The Tyrant (Banker #3)(31)

She closed the book and rested it on her lap. “You know it’ll be a few weeks before—”

“That’s not what I mean. I just want you…I miss you.” I went from being a playboy to a one-woman kind of man. Now my affection for this woman fueled my entire existence. While she was in another room, I could easily watch porn without her knowing about it. Or when I was at work, I could skip off and fuck someone else. Even if I could get away with any of those things, I never wanted to. This was the only woman I wanted. “I miss both of you.”

“How am I supposed to fix that?”

“Let me sleep with you.” I used to force her into her own bedroom because I didn’t want to share my space—or my heart. But now I was used to having her beside me. I was used to that quiet breathing, her perfume, and knowing I was always there if she needed me.

She debated her answer silently, like she still wasn’t ready to be what we were. It would take time to earn back her trust, if I ever did. It would take time to earn her affection. But I hoped I wouldn’t have to earn back her love. “Alright.”

It was the first time I’d had to beg a woman to sleep with me.

I moved to the other side of the bed and got under the covers, careful not to wake Martina. She was close to Siena, so I was able to slip into the bed without shifting the mattress too much.

Siena opened her book again.

I turned on my side and watched her read while Martina was oblivious to my presence. Now that I had these girls in my life, I truly understood how lonely I’d been before, how empty that existence had been. It was night after night of good sex, but the memory didn’t last long before it was replaced by another. There was no substance to it, only bragging rights. “You were right about everything you said to me all those months ago… That’s why I stayed. That’s why the others faded away.”

She kept her book on her stomach but turned to look at me.

“You looked past my image and saw all the emptiness behind it. When other people see success, money, sex, you see the truth—loneliness, despair, emptiness. You knew I had everything, but I also had nothing. I couldn’t get angry about that because I knew you were right. You saw me for who I really was—and I was never the same.”

She held my gaze, the emotion lingering under the surface.

“You made me a better man, Siena. It’s taken a while for it to kick in…but you have.”

A slight smile stretched over her lips as she closed the book she was reading. She set it on the nightstand and turned off the lamp before she got comfortable next to me, turning on her side so she could face me. “It’s baby. Call me baby.”





We weren’t back to normal, but at least things were better than they were before. She moved her stuff back into my bedroom and resumed sleeping with me every night. She started to put Martina in her crib and listen to her cry for an hour without retrieving her.

Siena was strong.

“I hate listening to her cry,” she whispered as the baby monitor kept projecting the sound of Martina’s screams. “But she needs to get used to being alone.”

“She’s only a few weeks old…”

“The sooner, the better. Teaches her independence.”

I didn’t like it either, but I agreed it was the best parenting move. And it gave us the bed to ourselves. Sex was off the table until she healed, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t do other things. Right now, there was only one thing I wanted to do.

Kiss her.

I hiked her leg over my hip and moved my mouth close to hers. My mouth brushed her lips and I tested the waters first, to see if she would coldly reject me or warmly welcome me. I rubbed my nose along hers and pulled her tighter against me, wanting her to feel how aroused she made me. It didn’t matter that her body had changed after carrying my baby. I wanted her as much as I had before.

When she didn’t push me away, I kissed her.

Slow and easy, I moved my mouth with hers. I felt her lips with mine, sucked in her bottom lip with subtle aggression. Then I caressed her top lip with both my mouth and my tongue. I took my time because it’d been so long since I’d had this intimacy with her. I wanted to slow down time and appreciate those perfect lips.

I rolled her to her back and kept going, my hand digging into her hair. The heat cranked up almost instantly, setting us both on fire. I kissed her harder and deeper, my cock so hard it wanted to split in two.

I missed this.

I missed the passion, the chemistry.

I never had this kind of affection with anyone else, when I wanted to kiss a woman and never stop.

My hand moved between her legs, and I felt her clit through her panties. That little nub had been unavailable for so long. Now I circled it with my fingers, making her draw a sharp breath at the intensity. I wanted to slip my fingers inside her to feel her grow wet for me, but I steered clear of her healing flesh. I continued my kisses as I fondled her clit, breathing deeply into her mouth as I pushed her into a climax that made her hips buck. She rocked against my hand as she moaned into my mouth, her nails slicing me deeper than usual. It’d been just as long for her as it’d been for me, and she crumbled apart until she was a mess of sexual satisfaction.

Maybe she wouldn’t be so mad at me anymore.

Just because we couldn’t have sex didn’t mean I couldn’t make her toes curl.