Taking him down and completely destroying him was a small victory in the grand scheme of things.
It was a drop in the bucket, but it was still my drop.
I was feeling pretty damn pleased with myself as I watched the sun sink lower and lower. I had finally found my purpose in life. After floundering for so long, lost, I finally found the thing I was always meant to do.
My way of contributing to the betterment of our world.
And if this is Simon’s favorite moment… he knows me better than I ever dreamed.
But perhaps it was simply a fluke. A lucky guess on his part. Despite what he said.
“Show me another,” I demand softly.
I doubt he’ll get lucky twice.
The folders pop up on the screen and the mouse navigates deeper down the long file list. Without speaking a word, a new video begins to play. This time I’m seated outside a café in Paris.
Damn.
Once again, there’s a smile on my lips as I sip my coffee and watch the people around me. After a few seconds, my entire face lights up as I watch a mother with her young daughter stroll by. They’re both dressed in the highest fashion.
My eyes trail after them, and then I sigh once they disappear around a corner. I remember thinking at the time how much I would love to have my own little girl. To dress her up and take her shopping.
I twist in Simon’s arms and peer up at him. I don’t have any words. I’m absolutely fucking speechless.
“Would you like to see another?” he asks, his attention still riveted to the screen.
Somehow I manage to nod my head.
I see the image on the screen change in the reflection of his glasses before I can manage to tear my gaze away from him.
On the screen, I’m lying naked in a bed. Simon’s bed. The sheets are tangled around my legs and I’m clutching his pillow to my chest. My hair is a wild mess and I’m asleep, but I look completely at peace.
Sated even.
A dark shadow appears at the bottom of the screen and then Simon walks into view. He’s completely dressed. He stops at the foot of the bed, watching me. The way he looks down at me… no man has ever looked at me like that before.
He looks at me like I hung the fucking moon.
“Simon,” I gasp and twist around in his lap.
I peer up at his face, but he’s still avoiding my gaze, keeping his attention locked on the screen. Needing answers, I grab him by the cheeks and force him to look down at me.
Despite what he just showed me, his face is an unreadable mask.
The man just bared his soul to me… surely he feels something?
Sliding my hand down, across the crisp white fabric of his shirt, I press my palm against his chest and feel his heart thundering.
And I thought I was good at hiding my emotions…
Looking back up at his face, I meet his eyes, but there’s nothing there. Just dark emptiness. If I didn’t feel his heart pounding against my hand, I might think he’s dead inside.
He’s so closed off… so distant… I do the only thing I know how to do to shatter his mask.
I arch up, press my mouth against his mouth, and kiss the fuck out of him.
As I push everything I have into the kiss, determined to get a reaction out of him, to get something out of him, a low, rumbling groan comes pouring out of his lips.
I swallow up that groan. I fucking devour it and savor it.
Whether he knows it or not, he’s just given me everything I’ve ever wanted. Everything I ever longed for. Everything I didn’t know I needed.
“Meredith,” he growls and then his hands grab me, dragging me closer.
Our tongues clash, dueling for dominance.
In his obsession, I’ve found my power again. To be fucking worshipped from afar and not even realize it…
It’s the strongest drug I’ve ever tasted, and I want more of it.
My teeth find his bottom lip and I can’t fight off the urge to sink them into him. I give him a little nip and he jerks back.
Then he growls again and grabs me by the ass. Fingers digging into the flesh of my cheeks, he tears his lips away from me.
“Simon…” I moan, arching my neck back as he nips and nibbles his way down my lips, my jaw, and my throat.
“Yes, princess?”
His nips me, pinching my skin hard.
I jolt in surprise and my hips jerk.
He grinds his hard cock into my sex and his mouth kisses my throat.
“Did you ever watch me when I was…”
His lips kiss a searing trail down my neck until he reaches my collarbone.
“When you were what?”
He begins to kiss and nip his way across my shoulder, and I shiver, my hands clutching at his shirt.