“No.” He speaks that one word like it’s the only answer.
“I’m calling you A for Asshole until you acknowledge me by my real name.”
“You already agreed to be called Gigi. It’s in the contract, if you’ve forgotten.”
“How can I forget? I’m reminded every time I hear the name.”
He scowls darkly. “Why are you being confrontational? You didn’t object when you signed the damned thing.”
“Because you’re trying to change the deal too.”
Sharp lines appear between his slanted eyebrows. “How?”
Furiously emotional words choke me, all trying to get out at the same time and failing. He’s supposed to be a self-centered rich jerk who couldn’t accept the idea that I didn’t want to get on my knees and suck him off like he ordered me to. But that’s not all of him. He’s sweet to his siblings, especially his half-sister. His kindness to Nonny and being considerate of my future after the divorce have been beating at the thick wall around my heart. I can feel cracks forming and widening, and I don’t want them. Not when he won’t call me by my name or acknowledge that I have the right to ask him about the woman who called him “love” in front of me. Our marriage contract may come with a one-year expiration date, but until our divorce, I am his wife.
Stop wasting your energy and rebuild the wall. Make sure it’s so strong that nothing can break it. That’s the right path. But I can’t seem to focus when he’s in the same vicinity.
“Just remember, the only thing you’re getting out of our deal is my body.” I opt for the safest of the things I want to hurl at him, my voice taut.
A small muscle by his left eye ticks. “I won’t.”
He comes closer. I remain standing in my spot, my spine straight. His hand shoves into my hair, entwining the damp strands around his fist. But he’s careful, and somehow it’s forceful without hurting. He tilts my head and crushes my mouth in a brutal kiss. I attack him back, using my lips and tongue. There is a neediness inside me that wants to wound him the way he’s been wounding me.
It’s becoming clear now: I’m not a substitute for some girl named Gigi he can’t forget. I’m being punished for whatever Annabelle has done.
Well for the last two years I’ve been paying for what my dad did. And I want to show Elliot how wrong he is to do that to me, and the only way I can do that is with my body because that’s all he’ll accept.
He pulls me closer, one hot hand palming a breast. Its tip grows tight and pointed; pleasure arcs through my body and his touch elicits a sweet ache between my thighs. My hands clutch his shoulders, and I cling to him even as our mouths are still fused in an openly carnal and savage kiss.
“Wrap your legs around me,” he orders before thrusting his tongue into my mouth again.
I obey wordlessly. His hands grip my ass and position me so that his thick erection nestles against the
most sensitive part of my flesh. Even through layers of clothing it’s hotly stimulating. I gasp as he carries me upstairs to the master suite. Every step rubs deliciously, sending zings of pleasure through me.
All I need is his scent and his nearness and I want him. It’s as though my body remembers the heights of ecstasy he can push me to. My head falls back, and he latches onto the sensitive skin at my neck, licking and sucking lightly. Shivers ripple over me.
When we reach the master bedroom, he puts me down long enough to pull the dress over my head. It lands in an unceremonious heap on the floor. His dexterous fingers unhook my bra and yank down my panties, and both of them join the dress. He rains feather-light kisses along my smooth thighs, and I quiver with anticipation. I know what he wants to do, and I want it very much. But not if he doesn’t acknowledge that I’m not her.
His thick finger probes my wet slit. Lust shines in his dark eyes, and he inhales softly. “Call me Asshole if you like, but I can smell how much you want me.”
“I do.” There’s no way to fake that I’m not wet for him. “But you know something else?”
He looks up at me, a brow arched.
“I’m not her.”
His hands flex on my legs.
“I’m not—”
His mouth covers my dripping flesh, pulling my clit in. My voice breaks, and I cannot continue as sharp pleasure winds in my belly. Without thinking, I dig my hands into his hair, and his groan vibrates through me, making me jerk as the pleasure intensifies.
He licks and sucks in that ruthless way designed to make me lose my mind and come. A finger rims my opening, and my muscles clench reflexively, wanting him to fill me as ecstasy mounts.
I feel the first wave of orgasm approaching. My core tightens in anticipation, but I breathe through my mouth, reining myself back.
Elliot increases the power of his suction, and his tongue flutters furiously against my swollen nub. His two fingers drive into me, filling me and stretching me.