My eyes flutter open, my entire body deliciously sore. I groan and stretch, smiling as memories of last night filter through my mind. Cortez and I made love over and over again. He was like a machine, reaching for me with an apology on his lips as soon as the sweat cooled on our bodies. I loved every minute of it.
I think I'm in love with him. Is that crazy? Probably so. I'm a walking, talking cliché. I gave my virginity to a handsome man I met at a bar and promptly fell in love with him. But he made it so easy to do! He's incredible. There's this insane connection between us that just grew stronger all night. Neither of us wanted to sleep. We didn't want to miss a single moment.
We finally passed out around dawn, unable to hold our eyes open a moment longer.
I'm not sure what comes next. I live in Chattanooga and have four months until I graduate. It seems like a lifetime. But I don't want whatever this is between us to end. If he wants to keep me, I'm not going to object.
I'm going to breed you tonight, Piper. When you move tomorrow, you'll feel me dripping between your legs and think of me claiming your womb, pretty baby.
My stomach quivers at the memory of the wicked things he growled in my ear last night. Sleeping with him without a condom was reckless, dangerous, and stupid…but I don't regret it. Something about Cortez just feels right. No, that's not true. Everything about him feels right.
Where is he?
I sit upright in the bed, pulling the sheets up with me.
"Cortez?" I call out and then listen for his response. But I hear nothing. Frowning, I crawl from the bed to look for him. His clothes are gone from the floor, and he's not in the bathroom. I quickly check the outer room, but he's not there either.
My heart sinks.
Did he leave?
He wouldn't, would he?
I stumble back into the bedroom and gather my clothes from the floor, quickly pulling them on. Once I'm dressed, I shuffle into the bathroom, grimacing at my reflection in the mirror. My hair is a hot mess; I've got his love bites all over my neck. I look exactly like I spent the night being ravished.
Spying a comb, I run it through the snarls in my hair, trying to tame it into submission, and then use the complimentary bottle of mouthwash to rinse out my mouth. Once that's done, I scrub my face with cold water and relieve myself. By the time I'm done, fifteen minutes have passed, and Cortez still hasn't returned to the room.
I exit the bathroom and then stop in the middle of the bedroom, unsure what to do with myself. Do I stay and wait for him? Do I leave? I don't know. I've never done the morning after, and I didn't expect it to go like this. It's awkward and uncomfortable, and I'm way out of my depth here.
Maybe I read too much into last night. Isn't that what girls do?
No, that's not what happened. He told me that he wanted more than one night.
I'm not letting you go, sweet little Piper. Not tonight or tomorrow or ever. I'm keeping you. Permanently.
But did he mean it? Men say and do all the right things, and we think they mean it. In the heat of the moment, maybe they do. But then the moment ends, and reality sets in. Perhaps that's what happened here. Reality set in, and he decided last night was just that—one night.
What am I thinking? Of course he meant it. I know he did.
I pace around the bedroom for twenty minutes and then thirty.
When the door finally opens forty minutes later, I'm ready to jump out of my skin. I rush into the sitting room, only to draw up short when I see that it's not Cortez.
"Oh," the middle-aged housekeeper says, blinking at me in surprise as she hauls her cleaning cart over the threshold. "I'm so sorry, ma'am. I was under the impression that Mr. Blake had checked out, and the room was empty."
Mr. Blake? Cortez is a Blake? As in Dorian Blake's son? I push that bomb away to deal with later, instead focusing on the more immediate, devastating issue.
Cortez checked out. He isn’t coming back.
I'm keeping you. Permanently.
Yeah, right.
Hot tears burn behind my eyes, and my stomach churns, but I refuse to cry now.
"Should I come back later?" the housekeeper asks, eyeing me hesitantly.
"No. That’s okay." I shake my head rapidly. "I was just leaving."
There's no reason for me to stay. Cortez didn't want forever. He just wanted a fling. And I fell for it. Hook. Line. And sinker. My heart rebels at the thought, unwilling to believe that Cortez just walked away. But a cold, hard look around quells the rebellion. It's hard to deny what's right in front of my face.
Cortez Blake is a liar…and I'm the idiot who fell in love with him.
I quickly scoop my bag up from the floor where I dropped it last night and then flee without looking back.