Chapter Ten
I don’t resist as Roy lifts me into his arms and carries me back to the house. As soon as he opens the door, the aroma of fresh-baked bread and butter and roasted meat makes my head swim, and my stomach growls loudly.
“Will you be eating here?” An older woman in white jeans and a hot pink polo stands beside the kitchen island.
“Yes,” Roy responds. “Daisy, this is Evelyn.” He sets me on my feet. “She’s agreed to relocate here.”
“Hi.” I smooth the front of Roy’s shirt with my hands, wishing I were making a better first impression. “The food smells amazing.”
“I thank you. Roy’s not big on carbs, but I thought you might appreciate fresh rolls.” She brings a basket filled with them and puts it on the table.
Evelyn and I are going to get along great. “So you’re from Los Angeles?”
Roy grabs a platter of steaks and a bowl of steamed vegetables from the counter and carries them to the table.
“No, Wisconsin originally. I moved out west in the nineties.”
Explains her accent. “Middleburg’s a small place.”
“Reminds me of home.” She’s put out our plates and wine glasses and silverware.
“Thank you.” Roy nods to her. “That’ll be all. We’ll clean up afterward.”
“Goodnight, then.”
What’s it like to have staff? Vincent’s family has several generations working on their estate. I’m so used to being in my little home alone. Maybe it’s something you get used to.
“Wine?” Roy asks. When I shake my head, he immediately goes to the fridge and brings me a Coke.
“Evelyn’s going to live here.” Using his fork, he motions to the east wing of the house—opposite side to his bedroom.
“She seems nice.” Is it wrong I’m grateful she isn’t young and attractive? “She’s not an ex-assassin or something, is she?”
He stops with his fork, spearing a slice of steak, midway to his mouth. “Not this week.” He grins and winks. “She’s my housekeeper and cook. And I hold her in high regard,” he says like a warning.
I grab a roll, pull it apart, and almost swoon at the texture and lightness of the bread. I decide I also hold Evelyn in high regard. “Anyone else living here I should know about?”
“Proctor, in the guest cottage.” He glares at me when I go to speak. “I know he makes you uncomfortable. He and Gavin and Evelyn are family to me.”
I’m too tired to sugarcoat it, so I say exactly what I’m thinking. “Proctor scares me.”
“As he does most people.”
Any sane person would explain his odd behavior. “Tell me about the list.”
He finishes chewing and places his forearms on either side of his plate. “There a small group of people I trust.”
So I’m at the top of the list?
He continues, “Proctor was asking for confirmation of your status.”
My status? “Excuse me?”
He resumes eating, averting my gaze until he washes his food down with half a glass of wine. “He sees people as friend or foe; there is no in between.”
“What about my aunts and Vincent and—”
“He’s been briefed.” He points to my empty plate. “Eat some meat. You need protein.”
“You need to stop changing the subject.”
“You’ll like Gavin, and he’ll be in charge of security installations here and at your home.” His eyes are hard, and his jaw is tight when he says, “All non-negotiable.”
“I’m not a child. You can’t order me about. It’s my home. It’s my life.”
Steak number two is under his knife and fork. “You leave your door unlocked. Your closest neighbors are your elderly aunts a mile away. Should I continue?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t Los Angeles.” He resumes eating, and, usually, I love the way he’s calm no matter the situation. Right now, I hate it. And I hate how he has a point. “I’ll do my best to work with Gavin. Proctor…Well I won’t have to see him much, will I?” Roy shakes his head. “You can put in new locks, only on my doors, and no security system.” I expect something other than the ice-cold chill emanating from him.
He finishes off steak number two without saying a word.
“That’s it?” I wait, expecting him to argue.
When he does, I see the anger in his eyes, the cut of his jaw, the way he holds the wine glass like at any moment I expect it to shatter. “You called me for help, remember?”
I did, the day Jason sent me the gift. “I hate being out of control.”
He lays his hand on mine. “Eat a little more for me.”
“Alright, just a few pieces.” Amazingly, he’s on steak number three. “How big are you?”
“Are you messing with me?” He cuts the best parts of the steak for me and places them on my plate.
“No. Curious is all.”
“Six-six.” He sits back and sips his wine. “And I weigh three hundred or thereabout. Anything else?”
