“Fuck, baby,” he growled, the satisfaction in his voice tugging at the corners of my lips, making me roll my head back onto his shoulder.
And when
I opened my eyes, our heavy-lidded stares met in the mirror, staying locked there for an entire silent conversation, in such pure awe that I wondered if this moment was real.
I genuinely had no clue anything in the world could be this good. But now that I knew what it was like to feel this alive, there was only one other thing I knew for sure.
That I was never ever going back.
21
IAIN
The attempt at my usual this morning had failed.
Miserably.
I’d woken up at five, made my coffee and responded to pertinent emails, as was routine.
But all routine ended there.
Had it not, I’d have gone for my usual run along the Hudson, played a client’s podcast, and hit the High Line before running back to complete my five miles. I’d have gone straight home for a shower, gotten dressed then headed to the office.
That was what a regular morning would’ve looked like.
Of course, this wasn’t that.
I’d woken up a madman this morning, my muscles still buzzing like they had in Boston, and my blood still thrumming in my veins.
It was like whatever rush had started then had yet to die down. I was still reliving the way Holland had tormented and owned me for forty-eight hours. Still reliving how fucking good she felt last night.
Kissing me like a wild animal. Milking my cock and begging for my cum.
The night’s adrenaline was coursing through my veins by the time I woke up this morning, and I knew the usual run wasn’t going to do jack shit, which was why I was now here—panting and jabbing, my pulse beating in my ears till a confused voice pierced through my consciousness.
“Iain?”
Stopping the heavy bag with my gloved hands, I looked over to see Evie Maddox in an Empires championship T-shirt and sweats, holding Kai, who was wearing basically a matching outfit. Her eyebrows were arched as she poked her head into the boxing studio of the gym.
In our building.
Because I lived in the same damned building as Drew.
We shared the same real estate agent in our mutual friend, Lukas, and since the day Drew moved in, it’d managed to be more of a blessing than a curse—mostly because the neighbor situation was great for catching Drew during his wild years in his never-ending lies. Lies about coming home by a certain hour, and definitely not bringing back a pack of strange girls he met at the club so he could party with them for all to hear on his balcony till 6AM.
Thankfully, that wasn’t either of our realities anymore.
My need to keep tabs on Drew had ceased since I set up his fake relationship-turned-very real marriage to Evie. Thanks to her, in the past couple of years, the neighbor situation had finally struck a balance to become something peaceful. Pleasant, even.
Though this particular run-in wasn’t quite ideal.
Mostly because I wasn’t exactly myself at the moment, and one of the last two people I wanted witnessing that was Evie, since she and Drew had made the recent decision to become so very suspicious of my personal life.
“Look at you. Never knew you could get this fired up,” Evie remarked, eyebrows still arched, though it was less surprise now. More of a blatantly delighted, suspicion-tinged curiosity. “I feel like I never see you here either.”
I was still breathing hard, using the break to grab my water bottle and hydrate. “I usually run in the mornings,” I explained.
“Mm. Running didn’t cut it this morning?”