My heart is pounding as I stand outside of Croix's beach house. The wind whips my trench coat around my legs. A shiver rolls down my spine, and all I can think about is the warmth of being in his arms.
Tonight is the night that I let it all go—that I expose myself on such an emotional level that there's no going back. My conversation with Cindy earlier struck a chord within my heart. I need to cherish those I still have in my life. I need to let my walls down. I'm not sure if I'm really ready for it, but I want to be. I need this, because I need him. I need Croix to know that he's a part of my life that I just can't do without.
I hear the tapping of his footsteps as they approach. I hold my breath as the door swings open, and I see him standing there. His eyes rake up and down my outfit before settling on my face. Then his expression softens, perhaps noticing that I'm not smiling. I can't smile. There's just too much going on inside of me.
“Well, isn't this a surprise,” he says with a half-cocked grin.
It is a surprise. I wasn't supposed to see him tonight, but need drove me over here. Drove me to put on the lingerie that I had bought for his birthday and top it with a trench coat.
My eyes meet his, playing over his handsome face. He looks delicious as usual in gray slacks and a white button-down shirt. The first two top buttons are unclasped, and he's not wearing shoes. It means he's winding down for the night.
I hope he's ready to be wound back up.
My lips tremble slightly as I force the words out, words I've felt for a while but have been too afraid to say until now. “I love you.”
He reaches forward to take my hands in his. “I know you do.”
It's not the reaction I expected, and I'm admittedly a bit disappointed.
“How do you know?” I ask, quirking my head to the side.
“Because you put up with me.”
“That's not a good answer, Croix.” I scowl, annoyed that he's making light of my feelings.
He draws my hand up to his chest. “Because I've felt it here.”
“It could have been indigestion.” I match his sarcasm, pulling my hand away.
He grabs me by the wrists and yanks me to him, causing my body to crash against his. He wraps his arms around me, caging me in. My gaze meets his, and the intensity of it makes me weak in the knees.
“Alright, I lied. I didn't know you loved me. But I've spent a long time pretending that you do because the thought that you don't love me breaks my heart. The thought of you not loving me hurts so badly that there's no other option in my mind than to believe that you do. And now that I know you do...” He shakes his head, his eyes falling to my lips. “I can't even describe how happy that makes me.”
My heart flutters from his words. Much better.
“Do you know why I'm here?” I smirk.
“I don't care why you're here. I'm just glad you're here.”
I pull away from him slightly. He seems reluctant to let me go.
I try my best to be sexy as I start unbuttoning the trench coat. “I came here to give you the other half of your birthday present.”
“Telling me that you love me is better than any other birthday present you could have possibly given me.” He keeps his eyes fixed on mine, showing me that he's sincere.
“Are you so sure about that?” I expose the top of the lacy baby doll to him. Finally, his gaze dips, and I can almost feel the shift in the mood between us.
“Well, I'm not opposed to more presents.” He steps up to me, slipping a hand around my waist, his neck craned to peek inside of the trench coat.
I lean in to whisper into his ear, my index finger looping around the front of his belt. “This will be a birthday present that you'll never forget.”
“It already has been.”
***
As soon as I finish unbuttoning my trench coat, I jump on Croix and wrap my legs around his hips. He holds me to him, kissing me desperately. I fist my hand in his hair, matching his heat. The love that we feel for each other only seems to amplify the intensity of our coupling.
When he takes me into the bedroom and his cock plunges between my legs, my back arches off of the bed. We cling to each other like lovers weathering a storm. There's no time for anything besides being together. Foreplay goes out the window, usurped by the need to become one.
Tiny gasps escape my lips as he pushes into me again and again, his girth filling me as completely as his love does. It feels like we were made for each other. Everything is so right that nothing could tear us asunder.
Pleasure surges through me when he picks up the pace. Croix's voice is a low growl as he pounds into me until his body can't take it anymore. The friction drives me over the edge, and as my pussy clamps down on his dick, he spurts into me.
We pant together on the bed. He rests on top of me, and I hold him in my arms, kissing his hair and rubbing his back. Even though I just climaxed, I'm still highly aroused. Everything is like an aphrodisiac to me. Knowing how exhausted he is. Smelling him. The scent of sex that permeates the room.