“I knew you were large. Wow, you could break me in half.” It was meant as a joke, but I catch his grimace. “I mean, you wouldn’t, but I’ve never been around anyone as big as you. It’s not the norm, you know, being so large. I guess people are always commenting on your size.” I open my mouth to say something else and decide to stop digging the hole and instead push the vegetables I’m never going to eat around my plate.
“Are you done?”
“Do you have any real food like cake or pie or ice cream?” I smile, hoping to lighten the dark mood I’ve created.
He clears the table, placing the leftovers in containers and putting them in the fridge. “I thought…” He rolls his hands into fists, pressing them into the island. “I have no desire to control you. I need to protect you. There is a difference.”
“So once Jason is gone”—I point to the jewelry case—“and that is sorted, my life can go back to normal?”
“Yes.” He rakes his hands through his hair. “No. If we’re in a relationship, you’ll have to get used to a certain amount of added precautions. I have too many enemies.”
Enemies, like what kind of enemies? And why would they bother me? “Like business enemies?”
“Some.”
“And Gavin and Proctor are like your bodyguards?”
He rubs his thumb and forefinger between his brows. “Not exactly.”
“You demand all my secrets. It’s not fair, not right, to keep so much from me.”
“I’m not used to…It’s hard to explain.” Trust me, he says with his eyes. “When I get back, we’ll talk.”
When he gets back seven days from now, he might have changed his mind about me. “So, this Gavin, he’s the man you were talking to on the phone earlier? He thinks I’m too young for you?”
“Heard that, did you?”
I nod and clean off dishes while Roy loads them in the dishwasher.
“He’s right.” His tone is businesslike. “You are too young.”
“You don’t want me anymore?”
He slams the dishwasher door shut and stands up to his full height. I step back and crane my neck to see his face, dark as a thundercloud. He takes a step forward and I one back, like we’re two magnets keeping a safe distance from each other. “Don’t ever think that.”
“Alright,” I squeak and grab the 409.
“Promise you’ll listen to Gavin. Do what he says while I’m gone.” I let him take the bottle from my hand and place it on the table. He engulfs me with his body like he’s attempting to shield me from any harm. “I won’t leave you unprotected.” He growls. “I need you naked.”
After the crying and the fighting and the breakdown and the doubt, those four little words quieten my heart and mind.
“Come on.” He takes my hand and leads me up the stairs.
Instead of turning right at the top, he goes left. “The bedroom’s back there,” I point out.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“A donut shop?” Now that’s an addition I could get excited about.
He laughs as he uses his foot to push the door open. It’s another bedroom, which I expected, with its own bathroom. But this one is newer and has the largest shower I’ve ever seen. I think it’s bigger than my kitchen.
“My architect will be here next week.” He immediately takes off his jeans. “This house needs extensive renovation.” His t-shirt is next. “But this, I like. It’s a shower and a sauna.” He steps inside, turning knobs and pressing buttons until the water cascades from the ceiling in the center portion and a light mist is visible at the opposite end where a large seating area is set into the granite.
He’s still talking, but I’m mesmerized by the water streaming over his body. He is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen, and I want to touch every inch of him.
He walks out of the shower and stands, dripping, on the mat. “Did you hear me?”
Of course not, you’re naked. I shake my head.
“Should I undress you?”
“No.” I snap out of it. “Aren’t you even a little bit…shy?” My eyes drop to the water pooling at his feet.
He reaches out and takes a lock of my hair, rolling it between his fingers. “Women find my body attractive.”
Ass, I think, a sexy-as-fuck ass, but still a conceited ass. I know he’s looking at me, probably with a sexy, cocksure grin. “I’m sure they do.” Why am I hesitant? Only a minute ago I was ready to tackle him to the ground and lick him from head to toe like a golden retriever. How many women have there been? How many after me? “I’ll be the virgin you tell future lovers about.”
Roy freezes for a heartbeat. “That was only sex, nothing more.” He tips my chin up to meet his eyes. “This is something altogether different. I’ve never waited years like I have for you.”
What? He’s waited years for me. “Years? We just met.”
He shakes his head slightly like he’s divulged too much or surprised himself by his words. He takes my hand and pulls me up to stand next to him. “Let’s get you out of this.” The shirt discarded, panties slipped down my legs, and my bra unfastened, he looks me over from aft to stern and lets out a growl. “Mine,” his voice husky.
