Chapter 13

One month later

It had been one month since Pyper and I started this sexually charged, erotically potent relationship.

I knew I wanted more than just to be buried between her thighs.

I wanted everything.

It had been an instant attraction, an all-consuming obsession. And with each passing day, each soul-changing moment when I was with her, I felt this realness settling within me.

It was indescribable, as if I were missing something. As if I left home and forgot a crucial item. And I didn't need to think about what that item was.

I knew it was her. I had yet to tell her I wanted more than just a fuck toy. I mean, I'd told her in so many words that first night in the cigar room, and then when I had her pressed against the side of the building after our first lunch together.

But this… this was real, and I wanted it that fact cemented in her.

This wasn't about being balls-deep in her tight little snatch—which was heaven in and of itself. This was about finding someone who complemented me so perfectly. And that was Pyper.

In all truth, I couldn't believe I survived this fucking world for fifty years without having her in my life.

And after a month of us fucking like rabbits—and me growing even more needy and obsessed with everything that made up Pyper—I knew the complexity of our situation was about to get even deeper.

And I was going to make sure it got real fucking deep.

She was going to know exactly how she made me feel, how she changed my life in a way I never thought could happen.

I'd been a lone wolf, solitary in all ways. Yet here I was, wanting to have Pyper in all ways.

Mine irrevocably.

My partner for life. My wife. The mother of my children.

Pyper was going to fully understand that I was never walking away. She could say no—which she never did—and she could even run as she tried to deny me—which she hadn't once come close to attempting—but I'd chase her to the ends of the fucking earth.

I wouldn't stop until she was mine.

Over the last thirty days, we rotated between spending our private time together in my office, at my place, and hell, I even fingered her at the Italian bistro last week, while patrons drank their wine and ate their ravioli nearby.

But as much as I loved fucking her, I wanted more.

So I started taking her out more, which I knew confused her, as she looked at me with a furrowed brow and her pink, full lips pursed as she tried to figure it all out. But I wanted to show her this was more than just physical need for either of us.

I knew it had to be for her as well. That's what I told myself anyway. For all I knew, she'd tell me she just wanted my cock and be done with it.

Irealized I needed more interaction with her, more conversation, more… everything.

Hell, I'd take just holding her in my arms.

I leaned against the kitchen counter of my penthouse and sipped the scotch I poured moments before, waiting for her to arrive. When I'd given her the keycard to my private elevator and foyer, I'd seen the initial shock on her face. She even asked me if the reason I'd given her access to my place so easily was because I didn't want anyone to notice her coming and going.

To say the instant rage overtook me that she'd think such a thing was an understatement.

She'd know soon enough I wanted everyone to know she was mine.

I looked at my wristwatch, expecting her any minute. Although I didn't need to drink to have this conversation with her, I did down the rest of my twenty-year aged scotch and poured myself another one.

I didn't understand what I felt, not at first. It wasn't until I really dissected my thoughts and emotions that I came to the conclusion that, right now, I felt… nervous.

Fuck, I hadn't felt anxiety in so long. Probably not since I was a child with my absentee parents, who were more concerned with making money and attending social gatherings than spending time with me.

I'd learned from them. I kept my trademarked apathetic demeanor in place. Somebody in my power, in my position, had to. I couldn't show weakness, not when I was running the company and keeping everybody in line. Not when they looked up to me to make sure shit didn't hit the fan.

They had to see a mountain was running the show. Unmovable. Indestructible.

It in turn gave them confidence, and that showed in the way they took pride in their work and helped run a multimillion-dollar company.

So yeah, I was nervous as fuck. I poured another drink just as I heard a knock at the front door.

Even though my keycard would grant access into not only my penthouse, but also my front door, Pyper had never willingly let herself in. She kept things formal in that regard, even though I regularly fucked her until she gushed all over me.

Her hesitation to be closer was cute. Endearing even. Especially since she never hesitated to do anything physical I ordered her to do.

I had the door open and Pyper in my arms a second later. I swept my tongue across the seam of her lips as I kissed her like I hadn't seen her in a decade.

When I pulled back, she let out a soft breath, her eyes slightly hooded, her lips parted as if she wanted more. She gave me this almost dreamy expression, but then, as if she caught herself showing me how she truly felt—because I knew she was in this just as deep as I was—she straightened and took a step back.

"What was that for?"

I thought of a hundred different ways to go about broaching the subject. I wasn't a man of many words—well… unless I was telling her what a good little slut she was. I didn't sugarcoat shit. I got right to the point, even if it cut deep.

