My pulse kicks up as he retrieves the gown from the floor and lifts my arms before he pulls it down, the silk caressing me as it slides down my frame, where it hangs mid-thigh.
He steps back. “Exquise.”
I bite my lip as the atmosphere swirling around us thickens just before he plucks his wallet from his pants and tosses a few hundred dollars on the bed behind me. He sees the insult his action causes and palms me flush to his side, his thumb sliding along my hip when he speaks, his voice heated. “I didn’t know where you got the dress, so I couldn’t replace it. But the negligee felt like you. Soft,” he presses a kiss below my ear, “sensual,” and another, “delicate,” he pulls back to weigh my reaction before licking along my bottom lip, “beautiful.” He releases me and steps back, eyes searing me before he turns and leaves me staring after him, covered in silk, thoroughly seduced, and utterly perplexed.
I rinse a day of work away, opting to call Christy tomorrow. I don’t even know what to tell her at this point. I’ve been in a daze, just going through the motions since Tobias left me with his confession. Even Melinda has left me alone with my thoughts as I made it through my last few shifts on autopilot.
More and more, I’ve become attuned to my surroundings after my shifts at the plant, fearful at times despite those flanking me to get to their cars and back home. Even though I know I’m being watched, and am under Tobias’s protection, I sometimes get a sinking feeling. More and more, my dreams are becoming nightmares, and more often than not, sleep is starting to evade me. Whether it be guilt for the part I’m playing in my father’s downfall or the lover I’ve taken, or the scary truths that have been revealed to me, something is off.
I’m to the point where I trust nothing and no one.
I told Tobias he feared me as much as he hated me, but with the way he left me days ago, it’s clear he’s attempting to turn the tables and paint himself in a better image.
I refuse to believe him. He’s far too deceptive for his apology to have been authentic. I have to chalk his sudden change in behavior as an attempt at more manipulation. There’s something he wants, and I have to figure out what it is and whether it’s worth it for me.
His sudden change of heart is too convenient, too far-fetched to consider. He was convincing, I’ll give him that, but I will not fall victim to him or his performance. Fool me twice.
I will not be played again. No matter how much I desire him.
The more I think about my conversation with him, the more curious I become about his fear of us being discovered.
Would they even care at this point?
It’s been nearly nine months of utter silence.
But something in Tobias’s confession alluded to the fact they would care—very much—about us sleeping together. And still, days pass without a word, without a trace they exist.
During our conversation at the clearing though, Tobias couldn’t be sure. He assumed that necklace came from Dominic.
Why?
What is he not telling me? That’s what I have to figure out.
But his admission to me was ammunition against him, and he said he wouldn’t fight me on it. He gave me a grenade and put my finger in the pin with the option to pull. I don’t see that playing to his advantage from any angle unless he thinks he can manipulate me into keeping our secret.
Or maybe confessing is exactly what he wants me to do.
Maybe that’s his motive.
The man is a walking mindfuck.
I’m in the midst of rinsing out my conditioner when a sudden but distinct electricity spikes my awareness.
Clearing my eyes, I peer through the glass door and spot Tobias standing just outside of it, gloriously naked while unmistakable thirst is evident in his expression. The second our eyes connect, all my thoughts fall away as my libido takes the wheel.
Might as well enjoy hell together.
He opens the door and steps in, just as I reach for him and our mouths collide. His kiss is ruthless, his tongue delving into every corner of my hungry mouth, and I return it with equal fervor. In seconds he’s inside of me, his mouth latched to my neck as he furiously fucks me against the heated tiles until I go limp in his arms just before he jerks his hips and stills, emptying inside of me. “Putain. Putain. You feel so fucking good,” he rasps, just before he draws my lips into a dizzying kiss. I drag my nails down his back and through his hair when he jerks away from my touch. It’s then I see that his hair is soaked, and it’s not from the shower spray. A drop of crimson hits his shoulder and I gasp when I realize he’s bleeding.