“Yeah.” I smile a little in an instinctive attempt to ease her. And maybe myself, too. I think I just made love to a woman. I don’t make love to women. I don’t gaze into their eyes. I don’t sink my nose into their skin and try to store their scent. Shit, this is getting scarier by the minute, and though I have the sense to halt it all, that sense is being buried by something stronger. More powerful. Her.
On a deep inhale, I start the challenging task of getting up, retrieving my trousers from the floor and pulling them on. I look down at my shirt when my fingers slip over the material, searching for the buttons. No buttons.
I shrug on the ruined shirt anyway, then find Raya’s already completely dressed and retying her hair. Just seeing her doing something so simple makes my knees wobble.
“I didn’t use a condom.” Never, not ever, have I taken a woman without protection.
“I’m on the pill. And I’m clean, if that’s your next question.”
“It wasn’t, actually,” I admit. My head is full, but with all the wrong shit. “I was thinking how amazing it felt.”
Her smile is almost shy, and I wonder if she realizes what’s just happened. “Quite a contrast to last night.”
I laugh under my breath. She has no idea. “I’m going to have another quick look around,” I tell her, backing away. “Probably best I go on my own.” She grins, and I struggle to hold back my own. “Meet you in the kitchen?”
“Sure.” Raya bites her lip, yet I know it’s not purposely seductive. She doesn’t need to try. She is just effortlessly sexy, and that’s just one of the things I find so attractive about her. As well as her brutal beauty and the fact that she’s found feelings in me that I never knew existed.
I groan under my breath and force myself out of her room, rubbing circles into my temples as I go. I feel so stressed. Blindsided. Because I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed sex so much in my life. Simple, straightforward sex, no added kink. I didn’t even know I had it in me.
I spend a good half hour doing what I actually came here to do. But my mind is constantly in her bedroom with her beneath me. Looking, feeling, touching, consuming.
When I get back to the kitchen, Raya’s flicking through a magazine with a cup of tea in her hand. Such a simple thing, but so fucking sexy. She smiles and sets her mug down, pushing the magazine away. “Well?”
“It’s amazing, Raya. Most of the others on this row have been converted into apartments in recent years. This is one of only two left that are still in their original state. It’s a pretty perfect setup for someone who has the money.”
She laughs that throaty laugh, and the sound prickles at my sensitive skin. “So it’s sellable?”
“I have a number of businessmen on my books looking for something along these lines. Is there a mortgage on it?” She shakes her head, and I breathe out my disbelief as I take a stool opposite her. “Raya, do you realize how much money you’re sitting on here?”
“Well, no, since you’ve not told me how much it’s worth.” She raises cute eyebrows and takes a sip of her tea.
She’s being coy. I know she’s had other agents here. She’s aware of exactly how much of a treasure chest she’s sitting in. “Thirty million, easy. I’d push for thirty-five. It’s in amazing condition, all tasteful, and all the major stuff is taken care of—windows, electric, heating, kitchen, and bathrooms. Someone could move in and not spend a penny.” My valuation isn’t a surprise to her, like I knew it wouldn’t be.
“Your fee?” she asks.
I just manage to stop myself from declaring my services would be free if I got to lose myself in her all over again. “It’s negotiable.”
“Then let’s negotiate.” She clasps her hands together and tilts her head. “Hit me with your best offer.”
My smile hurts my cheeks. She’s fucking adorable. “Three percent.”
She scowls. It’s terribly fake. “One.”
I laugh. “I like you, Raya, but not that much.” That’s a blatant lie. “Two.”
“Done.” She offers her hand on a smile. “Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Davies.”
I shake my head in wonder, taking her hand. “I’ll have the contact drawn up.”
“Okay.” Her eyes fall to my lips. And mine to hers. Our hands are still fused together. My skin is molten, my heart at odds with my mind. There’s only a few feet between our knees. Then that space is suddenly filled, both of us launching off our stools and crashing into each other—bodies and mouths. Her lips, still swollen, tackle mine with a force I’ve never known. A desperate force.
I have her on the worktop in a heartbeat, my body nestled between her thighs, my hands cupping her face. The energy crackles and sparks, her sounds of gratification feeding my soul. Jesus Christ, this woman could be my downfall. Could make me forget who I am. All I am.
I’m alternating between being scared and utterly intrigued by that, my thoughts chasing in circles. Her mouth is invigorating, her skin intoxicating, her scent making me super alert. I’m hungry for everything I can get, as she strokes at my nape, pushing her chest into mine.
I make a feast of her, feeling, touching, kissing. Frantic. Desperate. Like I didn’t have her just minutes ago.
Once again I’m lost, but the questions that have been whirling around in my skull since I met Raya suddenly return full force, and now they’ve grown—this house, that damn photograph. They’re building a high wall that my desire is suddenly struggling to get past.
The man in that picture. Is that who she wants to forget? Am I a rebound of sorts, a way to help distract her? I don’t want to distract her. I want to make her forget completely. I want that sparkle in her eyes glowing at me every day. The self-admission is like a slap to my face. What’s happening to me?
Gently easing away from her, I hold her at arm’s length by her shoulders, fighting to stabilize my breathing. “I need to go pick up my…” My head isn’t my own. Georgia is kept well away from this part of me, and Raya shouldn’t be any different. “My friend.” I can feel her eyes scanning my face, trying to read me, and that’s why I refuse to make eye contact with her. I move back, leaving her on the counter.
“Drew?” The soft call of my name forces my eyes up. But she doesn’t say anything, and I realize she just wants to see my face, maybe to try and read me. Her small frown tells me she’s sensed my sudden wariness. “Are you okay?”
No, no I’m not. “I need to go.” I turn and walk away, fastening my suit jacket to hide the lack of shirt buttons.
Once I make it outside, I drink in air like it’s water in a desert. It worries me that I found it so difficult to release her. It worries me just how easy I found it to worship her rather than fuck her. It worries me how much I lose rationality in her presence. It worries me how curious I am about Raya’s life. How many questions I have, and that I won’t get the answers to.
I’m fucking worried.
Chapter 5
You look like a troubled man, Drew.” Jesse meets me in the hallway, his finger sunk into a jar of peanut butter.
“Do you have any beer? I need a beer.” I pass him and find my way to the kitchen, helping myself to the fridge. “Where’s Ava and the kids?”