“You startled me.” She pushed up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek. “But I’ve always known you were a stalker.” She feigned playful and draped her arms around his neck, but his stare was all over her, as if he was waiting for her to tell him the truth. All she wanted to do was ‘fess up, but she wouldn’t. “Speaking of stalker, how did you get a key to the suite?” Emily knew it was a poor attempt at a subject change, but she was grasping at anything to keep Gavin’s attention from Dillon.
“I called Colton from my house and told him to add my name to the reservation.” Gavin leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead. “So, what happened the night you left him?”
Emily swallowed back the bile rising in her throat and clenched the sheet to her chest. She looked at him from beneath her lashes. “Nothing really happened.”
Gavin pulled back, his expression tight with skepticism. “Nothing? He just let you walk out the door and didn’t say a word?”
She grappled for an answer as she crossed the room. Sinking onto the bed, she slid a stare back at him and shrugged. “Yes. I left his townhouse after he fell asleep, stopped by your place, and then went back to my apartment. He came over the morning of the wedding, and we got into an argument. In the middle of it, my sister and her husband showed up, and Michael made him leave. That’s it.”
Forehead creased, Gavin palmed the back of his neck and stepped closer. “And he hasn’t bothered you at all?”
“No, he hasn’t.” One truth she could admit. Shockingly, other than Joan calling to b.i.t.c.h her out after bailing Dillon out of jail, Emily hadn’t seen or heard from him since the cops dragged him out of her apartment.
Gavin closed the distance and knelt in front of Emily. His hands glided effortlessly under the sheets to grip her waist. “You would tell me if anything had happened, right?”
Nearly paralyzed by her lie, Emily struggled against tears. She lifted her hand to his face, cradled his cheek, and nodded. “Of course I would,” she whispered.
Rubbing his thumbs in slow circles on her skin, he closed his eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you told him. You shouldn’t have had to do it on your own.”
“Gavin, no,” she choked out, standing. She buried her hands in his hair and pulled his face to her stomach. Looking down at him, guilt thudded through her heart as she watched him kiss her flesh. He clenched her waist tighter, his mouth urgent. His guilt seared her stomach. “Please, Gavin, I was fine. You thought I’d married him. Please don’t do this to yourself.” Emily sank down on his lap and wrapped her legs around his waist.
“I’m so f.u.c.king sorry, baby.” Gavin kissed her deeper as he scooted back against the nightstand. “I shouldn’t have left. We said we were going to tell him together.”
Emily tore her mouth from his and took his face in her hands. Tears broke loose as she stared into his eyes. “Please stop,” she begged. Heat whipped over her flesh as she fitted his heavily veined d.i.c.k between her wet folds. A paradox of the worst kind splintered through her as she relished feeling him inside her. Blinding and beautiful, in that moment, Gavin owned her and she owned him, yet guilt held them both captive, its chains heavy, exhausting.
Eyes flaring with hunger, Gavin’s kiss became possessive as he licked into her mouth, taking total domination of her body. His every muscle hardened, tightening his arms around Emily’s waist. He consumed her flesh, pulsing energy colliding with their love and chemistry as he filled her thicker, deeper.
Quickly, with reckless abandon, Emily fell into every sensation Gavin bestowed. His eyes controlled her very soul. His touch filled her inner being. It was then, in that moment, she knew she had to remove every speck of guilt from Gavin’s body.
She only prayed she could.
CHAPTER SIX
Sunlight peeked over the horizon and streamed into the bedroom as Gavin lay awake, soaking in the sound of Emily’s sleeping body. She was curled on her side, both hands tucked under the pillow, as his eyes traced every line of her face. G.o.d, she looked sweet, an angel so beautiful next to him. Wanting to reach out and touch her, he blew out a breath and resisted the urge, deciding to let her sleep. He watched, mesmerized, his mind replaying the last few weeks as the exhaustion of it all lifted from his chest. Each complicated, tangled layer they’d started off with disappeared. A smile lifted the corners of his lips as Emily burrowed against him. She let out a sleepy sigh and snuggled closer, her leg coming up over his thigh. f.u.c.k. All good intentions of allowing her to sleep were demolished. Gone.
Rolling her naked body into his arms and onto his chest, Gavin fused their lips together and held her tight. “I tried. I honestly did.”
A purr of pleasure crawled up her throat as her eyes fluttered open. Smile on her face, she c.o.c.ked a brow. “My a.s.s.”
“The a.s.s that’s officially owned by me?” Gavin caressed his hands down her waist, settling on said a.s.s. “This one? Ah, yes. Yes, this one. I love this a.s.s.”
“Owned?” Emily playfully questioned.
“Yes… owned. Never to be leased by another. I’m king landlord, sweets.” He nipped her lip, and she laughed. “I don’t take checks, but I do accept most forms of foreplay and s.e.x as payment.”
Emily filtered her fingers through his hair and shook her head. She wiggled her a.s.s that’d been thoughtfully cupped in his hands. “I only do wild, hanging from a chandelier s.e.x.”
“Mmm, that’s a tough one.” Gavin bit his lip, primal satisfaction gla.s.sing his eyes. “I’ll accept your offer as long as I can rope you to the chandelier and have my way with you in whatever way I please.”