Lib Novel Page 63
Our bedroom.
There’s nothing in this house that’s going to be just yours any longer.
She’s stiffer than a board under my touch, but I get some relief as she looks closely at her new surroundings. The hallway leading to the bedroom is lined with decor items, though not handpicked by me, but it speaks of my taste.
“You and I will sleep here. I can’t risk the staff knowing the truth about us.” I nod toward the room as the door closes behind us.
“Of course you can’t.”
Her clipped words finally snap the tiny latch that’s been locking down my anxiety for the past week.
“Is there a problem, Daisy?” I tip my head to the side and cross my arms over my chest.
“Not at all.” Her irritated gaze drifts from the king-sized bed to me, and she plasters on a fake smile.
I’m still struggling with the right words to say when Daisy turns around, about to march in the direction of her bags, which were brought in earlier.
“I’m tired. If you would just let me know where I sleep, I’ll stop being a nuisance to you.”
I snag her elbow, stopping her movement. “Nuisance? Where the hell is this coming from?”
“Oh, so you mean I misread your grimace when you saw me walking down the aisle? Or was it the fact that my husband couldn’t kiss me because he’s so much better than the rest of the world?”
Daisy doesn’t stop for me to respond. Her free arm flails while the other still remains in my grip.
“I know this marriage is for show,” she continues, “and you possibly hated everything about today, the crowd, the noise, but this was my first freaking wedding. A day that was supposed to be the most beautiful prelude to all my dreams coming true. Would it have killed you to pretend just for a few hours? Would it have killed you to kiss me and not pretend that I was—”
My lips land on hers before she can compare herself to anything less than perfection. I kiss her like I’d wanted when I saw her walking toward me.
Daisy grabs the lapels of my tux, and my hand on her waist pulls her closer to me. I don’t stop until my arm around her middle is tight as a steel band.
She wants the real me? She’ll get the real me.
I tug her hair back and she loses her balance, but I’m here—to hold her, to kiss her, to tell her without words that she can be a lot of things in my life, but a nuisance is certainly not one of them.
My palm wraps around the back of her neck and I kiss her senseless. We move to a rhythm. Her lips are soft, smooth like her skin, which rasps against my stubble.
For so long, I’ve seen her from afar, kept my brain from imagining anything that could really get me in trouble with labor laws, but right now, all that pent-up imagination has found an acting reprieve.
The world comes to a standstill as I kiss her in the middle of my room, a place that has always been my safest sanctuary. But tonight, I see her, feel her, taste her in every air molecule in here, and I like it.
Daisy’s grip on my jacket tightens, moving to my shirt before her hands flatten over my chest. I hate that it’s not my bare skin getting her touch.
“Charles,” she breathes against my lips when we take a break for air.
But I’m not ready for this to end.
My mind, my body, hasn’t gotten its fill. Will it ever when it comes to Daisy?
I don’t speak a word but tug her hair harder, and once again my lips are on hers. Kissing, nipping, sucking, and bottling her inside me.
She stands on the toes of her high heels, and my grip around her middle tightens as Daisy’s hand loops around my neck. She rakes her fingers through my hair, and I feel a pulse run throughout my entire body.
Next time when we break, my mouth is on her neck, breathing in that familiar flower scent. She makes a sound that is somewhere between a whine and a groan, and I know if we stay like this for any longer, I won’t be able to hold back anymore.
My knuckles stroke her cheek, and I don’t recognize my own growling voice in her ear.
“We’ve played enough for the camera. I thought you’d agree. Does any of this look like I don’t want to kiss you or that you’re a nuisance to me?”