Beneath This Man (This Man, #2)(65)

Oh…dear.

My new diamante embellished vibrator is in a million pieces all over the far end of the bedroom floor and there’s a hole in the wall opposite the bed. The bedroom is vast, so he must have lobbed it with some force. I’m suddenly thinking that leaving before he got free was a decision well made.

I look across the room to the bed and see the handcuffs still dangling from the headboard, mental images of Jesse flying into a rage instantly starting to assault my brain. This man has issues – big, unreasonable, bloody issues…with control…with me.

I kneel and collect up all of the pieces, taking them to the bathroom and depositing them in the bin before I start running a bath. Picking up the calla lilies that are in desperate need of some water, I make my way back downstairs.

I get halfway down and hear the front door shut quietly, and I’m halted in my tracks as I watch Jesse come into view. He stops at the bottom of the stairs and looks up at me, his handsome face expressionless and his usually bright eyes a little glazed. He removes his suit jacket and reaches up, undoing his shirt buttons slowly as he watches me. His shirt gets removed and dropped to the floor to join his jacket, as does his shoes, socks, trousers and boxers. My eyes are pulled to the red marks around his wrists when he removes his Rolex. He throws it on top of his pile of clothes. I’m never handcuffing him again.

‘You’re not laying a finger on me until you tell me who that woman was.’ This might take all of strength, especially if he starts the countdown or hits me with a Jesse style f*ck, but I’m not backing down here.

‘I don’t know.’ His face is completely expressionless.

‘So you’ve not asked Clive to stop me from looking at the CCTV?’

He almost smiles, but he must know because Clive would most certainly have mentioned me prying. ‘My beautiful girl is ruthless.’

‘My God is evasive.’ I retort quietly.

‘Ava, if I didn’t need you all over me right now, I’d be challenging you.’

‘But you do so you’ll tell me.’

‘I slept with her.’

I’m not looking surprised because I had already figured that much out. ‘So why was she here?’

‘Because she heard I was missing.’ He doesn’t hesitate.

‘That’s it. She was worried?’

He shrugs. ‘Yes. That’s it. Now I get you all over me.’

Oh. Okay. What do I say? I asked, he told. ‘Why didn’t you just tell me this before?’

He shrugs. ‘Because it was no big deal until you made it one.’

He starts up the stairs slowly, completely naked and stunningly spectacular, and scoops me up without stopping, prompting me to drop the flowers and wrap myself around his body. ‘You made it a big deal by evading my questions.’

He doesn’t reply. I also want to rip strips off him for trampling my day. I want to stamp and scream in a temper, but I can’t seem to find the strength or the inclination to do it. He talked, and now I just want him all over me. My mind is fuzzy, but my body is fizzing…for him.

He places me on my feet and starts slowly undressing me, watching his hands work over my clothes as I stand quietly and let him do his thing. Why is he so forlorn? It’s me who has endured his challenging ways all day. He’s like a lucky bag of emotions and moods. I would have put my money on a retribution f*ck after my performance this morning, but instead, I’m confronted with gentle, soft Jesse. I don’t mind. I need soft and loving right now.

My bra is removed and my ankles tapped in the usual fashion so he can remove my knickers. Once we’re both naked, he takes me down to the thick, cream carpet and swaths me in his body, burying his face deep in my neck and breathing me into him. I mirror him and take my own hit of minty fresh water loveliness, wrapping my arms firmly around his back to pull him closer, eradicating any space that may have been between us.

We lie on the floor in the middle of the bedroom and hold each other for the longest time. I stare up at the ceiling and stroke his hair, taking all of my comfort from his strong heartbeat thudding against my chest.

‘I’ve missed you.’ he mumbles into my neck.

I shudder when I feel his hot tongue running circles around the delicate flesh under my ear. We’ve been apart for less than five hours. I would say he was unreasonable, but I have missed him too. Even though I was mad at him, I still found myself back here instead of Kate’s.

‘I missed you too. Thank you for the flowers.’

‘You’re welcome.’ He kisses up to my lips and scatters light pecks all over me before brushing my hair from my face. He gazes down at me. ‘I want to drag you to a desert island and have you all to myself forever.’

‘Okay. With the absence of other people, there will be no need for any trampling like behaviour.’

His lips twitch at the corners and his eyes regain a bit of twinkle. He drops a kiss on my lips and rolls us over so I’m straddling his hips. I can feel the evidence of his mood wedged between our bodies and it triggers all of the usual desperate needs for him. My nipples pucker under his watchful eye and his grin widens into his signature, melt worthy smile, reserved only for women. I want it to be reserved only for me. An unreasonable pang of possessiveness assaults me.

‘I f*cking love you.’ he sighs.

‘I know you do.’ I circle my palms over his chest and pinch his nipple. ‘I love you, too.’