I wanted you to have it.” A rusty, self-deprecating
laugh escaped her. “My God. I was so naïve. So stupid. All the men I could have
been with, men who wanted a chance to love me, and I turned them all down
because I had this dream in my head of the two of us and how good it would be.”
She spun around then, her eyes flashing fire. “And it was so
incredibly good. So fucking hot I thought I would literally melt,” she snarled,
her expression almost feral with defiance and pain. “Even you can’t deny how
good it’s been between us. The chemistry is perfect. No one will ever measure
up to you now, but you knew that when you brought me up here. You knew you
would spoil me for anyone else, as if I wasn’t already ruined.”
Bitterness dripped from her every word, and Aric stood in
stunned silence trying to make sense out of them. At first, his head filled
with images of her with other men, men who touched her and licked her and put
themselves inside her. And the man who’d taken her virginity? He wanted to beat
the man bloody. His hands clenched into fists at his side. His thoughts were
irrational and he knew it, yet he couldn’t stop himself from thinking them.
“This was my last hurrah. I came here to give you everything
that I am, Aric. Give you what I would give no other man.”
She walked back toward him, her spine straight, her gaze
direct, the Ainsley he’d always known…and loved.
“I’ve given you my submission such as it is, my body, my
heart, and I can see that it’s changed absolutely nothing between us.”
Her chin tilted up defiantly, with that touch of insolence
that fired his blood. His cock stirred but he ignored it, his senses and
emotions completely captured by her.
“I came here to tell you I love you. I’m in love with
you. I always have been whether you wanted to see it or not. I used to try to
hide it from you, but not any longer. It’s part of who I am and I’ll be damned
if I’ll spare your feelings by hiding my own.”
Her voice rose slightly and the challenging expression in
her eyes made him ache to toss her over his shoulder and carry her back to bed.
But shock held him frozen as he tried to reconcile the fact that, despite his
big, bad Dom lifestyle, when it came to Ainsley, he’d been a fucking pussy for
years.
“Since we’re done here, I’ll just get my things and catch my
flight.” She turned away again. “I don’t think I’ll be coming home anymore.
There’s nothing here for me.”
Her long legs carried her into the bedroom so swiftly Aric
couldn’t gather his thoughts to stop her. His head rang with her words. She
loved him. She’d always loved him. Warmth spread in his chest. Happiness began
to overtake the panic and fear that had held him in its grip from the moment
she’d said she was leaving. She was his. She’d always been his. Possessiveness
exploded within him. She loves me. She’d subbed for no man but him. She
loves…me .
Over the years he’d rejected woman after woman, knowing
instinctively that none of them were right for him. He’d thought he just wasn’t
interested in a relationship, but the truth was that he wasn’t interested in a
relationship with them . The only woman he’d ever felt comfortable with
was Ainsley, but for years he’d told himself that he couldn’t bear to ruin
their friendship, that she wasn’t the kind of woman who could embrace a life of
kinky sex. She could never even play at being his sub. She was too strong, too
dominant herself. And he had been too fucking afraid to act on the emotion that
now seemed to seep from his very pores.
By the time Ainsley came out of the bedroom with her
overnight bag, Aric had marshaled his scattered and overwrought thoughts. He
knew exactly what he wanted and knew the lengths he would go in order to get
it. His gaze tracked her across the room. She pressed the button for the
elevator and stood fidgeting, waiting for it to come. She kept her face
resolutely turned away
laugh escaped her. “My God. I was so naïve. So stupid. All the men I could have
been with, men who wanted a chance to love me, and I turned them all down
because I had this dream in my head of the two of us and how good it would be.”
She spun around then, her eyes flashing fire. “And it was so
incredibly good. So fucking hot I thought I would literally melt,” she snarled,
her expression almost feral with defiance and pain. “Even you can’t deny how
good it’s been between us. The chemistry is perfect. No one will ever measure
up to you now, but you knew that when you brought me up here. You knew you
would spoil me for anyone else, as if I wasn’t already ruined.”
Bitterness dripped from her every word, and Aric stood in
stunned silence trying to make sense out of them. At first, his head filled
with images of her with other men, men who touched her and licked her and put
themselves inside her. And the man who’d taken her virginity? He wanted to beat
the man bloody. His hands clenched into fists at his side. His thoughts were
irrational and he knew it, yet he couldn’t stop himself from thinking them.
“This was my last hurrah. I came here to give you everything
that I am, Aric. Give you what I would give no other man.”
She walked back toward him, her spine straight, her gaze
direct, the Ainsley he’d always known…and loved.
“I’ve given you my submission such as it is, my body, my
heart, and I can see that it’s changed absolutely nothing between us.”
Her chin tilted up defiantly, with that touch of insolence
that fired his blood. His cock stirred but he ignored it, his senses and
emotions completely captured by her.
“I came here to tell you I love you. I’m in love with
you. I always have been whether you wanted to see it or not. I used to try to
hide it from you, but not any longer. It’s part of who I am and I’ll be damned
if I’ll spare your feelings by hiding my own.”
Her voice rose slightly and the challenging expression in
her eyes made him ache to toss her over his shoulder and carry her back to bed.
But shock held him frozen as he tried to reconcile the fact that, despite his
big, bad Dom lifestyle, when it came to Ainsley, he’d been a fucking pussy for
years.
“Since we’re done here, I’ll just get my things and catch my
flight.” She turned away again. “I don’t think I’ll be coming home anymore.
There’s nothing here for me.”
Her long legs carried her into the bedroom so swiftly Aric
couldn’t gather his thoughts to stop her. His head rang with her words. She
loved him. She’d always loved him. Warmth spread in his chest. Happiness began
to overtake the panic and fear that had held him in its grip from the moment
she’d said she was leaving. She was his. She’d always been his. Possessiveness
exploded within him. She loves me. She’d subbed for no man but him. She
loves…me .
Over the years he’d rejected woman after woman, knowing
instinctively that none of them were right for him. He’d thought he just wasn’t
interested in a relationship, but the truth was that he wasn’t interested in a
relationship with them . The only woman he’d ever felt comfortable with
was Ainsley, but for years he’d told himself that he couldn’t bear to ruin
their friendship, that she wasn’t the kind of woman who could embrace a life of
kinky sex. She could never even play at being his sub. She was too strong, too
dominant herself. And he had been too fucking afraid to act on the emotion that
now seemed to seep from his very pores.
By the time Ainsley came out of the bedroom with her
overnight bag, Aric had marshaled his scattered and overwrought thoughts. He
knew exactly what he wanted and knew the lengths he would go in order to get
it. His gaze tracked her across the room. She pressed the button for the
elevator and stood fidgeting, waiting for it to come. She kept her face
resolutely turned away
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