Val stomps her little foot. “Are you serious? Why would it bother me to have my husband fucking other people?”
My husband.
I push off the wall and stalk toward her. “Say that again,” I growl.
She steps back, bumping into the open dresser drawer. “What?”
“Call me your husband.” I stop right in front of her.
Val shoves at my chest. “No.”
“Say it. And I’ll tell you whose room this is.”
“Are you serious?” Her jaw clenches, but I know I have her.
I lean closer. “Deadly.”
She glares right into my eyes. “My husband, explain whose stuff this is before I start throwing it off the balcony. I won’t have some skank’s stuff under my roof.”
Her tone is acidic, and she’s trying to be a brat, but I’m too focused on her words again.
My roof.
She’s still trying to push me away, but while she’s busy shoving, her walls are falling. Because my husband and my roof… She’s starting to accept this, even if she doesn’t realize it.
Instead of bringing it to her attention, I breathe in her scent and tell her the truth. “This is my mother’s room.”
As always, Val wears her emotions on her face, and I can see her surprise.
I point behind me. “That’s my mother’s bra you threw at me.”
Her mouth forms an O.
“Yeah. Oh.” The top buttons of my shirt are undone, and I flick the material aside, giving Valentine a clear view of her name. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear when I tattooed your name across my fucking throat. This”—I tap the letters—“is so everyone knows who I belong to.”
I’ve never given someone this sort of claim over me, and it feels fantastic.
“And inking the last words of my vow to you above my fucking dick.” I reach down and cup my hand over the front of my pants. “That’s all for you, Angel. So when you’re ready to wrap those lips around my cock and take me into your throat, you’ll be eye level with my promise to you. Even on your knees, I’ll still be yours.”
CHAPTER 35
Val
I’m so fucked.
CHAPTER 36
Dom
She’s so close to cracking and letting me back in, and I fucking love it.
But I don’t want to ruin it. I can’t push too hard.
I take a step back. “If you can put that bra back, I don’t really feel like picking up my mother’s underwear. Then come downstairs. I brought food since you never ordered lunch.”
Val doesn’t say anything as I exit the room, and I consider it a victory.
It doesn’t take her long to come downstairs and find me in the kitchen. But she’s looking at the takeout containers on the counter, not meeting my eyes.
“Gyros and fries,” I tell her as she nears the island. “They’re both the same so grab either one.”
Val pulls a stool out, but she’s a little short for it, so she has to use the bar across the bottom to climb on.
I don’t laugh.
“What do you want to drink?” I open the fridge. “I got root beer.”
She finally looks up at me. “What kind?”
I pull one of the glass bottles out and show her the label of her favorite brand.
“How… Is this another thing you asked me on our wedding night?”
Her attitude is understandable, but it still pisses me off that it’s her first assumption.
“No.” I shut the refrigerator. “You mentioned it to me once on the phone.” I twist the cap off and set it in front of her.
She’s quiet for a long moment, and when she rolls her shoulders back, I think she’s going to start eating. But she asks a question instead.
“Is there a room I can use for some privacy?”
My spine stiffens. “For what?”
“If you must know, I have a therapy appointment that starts in fifteen minutes, and I’d like some privacy for it.”
“Oh.” I don’t even know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that.
She reads my reaction wrong and balls her hands into fists. “This is my monthly session, and I want to keep it. I need to talk to someone. And she’s already told me that she’ll be out of office for the month of December.”
“Valentine—”
“I won’t tell her anything about you, so you don’t have to worry—”
She cut me off, so I return the favor. “Shorty.” That shuts her up. “You can always talk to me.” I can see her retort building, but I keep talking. “But of course you can have your therapy. If you’d told me sooner, we could’ve flown back so you could go in person.”