Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Dex

Tears leak one after the other from her eyes, despair woven through her every feature. She’s about to break my heart, and I’m unprepared for the blow. She’s right about everything she said. I wanted the world’s eyes on us, and I got it, but it came at a price I’m no longer willing to pay. They’ll move on eventually. They always do.

But Faina doesn’t see that—it’s not a world she’s experienced before—and trying to fall in love and start something real is nearly impossible when both people aren’t invested and willing to brave the storm.

“I don’t want to be afraid anymore,” she whispers. “I don’t want…” Her eyes flash. “I don’t want to leave here and lose everything we’ve found in each other this week. I’ve never had this. Not anything remotely close. But… how? Tell me how that doesn’t happen.”

My hands meet my hips, my eyes dropping to the floor before they slowly rise to hers. “What is it you want me to do, Faina? How can I show you that I want this with you? That I’m willing to fight and do what it takes to make you love me and keep you as mine?”

She sets her glass down. “I don’t know. But I think it’s too late now. I think this is all about to blow up in our faces.”

“Like bloody hell it is,” I grab her arm, startling her. “Come with me.”

“What?”

“Come. With. Me. I’m going to take care of this once and for all, and then you’ll know.”

I give her a solid jerk, and then suddenly we’re leaving the library and marching back down toward the exit.

“Dex! What are you doing?” People are staring at us, whispering at the enraged rock star dragging his girlfriend toward the exit of one of the most posh hotels in the world. But right now, I don’t give a toss.

“Making a formal announcement,” I tell her. “Since I have no PR agent at present, I am my own man.”

“This isn’t smart,” she hisses, but I’m undeterred.

I told Faina I loved her, but now I need to prove it because my girl still isn’t sold. And why should she be? Men have told her that and lied through their teeth. They’ve used her for their own selfish needs—myself included in this—and she needs— deserves —more.

My head whips back around. “I’m going to make a statement, and then you and I are going to talk and eat back up in that library because it’s bloody fucking cold out here. Are you ready?”

“Ready? No! No, I’m not ready. Why are you doing this?”

I swoosh my arm around her waist and drag her to my chest. “Because sometimes the only way a man can prove himself to the woman he loves is through a grand gesture.” I smack a kiss to her lips, release her, and then march outside, leaving her behind inside the hotel because I don’t want her to be cold, and this is something I need to do. “And this is all I’ve got right now,” I murmur to myself as the icy wind hits my face.

I think I’ve officially gone insane.

Everything we’re ever taught or told as celebrities is about to go straight out the window. Never speak directly to the press. Always schedule interviews if necessary. You need to be the one to control the narrative, not them.

Whelp, I have to prove to Faina that I don’t want this to end, and I have to prove to her that the world won’t hate her and that we can be together. I have to prove my love. So here goes nothing.

I march out into absolutely frigid air, Faina hovering by the door, unsure of my motives. It’s a stretch. I know it is.

She might be looking for an excuse to get rid of me, but in my gut, I don’t think that’s the case. I think my good little princess is just scared. She doesn’t do well when pushed, and I plan to push her—and push her as far as I can. Starting now.

Lights flash like fireworks in my eyes as I approach the wrangling of arseholes, otherwise known as tabloid paparazzi. My name, along with dozens of questions, shoot passed their lips, but I’m not having it. I will not be baited. Instead, I plan to use them. And then get the fuck back inside because my toes and fingers are already numb.

I hold up my hand, quieting them down. “Since you all crashed my holiday, I felt I should set a few things straight once and for all. First, I never cheated on Elsie. Ever. That video she felt the need to post that I stayed quiet on was taken months ago, and she was the one filming it. She was very much an equal and active participant. Second, the bloke’s nose I broke was her lover’s, and I broke it after finding them together in my bed. But, truthfully, I have to thank her for that. Because if it wasn’t for her philandering ways, I’d never have reunited with Faina, and let me tell you, Faina is incredible. She’s everything to me, and I know you’re all here to get photographs of me with her. So here’s my deal to you. You may snap a picture or two and use it how, you’d like and ask a few questions, but then you bugger off and leave us be. It’s new between us, and while new doesn’t always turn into forever, I’m hoping this one gets the chance to test that. Do we have a deal?”

