Chapter 21: Tell me you feel it too.

He stepped into my room, closing the door behind him. "This stopped being a contract for me weeks ago. Maybe months ago. I don't know when it happened, but somewhere between hating this arrangement and now, you became the only thing I think about. The only person I want. And seeing you with Allen, seeing another man touch you, call you by my name for you, it made me lose my mind."

My breath caught. "Denzel…"

"I was jealous. So jealous I had you followed, which was wrong and controlling and I'm sorry. But Amelia, I can't help it. The thought of anyone else touching you, looking at you, wanting you…" His jaw clenched. "It makes me want to burn the world down."

"That's not, we can't…"

"Can't what? Feel something real? Want something more than what's in that contract?" He moved closer, and I could feel the heat radiating off his body. "Because I do want more. I want everything."

"This is too complicated. There are too many.."

"I don't care about complicated. I don't care about the contract or the timeline or any of it." He cupped my face with both hands. "All I care about is you. And the fact that when I saw the hurt in your eyes tonight, it felt like someone was tearing my chest open."

"I was hurt," I admitted. "When I saw her hands on you, I wanted to…"

"What? Tell me."

"I wanted to rip her away from you. I wanted to scream that you were mine. Which is insane because you're not mine and I'm not yours and this is all supposed to be fake but…"

He kissed me.

Not gentle. Not asking permission. Just claiming.

And I let him. God help me, I kissed him back with everything I had.

When we broke apart, both breathing hard, he rested his forehead against mine.

"You are mine," he said fiercely. "And I'm yours. I don't give a fuck what that contract says. This is real. We're real."

"Denzel.."

"Tell me you feel it too. Tell me I'm not insane."

"You're not insane," I whispered. "I feel it too. And it terrifies me."

"Why?"

"Because what if this is just proximity? What if when the two years are up, you realize.."

"I'm not going to change my mind. Whatever this is, it's not going away. And I'm done fighting it."

He kissed me again, and this time it was different. Slower. Deeper. Like he was savoring every second.

His hands slid down from my face to my waist, pulling me flush against him. I could feel every hard line of his body pressed against mine, and it made heat pool low in my belly.

"Amelia," he murmured against my lips. "If you want me to stop, tell me now. Because if we keep going…"

"Don't stop," I breathed.

Denzel's POV

Those two words nearly undid me.

Don't stop.

I'd been holding back for so long. Keeping my distance. Pretending I didn't want her with every fiber of my being.

But now, with her in my arms, her lips swollen from my kisses, her eyes dark with want, I was done holding back.

I kissed her again, harder this time, letting her feel exactly how much I wanted her. My hands slid under her shirt, and she gasped against my mouth.

"Is this okay?" I asked, my voice rough.

"Yes. God, yes."

I pulled her shirt over her head, and she stood there in her bra, looking nervous and beautiful and so fucking perfect it hurt.

"You're shaking," I said softly.

"I'm nervous."

"We can stop. Anytime you want."

"I don't want to stop. I just... I've never..." She bit her lip. "I'm a virgin."

The words hit me like a freight train. I'd suspected, but hearing her say it out loud made something primal surge through me.

I would be her first. Her only, if I had anything to say about it.

"Then we take this slow," I said, even though every instinct screamed at me to devour her. "We do this right."

"I trust you."

Those three words. God, those three words.

I kissed her again, gentler this time, while my hands traced the curve of her waist, her hips. She trembled under my touch, and I loved it. Loved that I could make her shake. Make her want.

"My room," I said against her lips. "I want you in my bed."

She nodded, and I took her hand, leading her through the quiet house to my wing. To my bedroom.

The moment we were inside, I locked the door and turned to find her standing there, looking at my bed with wide eyes.

"Second thoughts?" I asked.

"No. Just... nervous."

"Come here."

She walked to me, and I pulled her close, just holding her for a moment. Letting her feel that this was about more than just sex. This was about us.

"I'll take care of you," I promised. "I'll make it good for you."

"I know you will."

I kissed her again, slowly backing her toward the bed. When the back of her knees hit the mattress, she sat down, looking up at me with those beautiful eyes.

"Lie back," I said softly.

She did, and I followed her down, covering her body with mine. The feel of her beneath me, soft and warm and mine, made my control slip.

"Denzel," she whispered.

"I'm here. I've got you."

And then I started showing her exactly what that meant.

Rayna's POV

My heart was racing so fast I thought it might burst from my chest.

Denzel was above me, his weight pressing me into the mattress, his hands everywhere. On my waist. My ribs. Sliding up to cup my breast through my bra.

I gasped, and he swallowed the sound with another kiss.

"Can I take this off?" he asked, his fingers on the clasp of my bra.

"Yes."

He unhooked it and slid it off, and then I was topless beneath him. The way he looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen made me forget to be self-conscious.

"Perfect," he murmured. "You're so fucking perfect."

His mouth found my breast, and I arched off the bed. The sensation of his tongue on my nipple was almost too much. Too good. I fisted my hands in his hair, holding him there, not wanting him to stop.

He lavished attention on both breasts until I was writhing beneath him, desperate for more.

"Denzel, please…."

"Please what, sweetheart? Tell me what you need."

"I don't know. More. Something. You."

He smiled against my skin. "You'll get me. All of me. But first, I need to make sure you're ready."

His hand slid down my stomach to the button of my jeans.

"Can I?"

"Yes."

He unbuttoned them and slowly, torturously slowly pulled them down my legs. I lifted my hips to help, and then I was in just my underwear, trembling with nerves and anticipation.

"You're so beautiful," he said, his eyes roaming over my body. "Do you have any idea how long I've wanted this? Wanted you?"

"Show me.”