When I take Croix's face in my hands and kiss him, he knows I'm ready for round two. I'm impressed by his ability to instantly get hard again. It makes me feel good to know that I turn him on so much.
We rut like animals mating for the first time. He takes me from behind, and I push my hips back against him, wanting to feel all of him.
“Holy fuck, Raven. When you do that...” He tries to back off, but I give chase. He doesn't have time to finish his sentence before he's coming again.
A wicked smirk contorts my lips as I rotate my hips, pushing back against him and milking out his orgasm. There's an extreme sense of pride in knowing that I can get him off so quickly.
“I own your body,” I whisper lustily.
“I'm all yours.” He tilts his head back, breathing out the words.
We bask in the afterglow together. Croix pulls me into his arms, and I feel his heartbeat drumming in his chest. I'm spent as well and so high on just being with him. I don't ever want to come down.
***
“I think I'm ready,” I tell Croix the next day as we're eating breakfast together.
“Ready for what?” He dips his spoon into his cereal.
“Ready to meet your daughter.” Just saying it makes me feel nervous. I need to integrate myself into his life, though. Fully integrate myself into his life. His daughter is a big part of his life. I can't have Croix without Beverly.
A broad smile stretches across his lips. “Good. I want you to meet her.”
“I'm less excited about seeing Kenzi again,” I admit, cocking my head to the side.
“It doesn't have to be unpleasant between you two, Raven. You can still be friends.” He glances at me over his spoon before shoving it into his mouth.
“Friends,” I huff. “That girl would jump on your dick again if you gave her half the chance.”
He gives me a sarcastic look.
“I'm serious. Trust me. I'm a woman, and I know when a woman wants a man. She wants you. You might not see it, but I do.” I point my spoon at him.
“Regardless if she wants me or not, I only want you.” He sets his spoon down to reach across the table for my hand. “Only you. I want you to be a part of my life—part of my daughter's life. But Kenzi is always going to be there too. That's just something you'll have to accept.”
“I have accepted it.” I nod. “That doesn't mean I have to be friends with her.”
“Baby steps.” He scrunches up his nose.
I roll my eyes at him.
Me wanting to meet his daughter is not a baby step. It's a huge leap in a direction I never thought I'd see myself going in. It means that I've accepted him completely. All of him. Even the parts that I'm not so fond of. It means that I'm serious about having a life with him.
***
“So how are things here?” I sit across from Raj in his office at The Billionaires Club—the office that used to be mine.
Croix is stuck in a teleconference with Bruno Dunne right now, so I figured I'd take some time to visit Raj since I haven't spoken to him in a while.
“Good. They're good.” He bobs his head, leaning forward to turn off his computer monitor.
“Watching porn at work?” I tease him.
“You know it.” He gives me a toothy grin. “I had cameras installed in all of the rooms so I can see exactly what's going on.”
“Raj!” My mouth falls agape.
“Just kidding. Just kidding.” He waves away the joke.
For a split second, I actually believed him. That would be a major violation to the clients. Illegal, even.
“Do you really think I would do something like that?” He arches a thick brow.
I exhale with a laugh, knowing he's not that type of guy. “No, I suppose not.”
“Geez. Sometimes I think you have no faith in me.” He shakes his head.
“Seriously, though. How are you enjoying all of...this?” I look around the office.
“It's fine. There's nothing overly complicated to work on here. Just keeping the cogs turning as you would for any other business.” His voice takes a serious turn, though it only lasts for a second. “But I have to admit that seeing all of the women coming in and out of this place makes me want to do more than administrative volunteering.”
“The option is always there.” I flick a wadded up piece of paper on his desk. While he's kept the walls bare, the desk is pretty much a cluttered mess. There are papers strewn all about in a disorderly manner. A few empty soda cans sit precariously close to the edge of the desk. Just a few inches over and they could be in the wastebasket beside the desk. I don't understand how people can be so messy sometimes.
“It is. And who knows, maybe eventually I'll give it a go. Maybe I'll even find my wife here.” He gazes out the window for a moment as if dreaming of the perfect woman.
“You never know.” I smirk.
“Croix found you here, right?” He turns his attention back to me.
I think of reminding him that I wasn't a client, but it doesn't really matter. “Yes, he did.”
“Then I suppose that anything can happen.”