And because they’re arseholes, they snap a dozen more pictures and bark out a hundred more questions, but again, I stop them.

“Do we have a deal? If not, Faina and I will hide and do everything in our power to make your jobs and lives far more difficult. If you scare her off or slander her name in any way, I will not only make your lives more difficult, I will destroy them. It’s now or never, I promise you that.”

For once in their pesky lives, they’re silent, and while I likely shouldn’t have threatened them—you can blame my lack of proper PR to guide me—it seems to have worked. Speaking of proper PR, I turn and watch as Faina stands in the doorway of the hotel, arms wrapped protectively around her body, eyes wary and helpless, and my stomach flips over on itself.

What if she doesn’t do this with me?

I die ten thousand deaths in the span of two seconds before she pushes away from the door, and saunters in my direction, a coy smile curling up her lips as she does. She reaches me and then slides in beside me and takes charge in a way that makes my cock instantly harden despite the sub-artic temperatures.

Speaking of, I shuck out of my jacket and drape it over her shoulders, and she glances up quickly, giving me a gleaming smile before it just as quickly evaporates and she turns back to the press, all business and sexy as fuck.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and Happy New Year. Despite what Dex just claimed, he will not be answering any questions or making any further statements. I will allow a few pictures, but that’s it, and after that, we kindly ask that you respect our need for privacy.”

She turns to me and gives me a Hollywood smile that the cameras start eating up. I note she doesn’t kiss me, and I don’t push it because I still don’t know where we are.

“Does this make you my new PR rep, Miss Spencer?” I murmur through my teeth so only she can hear me.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Mr. Chapman.”

“Me?” I quip. “Always.”

After that, my queen—she’s been upgraded from princess after that fierce move—says we’re all done. The press isn’t thrilled about that at all, especially since I didn’t answer any questions, but whatever. They weren’t going to leave us alone as it was, no matter what I made them promise.

They’re paparazzi.

It wasn’t about them as much as telling them and the world what Faina means to me.

And since I am but her servant, I follow after her, rubbing her arms over my jacket to warm her up. Briskly, we walk back to the library, ignoring everyone standing around the lobby gawking madly at us, and when we enter, we immediately head for the fire that is thankfully blazing high.

She turns on me. “You’re crazy.”

“I thought you already knew that about me.”

She smiles, nibbling on her lip a bit to try and hide it. “I can’t believe you did that.”

I pivot to face her, stepping into her, so she’s forced to crane her neck to meet my eyes. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to prove how much I love you.”

“Alright. I just have one more thing to ask of you.”

I swallow thickly and nod for her to continue. “Anything.”

“Tell me how we turn a holiday fling into forever?”

My answer is immediate. It’s easy. Probably because unbridled joy is expanding in my chest like a balloon, and I feel as though I’m about to float right out of his room. I crash my lips to hers and kiss her with everything I’ve got, walking her back until I’ve got her pinned to the wall.

I continue to kiss her until we’re both breathless. “This is how we turn a holiday fling into forever. By never letting go. By always kissing and making up instead of fighting and splitting up. I want to be with you. Wherever you are. I don’t want long-distance, Faina. And I don’t want to take this slow and see how it all sorts out. I don’t think I can do that with you. Tell me what you need for this to happen, and I’ll do it.”

Breathlessly, she stares up at me, her eyes glittering. “I want to start my own company. That said, I don’t know if I can work for you, though you certainly need help controlling your mouth.”

I laugh. “I think if anything, I’ll work for you. I might also beg you since you’re the only one who can keep me in line. But I can help you with whatever you need to get yourself started.”

“I’ve never lived in London,” she says, her voice cautious.

I search her eyes. “Where were you thinking of moving to?”

