in what I hoped was a seductive pose. I was lying on one side, with one leg straight and the other bent. My breath hitched when I heard him come up, and I realized this was it. After tonight, there was no going back. And even though I had no idea where we were heading, I knew I wanted this. I wanted him.
“Lexi, fuck,” he whispered when he came into the room and saw me naked and on display. “You’re so damn beautiful.”
“And you’re still wearing clothes,” I said in a taunting voice.
He came up next to the bed, pulling me up until I was on my knees. He lowered himself with one knee on the mattress, tilting my head up because he was still towering over me, and sealed his mouth over mine, dominant and demanding, leading the kiss just as I knew he would lead everything tonight.
“Know one thing, Lexi,” Tate said in an authoritative tone. “After tonight, you’re mine.”
Chapter Fourteen
Lexi
“Tate...,” I whispered.
His hands skimmed down my naked body slowly, torturing me while I kept undoing his shirt. Pushing it down his arms, I let it drop to the floor as I brought my hands to his belt. He cupped my ass cheeks with both hands, pushing me against him. My eyes rolled back in my head when my clit collided with the fly of his pants. I moved back just a nudge.