“Bullshit! Why are you doing this?”
I sit on one of the barstools, running my finger over the cold marble countertop. This isn’t the welcome I had expected, but maybe I should have prepared for anger along with his excitement. He storms up to the loft and has a shoe box when he returns. I watch as he dumps the contents onto the counter in front of me. Trinkets that were meant to remind him of me and to let him know I’m okay. Sunflowers, lockets with the sun on them, a plush otter toy. There’s more than a hundred little things that he’s kept in this box while I hid. In retrospect, maybe sending him so many could have given away my location.
“I fucking kept them. I kept every fucking one of them, and I brought them with me everywhere! Every fucking job! Why, Ren? Are you rubbing my nose in it? Teasing me with what I’d never have again? Fucking with me? Is this how you say you’re sorry? Make you feel less guilty? Because if you don’t want me anymore, an email would have been fine after I waiting six fucking months!”
“Chase I don’t?—”
“I fucking waited! Do you know how many women throw themselves at me daily? I didn’t touch any of them. Not one! I waited for you because you’re all I wanted, Ren. It’s only been you since I met you! But I guess you didn’t feel that way, huh?” Pongo even hides under the table, confused.
“Oh, we arenotdoing this.” I slide off the chair and head toward the door, but I have an idea. “Fuck it,” I mumble, grabbing a chair from the dining room table. I drag it over in front of him and climb up on it so he can’t yell down at me like some kind of child.
“What the fuck are you doing?!”
“I’m yelling back!” He has to look up now, which makes it difficult for me to keep a straight face and it throws him off his game a little, too. “I sent you these so you wouldn’t forget about me!”
“Then…then…why are you? Wait, are you? Yeah, no! Why are you fucking him?”
“Do you speak to my mother like this?”
“What? Stop it! Stop fucking with my head and answer the question!”
“What are you talking about, Chase? I’m not fucking anyone!”
“Mills! You ran off with fu—with Mills! He’s so fuckingamazing,huh? How long have you two been… did you plan all this?”
I purse my lips and try my best not to laugh, but I can’t help it. I’m doubled over and snorting from laughing so hard. When I catch my breath, he’s staring at me, that confused, lost little dog look in his pretty blue eyes. I missed those eyes so much.
“Puppy—”
“No!”
“Chase Cooper!” I use a stern voice, and he straightens up, giving me his full attention. At least he hasn’t forgotten about that. “I am not now, and I have never before, slept with, kissed, or even held hands with your private investigator. He helped me move around without being detected and provided me with the equipment and means to trap a few flies in our web. He also gave me the money you sent. Thank you for that.”
“You didn’t?” He blinks, still confused.
“No. I didn’t.”
“I’m such a fucking idiot.” His shoulders slump and the poor man looks like he’s about to cry as everything hits him at once.
“You’re my idiot. And it better be you that I’m fucking in the next five minutes, or I’m leaving.”
The words are still on my lips when he grabs me off the chair, throws me over his shoulder, and carries me up to the loft. There’s a loud snap when he smacks my ass, and the tingle goes all the way to my toes and the top of my head. He throws me down on the bed, standing over me with that look he gets in his eyes, the look that says I won’t be able to walk when he’s done with me. I move back on my elbows and he climbs onto the bed and over me, our noses brushing together as the electricity sparks between us.
“Stay.”
“Oh, Puppy. I?—”
“No. No excuses, no bullshit. Stay!”
That simple word has teeth. He wants me to fix him, to make him whole again. He’s broken, he’s been that way for years, and he wants me to pick up the pieces and glue him back together one piece at a time. How could I say no to that level of trust and love?
“Please?” The strength in his voice fades, replaced by a whimper.
My chest heaves as I nod and he dives into my neck, wrapping his arms around me and tugging at my clothes while I struggle to get to his. There’s a ripping sound before his hand slaps against my now bare thigh as he rips the leggings open and pushes his fingers between my legs. He remembers every spot and how to touch me. I’m putty in his hands and just as I get to the edge, he spreads my legs apart and thrusts into me. My body isn’t ready for his size, and I scream his name out as he pushes into me again, both of us desperate and needy. I shove my hands under his shirt and claw down his back, not caring who will see it later, watching him throw his head back and moan for me.
His mouth hovers over mine as he thrusts one more time, bottoming out while my back arches. I’m being split in two, but it’s what I want. What we need. We breathe each other in, neither of us moving as our eyes lock together. I may not have gotten my movie magic elevator ride, but I’m okay with this fantasy coming to life.
“One more request,” he breathes against my mouth.