“LA.”

I groan, my forehead falling against hers. “I bloody hate LA.”

She laughs. “Me too. But it’s where Ava is.”

“No. Ava is all over and rarely in LA. They’re only there now because Will is sick. New York?”

“You live in London,” she counters.

“And I’m offering New York with you.”

She sags back against the wall, breathing heavily, her mind running circuits. “Just like that, you’ll move to America? To New York?”

“For you? Yes. Hell, if you really pushed it, I’d even move back to LA.”

Her hands come up, her fingers gliding along my jaw. She stares at my mouth, and then her eyes bounce up to mine. “I could try London. If you’re willing to move to New York or even LA, if I pushed it, I could try London for you first, and we’ll see how it goes.”

I attack her, right here against the wall, my hand diving up her dress, needing to feel her bare flesh against my palm. “I love you,” I whisper against her lips. “I said fuck the first time I told you, and a man should never tell the woman he loves that he loves her for the first time by using the word fuck.”

She laughs into me. “I… I think I love you too. I think that’s what all this is. This swirling, giddy, I never want to let you go feeling. But this is crazy, right? I mean, who does this? Who plans forever with someone after only ten days?”

I drag my thumbs across her cheeks, staring straight into her eyes. “Us. We do.” I give her the smile that never fails to dazzle her. “Will said it for me the other day. I’ve been obsessed with you since I learned all the fun that can be had by playing with my dick while thinking of you. As crude as that is, it’s true. It’s always been you, Faina. And it always will be.”

My mouth devours hers again, my hand sliding into the slit on her thigh, and then up, up, until I find her slick pussy.

“Always so fucking wet for me.”

“Mmmm,” she hums, only for the sound to turn into a gasp as I slide two fingers inside her.

“I love this dress. I love that you’re not wearing anything beneath it. It’s the ultimate tease.” My other hand tears down the shoulder, revealing one perfect breast for my mouth to lick and suck.

“Dex, we can’t do this here.”

“Why not? If I want to drop to my knees and eat you for dinner instead, tell me why I can’t.”

“Because any second, someone could walk in,” she moans as I pump up into her till I’m knuckle deep.

“I can make you come quickly,” I murmur against her nipple, blowing cold air on it and making her shiver.

“Dex!” She grasps onto my tuxedo jacket. “Stop.”

“First you come, then I stop.”

“Ah!” I turn my wrist and up my pace, hitting her front wall and rubbing her clit at the same time. I shift her dress back into place, covering her breast, because she’s right, anyone could walk in, and then I swallow down her moans and cries and even protests. I shift so that if the door opens, the only thing they’ll see is the back of me and not her.

And then I go to town, fucking her hard and fast with my fingers.

“If you’re mine, I can make you come wherever and whenever I want, and you will love every minute of it while trusting me that I’d never compromise you. Come on, Queen, give me all your sweet cum.”

Her hand fists my shirt, and then she’s shuddering and shaking into her release.

“Mine,” I whisper against her lips. “Mine, Faina. All mine. No one else’s. Your heart. Your body. Your mind. Your soul. All fucking mine.”

“Yes,” she cries, swallowing her gasps. “Yours.”

I slide my fingers out of her and then straight into my mouth so I can taste her orgasm. The way I burn for every piece of this woman is like nothing else. Using my other hand, I smooth her dress, readjusting her until she’s perfect once more.

The door to the room opens not even two seconds later, and the waiter returns, taking us in as we’re pressed against the wall. Faina’s face flames, but I can’t help my laugh, especially as he immediately turns red. He goes to retreat, but before the poor chap can excuse himself, I wave him in.

“Sorry, mate. We’re going to eat now. I have to feed my lovely queen here, or she’ll turn into a pumpkin sometime around midnight.”

Faina smacks my arm, but we’re both laughing too hard to sell it. I take her hand and lead her back to the table, helping her into her seat.

“Feel free to pour those glasses high,” I tell the man. “We’ve got plenty to celebrate.”