Chapter 9: Behind The Wall

••~~MADDISON~~••

His body went still on top of me.

One second ago, he was moving inside me, growling filthy words against my skin like he was about to ruin me all over again.

Then his eyes froze on something above my head.

I followed his gaze. My wrist. The pale, thin slash I usually hid under bracelets or sleeves.

That scar.

Shit.

I circled my other hand around it so fast I nearly strangled it.

“It’s nothing,” I blurted, voice tiny and shaky. “Just a minor accident.”

He didn’t say a word. Just stared, scanning me like he was deciding if I was lying. Which I totally was.

Because, of course, it wasn’t nothing.

I knew exactly what he was thinking. What everyone thinks when they see it. But I didn’t cut myself.

It was one of those nights… Julia’s messy heart breaks. She smashed a bottle against the wall, glass flying like shrapnel. I ducked, but a piece still caught me across the wrist. I bled all over the bathroom floor while she screamed it was my fault for making her angry.

I wasn’t about to sit here explaining fifty shades of Julia to my hot billionaire client. Not like he’d care.

He’s probably just worried I’m some nut job who could cut herself on the job.

“It’s nothing, I promise… I didn’t cut myself… I swear,” I found myself rambling or explaining or both.

His body softened, pulling out of me.

God. That emptiness. It hurt.

I reached for the sheets, pulling them against my naked body. He saw. Of course he did.

But I still felt naked in some different, uglier way.

I held his stare. Or tried to. My cheeks burned, my lips swollen, and the mirrors everywhere made it worse. Everywhere I turned, it was us. Me. Him. His broad chest. His shoulders. Veins in his arms still alive. Like the room wanted me to keep staring even when I tried not to.

His beard was messy, hair wild like a rock star. He didn’t even look tired. I hated that. My whole body was caving in, and he sat there like what we just did didn’t even steal a breath from him.

I clutched the sheets tighter, praying he didn’t push.

His beard twitched with the grind of his teeth, but then he gave me that I am letting it go nod.

I let out an internal exhale.

His eyes slid lower. The sheets. Blood. Bright red streaks smeared across his perfect white bedding.

Heat rushed to my cheeks. “God… shit… I’m sorry. I ruined your sheets…”

“Maddison, it’s just sheets. It’ll be taken care of,” he brushed it off. Like I hadn’t just bled out my first time all over his million-dollar bed.

Wait… that’s it? He’s not mad?

I’m sure he didn’t pay a million dollars to have a virgin in his bed.

“Are you… pleased?” I asked, drawing the words out, face squinting with embarrassment. Felt like I was asking if I was worth his money.

He scratched that dark, sexy beard, eyes dipping into mine, cupping my chin. His thumb traced my jaw slow.

“Pleased?” His voice dropped low, rough. “Maddison, I don’t fuck for pleasure. I fuck to own. You understand? And right now…” his eyes burned into mine, “…you’re mine to ruin, again and again, until you forget every man that isn’t me.”

Oh God.

How could he say these things and not know how hard they hit?

My breath caught so hard I almost choked. My whole face flamed. His words sank through me like whiskey fire, pooling hot between my thighs.

I swallowed, voice stupidly soft. “Thank you. For… for my room. And the clothes.” It was all I could come up with to save myself from total meltdown.

“You are my girl now, Maddison. I have to take care of you.”

No one’s ever said that to me before. I’ve taken care of myself since I learned how to ride a bike.

His thumb brushed my cheek once, then pulled away. “And I never share a room.”

Never? Did he forget that he shared a room with me last night?

And I loved waking up to him.

Oh Maddison. Stop. You’re reading meanings into things that don’t even exist.

He sat up, muscles flexing as he dragged his pants back on. I pulled the sheets even closer, feeling suddenly very small.

He straightened, adjusting his watch. “Ausley says you didn’t finish breakfast. And you skipped lunch.”

How could I eat? All I could do was imagine our first time, and it was nothing like I imagined. It was so much more.

I blinked at him. “You sound like the food police.” I chuckled weakly, trying to joke.

He wasn’t smiling. Not even close.

“You will eat all of your dinner, Maddison. And leave no crumbs.” Oh, he so loved to command.

My mouth opened to throw something back.... something smart like, Or what?.... but the words died in my throat. I swallowed hard.

“Are you going to sit there and watch?” I asked, my stupid way of asking if we got to spend time together anywhere apart from his… sex room.

His eyes softened. Just a little. Barely there. “Shower. Now. If you need anything the bathroom doesn’t already have to make you feel… better,” his beard twitched with the faintest smirk, “…just ask.”

And then, without another word, he left.

My eyes dragged over his tall, sexy frame.... waistline, that small rounded ass, all the filthy, delicious things those hips did to me.

The door clicked shut behind him.

I exhaled so hard it shook me. My whole body was humming.... not just from what we’d done, but from him. The way he looked at me. My thighs ached, my lips tingled, and my skin still smelled like him.

I slipped off the bed, the sheet sliding down my shoulders, tugged the cream robe tight, trying not to think about how exposed I’d been in front of every mirror. How he’d made me look at myself.

My cheeks burned hotter just remembering it.

Barefoot, I padded across the massive space. The mirror room felt… different now. Bigger. Emptier without him.

I probably should have just headed back to my room, but… curiosity always won.

The need to know. To stay one step ahead. To find some imaginary problem and fix it before it found me.

It always won.

There was a shirt draped over the couch… his shirt.

I couldn’t resist. Pressed it to my nose. Musk. Hardness.

Oof. You’re breaking the rules, Maddison. Don’t snoop… inner me whispered.

But hey, a girl’s allowed to wonder about the man who just took her virginity, right?

My fingers skimmed along the matte walls, moving from end to end, until one edge stuck out just a fraction.

I couldn’t help myself. My fingers pressed.

Click.

A section of the wall popped open.

My jaw dropped.

“Oh crap.”

I shouldn’t have. I knew I shouldn’t.

But curiosity was always my downfall.

My eyes were already as wide as they could go.

The things I saw… made my stomach twist. Made my skin prickle. Made my heart slam against my ribs so hard I thought it might bruise.