But my time with Pyper made me realize I wanted to be gentle and sweet.

And I was with her. Only her.

"It was because every time I look at you, think about you, it makes me crazy. I can't help myself, Pyper." I cupped either side of her face and started peppering her with kisses. I'd never been so… soft. Just like I'd never been so degrading before discovering how much it pleased her. I'd always been somewhere in the middle, neutral… emotionless. Yet just thinking about her turned me inside out.

She didn't say anything, but I didn't need her to respond. I could see in her face she felt my words. Felt them deep. How could she not by the way I looked at her, touched her, and made her mine?

"I do know," she finally said after the door was shut, and she looked up at me like she saw something I didn't even try to hide.

"You know what, baby doll?"

She exhaled, but I took her hand and led her over to the couch, where I pulled her down to sit next to me. But Pyper wasn't looking at me. She scanned everywhere but my face, and it was starting to worry the fuck out of me.

Nah, I didn't like this feeling—this feeling of unease that my world was about to crash all around me. Fuck, I was antsy, so I got up, grabbed my scotch—which I set on the counter before answering the door—and finished it off.

"Baby girl, you're killing me here." I was back beside her a second later, and she looked at me then. The expression on her face had something in me lightening.

"I do know how deep, because…" She licked her lips and glanced back at me. "Because I'm just as deep as you are, and it scares the hell out of me, Anthony."

The way she said my name had my entire body tensing in the best way.

"But I feel like this is so fast?—"

I shook my head, causing her to stop. "I feel like it's taken an eternity to find you, Pyper. For as incredible as the sex is—the best sex I've ever had in my life—" That caused her cheeks to turn pink. "—I want more. I want everything with you."

"I know we talked about…" She chuckled softly, as if she was about to say a little joke that only she was in on. "Well, you demanded what was going to happen, is more accurate." That had me grinning. She inhaled slowly and exhaled hard. "But I was in it from the beginning."

When Pyper looked at me, when she said those words, I felt the world tilt on its axis.

"You make me weak." The words spilled from my lips before I realized I said them. At her confused—almost hurt—look, I shook my head and spoke again. "I always thought weakness was a curse, a chunk taken out of the armor you showed the world." I cupped her cheek and smoothed a thumb over her soft skin. "How very wrong I was. Weakness makes you human. It makes you see things as a mortal, knowing life is short and you have to embrace every second, because it can be done and over with in the blink of an eye."

I sat back, shocking the fuck out of myself, because who was I? Who had I become? Never in my life did I think I'd expose myself in such a way to another person. Hell, I'd never bared my emotions to anyone before.

I didn't even bare those to… me. Yet here I was, laying it all out there for Pyper to examine. I ripped my heart out and offered it to her on a platinum platter, because it was the only vulnerable part of me.

And the very thought of losing her… losing how she made me feel, was a pain unlike anything I ever wanted to experience.

"I don't know what to say." Her eyes were red-rimmed and glossy. The emotion she felt was just as strong as the ones I felt. It was humbling, real and raw, but I was finally experiencing what I'd seen countless times all around me.

"Don't say anything yet. Just listen." I took a breath in, wanting another scotch, because I was anxious as hell. "I can't promise I won't irritate you, hell, even piss you off to the point you want to throw and break shit." She laughed softly at my nervous humor. "I know I'm a difficult man at the best of times. My upbringing ensured I was hardened against the world. Success was all I was taught. Until now. Now, I look into your eyes and see a future. My future. If you'll give me that chance to show you how happy I can make you."

My heart was racing as I continued, "So, you can say no. You can tell me to leave you alone. But I'm not ashamed to admit I can't let you go, Pyper. I won't. Not when I've had a taste of what true happiness feels like."

The silence stretched out, and when her lips parted, I was too fucking afraid of what she'd say in response. I kissed her like it was the last time… like it was the first time. I devoured her mouth in a silent oath that I was never letting her go.

"Okay," she murmured against me. "Okay, let's do this. I want to see where this goes, Anthony."

I grinned against her lips and kissed her harder.

I wanted to tell her I loved her so damn badly, but hell, those three words scared the fuck out of me, so I knew how they'd make her feel. So I kept that to myself, just for now.

When those words were said, I wanted to make sure she'd say them back. And she would.

Because I wasn't going anywhere. And I was going to make damn sure she wasn't either.

She was mine.