I step with him inside the enclosure. It’s moist and warm and The Weeknd’s “Earned It” is playing. “How’d you know this is my favorite song?”
“I pay attention.” He lathers up his hands and his fingers slide over my breasts, massaging and lightly pinching my nipples. “Fucking perfect.”
My knees weaken. “I can’t stand up when you do this.”
“Lean back against me, baby.” He takes me to the bench and sits me down with my back against his stomach. His hardness pressed between our bodies. “Tell me what you want.”
I’m so done with talking and take his hands and guide them to my breasts.
“Ah, I see.” And he does.
There must be a vein directly from my nipples to my sex. Each tug and twist make me ache until I think I’ll go insane.
“Baby,” he groans. His hardness slides between us. “Let me inside you.” He takes my mouth hard and fast.
“Yes,” I breathe out. “I want you.” And try to turn my body to face him.
He nudges me back against his chest. “Not that way, baby, not yet.” His hand goes between my legs. “So wet and ready for me.” His slick finger traces the edge of my opening. “I want inside you.”
My answer is to buck my hips up against his hand.
“Oh, Daisy.” He kisses my neck and shoulders. “So fucking tight.”
My head swims as he fills me with his finger. In and out he slides, taking bits of my sanity with each trip. My hands reach back and rake through his hair. His mouth is at my throat, sucking and nipping. My hips are thrusting, trying to press him ever deeper.
“Do you want more?” he asks.
“Oh, god, now, yes.” I’m not sure what I’m saying—anything I think of to keep him from stopping.
“You’re like a drug, Daisy. Only you can make me weak.” He pulls his finger out and holds me in place as I thrash about, desperate for his touch. “Shh,” he soothes. “I need to slide you up.” With one arm around my waist, he pulls me in tighter and higher on his chest. Immediately his fingers are teasing around the edge of my sex.
“Roy,” I pant.
And mercifully, his finger glides inside me and another is at the edge, joining the other.
My chest arches up. My hips tuck back. I’m stretched too tight, but he doesn’t retreat, instead holds steady and all the while kissing along my neck and talking to me in a voice dripping with sin. His leg wraps over mine, opening my legs wider to him, and he slides his fingers out and back in. Further this time, and I relax into it until like a cobra strike, there is a lightning flash of pain, needle sharp. I fight him, trying to get away, but he’s got me in his tight grip.
“Shh, it’s alright. Relax into it.” His mouth at my neck and fingers on my breast ease me. “It’s done. It’s over. Only pleasure now,” he murmurs in my ear. “Let me make you come.”
He slides deep, so deep inside me. In and out, and my hips follow the tempo in a slow grind. It could be seconds or minutes or hours, I have no idea how long he keeps this up. So good, it’s so fucking good.
My arms fall up and back, and my hands rake through his hair. My world has narrowed into nothing but my breathing, my sex, my breasts, his mouth at my neck, and his hair tangled between my fingers. My ears are filled with a rushing sound like that of the ocean as it surges and ebbs against the shore.
His fingers go even deeper, curl back, and press against something inside me. At first, it’s uncomfortable, almost like I have to pee. Until the sensation changes into something transcendent, and ripples of pleasure flood my body and mind. Over and over he continues, stretching me, filling me, completing me, and with each pass, I pant and whimper until I’m at the tipping point, teetering back and forth between agony and ecstasy.
Until, he presses hard and rubs against the sensitive spot inside me, and I jolt and stiffen. I can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t see as I’m caught in an in-between world until the coil inside me is sprung, and my body releases and I’m screaming out his name and grinding my hips against his hand.
Roy’s sliding me between the sheets when I come back to the world. Did I faint? I must have. It was the most intense thing I’ve ever felt. Almost too much to bear, but I want to do it again and again.
“Do you want something to drink?” he asks, stroking my hair back from my face.
I yawn and wrap the comforter tighter around me. “No. I’m so tired.” Like when I was a child and would spend the day at the community pool and come home famished and collapse in bed.
His kiss is soft on my lips. “You’re glorious when you come.”
It’s hard, but I force my eyelids open. Roy’s hair is messy, wet and going in all directions. His eyes are bright, like a naughty boy who’s gotten into the cookie jar. “I’m sorry.”
“Whatever for?”
“I can’t stay awake, and I want to fondle you. It’s not fair you’ve got another set of blue balls.”
His laugh rolls off his lips. “Get some rest and dream of me.”