Elastic Hearts (Hearts #3)(88)

He moved closer, standing between my legs. “My dream? You don’t know anything about my dreams. You never asked me what I wanted.”

“You never asked me. You broke up with me. You broke things off because you were afraid you’d lose your precious career.”

He closed his eyes and let out a harsh breath that caressed my face.

“You made me think that us being with other people was the right thing to do, so I went and saw other people, like you did,” I added.

“I didn’t see anybody else, Nicole. All I ever saw was you.”

“I saw the way you kissed that blonde. Not Mia, but that other one, the one you took to the office party.”

He growled. “Fuck that girl.”

I tilted me head and shot him a look. “Did you?”

“No! Christ, Nicole. How could you even ask me that?”

“How could I not?” I said, my voice breaking a little. “How could I not, Victor?”

He placed his palm against my cheek and tilted my face so I could look into his eyes. “I would never do that to you. Ever. Did I kiss her? Yes. For pictures. That was all.”

“It hurt,” I said, swallowing back that damn lump of emotion. “It hurt a lot.”

His gaze fell over my features, appraising me for a long moment, and during those seconds I saw his expression thaw and his posture relax. He lowered his forehead to mine.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered. “Seeing you with Brent at the office hurt too. So did seeing you with Gabriel f*cking Lane in every news outlet available while you guys were off in Argentina visiting your mom. Did you think that would be easy for me?”

“I didn’t know what to think,” I whispered. He held my face with his hand.

“It was f*cking brutal,” he said, lowering his hand and setting it over the elastic corset I’d made. He tucked a finger underneath it and snapped at it. “I’m not this,” he said. “I don’t stretch. I don’t mold. I don’t conform, and despite what people say about my career, I’m not a liar. So when I tell you I’m in love with you, Nicole, it’s because I’m in f*cking love with you. And when I barge into your dad’s office to tell him I’m more in love with his daughter than I’ll ever be with my career, it’s a big f*cking deal.”

My heart stopped as I processed his words, and I found that no amount of swallowing or blinking was going to keep my tears at bay. He cradled my face with both hands and wiped my tears away with his thumbs.

“You said that to my dad?” I whispered. He nodded, bringing his mouth down to mine and placing a chaste kiss on it. I leaned forward to try to get another, but he moved. “So they really might demote you because of me?”

“Not because of you, baby. It has nothing to do with you,” he said.

“But you just said—”

His lips curled into a small smile. “Okay, it has everything to do with you, but it’s not your fault. I made my choice. I’m surprised your dad didn’t tell you when you spoke to him.”

“Well,” I said, eyes wide, “he asked me if there was anything going on between us and I denied it, and then he said you argued and left and . . . yeah, I don’t know. He didn’t make it sound very good.” I paused, searching his face. “I am so sorry.”

“Not your fault.”

“I can talk to him.”

“I have a meeting on Monday. I’ll plead my case and see what they say. If they don’t want me as partner, then it wasn’t meant to be.”

“How can you say that?”

He didn’t answer me. Instead, he bent down and kissed my temple. Just once, but the gesture somehow gave me the answer I needed.

“Are you staying?” he asked. “For good?”

“What does for good mean?” I asked.

“It means for good. That you’re mine and no one else’s. No more f*cking around.”

“Are you mine and no one else’s?”

He smiled, caressing my face with his thumb as he brought his lips down to mine. “Always yours. I was never anybody else’s.” That tone. It made me think of the time he’d begged me to scream that I was his. When he’d pounded into me with a ferocity I’d only experienced with him. Just thinking about it had my heart racing. He loved me. He was in f*cking love with me.

“Hmm,” I said, moaning when I felt his mouth on my neck, his hand crawling up my leg and under my skirt. “You mean I finally caught the untamable Victor Reuben?”

He chuckled against my chest, his other hand pulling my panties hard and ripping them off. I gasped, startling a little, and when he started moving his fingers inside me and using his thumb on my clit, I threw my head back.

“The untamable Victor Reuben,” he said, nipping my cleavage. “Take your tits out and I’ll show you how tame I am.”

I pulled the top of my bustier down, and uttered an unintelligible “oh my God” when I felt his mouth on my left nipple as his fingers moved inside me. I was all nerve endings, all feelings, no holds barred as he played my body with his fingers, his tongue.

“I’m going to fall,” I said, feeling my toes curling with an impending orgasm. “I haven’t . . . oh my God . . . that’s so good . . . you’re so good . . . oh my God. Victor!”