A cold spray of water pelted Cyrus’s body from the overhead fixture. He must be out of his damn mind, but the thought had come to him as he made his rounds to check the property. His house manager usually performed that task, but he’d needed a break from Daniella to clear his head. When the chauffeur drove through the gate, lusty imaginings of having his wife beneath him had kicked up until he could barely think straight.
He wanted her badly. In fact, seeing her in that white dressing gown, the silk draped lovingly over her ample breasts, had almost been his undoing, but he was nothing if not disciplined. He would prove to her he could be trusted, that he was the kind of man she could be proud to call her husband, in the same way he was proud to call her his wife.
Cyrus lifted his head to the icy spray, appealing to the frigid temperature to erase the hard-on standing straight up from his hips.
Unfortunately, he had insisted they share a bed. It would be torture, but he planned to stick to his decision. Even if it meant taking a cold shower every damn night.
****
Two weeks passed and Cyrus still hadn’t tried to make love to her. Two whole weeks. Silently fuming, Daniella sipped her coffee, watching him over the brim of the mug.
Across the table, he devoured a breakfast of Canadian bacon, three eggs, and a stack of pancakes able to satisfy two sumo wrestlers. He had an immense appetite, but he never packed on an ounce of fat because of his workout routine, his passion for exercise as substantial as his passion for sex. Which was why his behavior stumped her. He still hadn’t made a move to make love to her, but she thought about it constantly, even dreamed about it.
She’d become way too preoccupied with thoughts of him, and being around him all the time didn’t help. She was actually glad when he had to work late since that gave her a little reprieve from the longing, the unbearable wanting that consumed her night and day.
The hardest moments came at night. He’d come out of the shower smelling of soap and clean with a towel wrapped around his lean waist, and she’d have to tear her eyes away from the tight musculature of his abs. Sometimes she even forgot to breathe as she watched him get dressed and would dip into her own bathroom to hide her flushed cheeks and finally get a good breath. Night after night they lay next to each other, not touching, he on one side of the bed and she on the other. He never reached for her. He barely even looked in her direction.
He’d demanded she come back so he could ignore her?
She stifled a sigh and set her mug on the table and admitted that wasn’t exactly the case. During the week he stayed busy, and while some nights they’d eaten dinner together, he typically worked long hours. On the weekends, however, he’d actually taken her out on dates. Last night they’d flown to Los Angeles to have dinner at a celebrity hotspot she’d happened to mention a few days before. How he’d secured a reservation on such short notice was not a mystery. The Johnson name opened doors.
True to form, Cyrus had walked in like a celebrity himself, was shown a well-appointed table, and then they’d spent the night enjoying a multi-course meal that could only be described as an out-of-this-world dining experience. Her mouth still watered when she thought about the tender steak cooked to perfection, roasted vegetables, and a wine so perfect she’d purchased several bottles to bring back to Seattle.
The night had been pleasurable, and she’d had certain…expectations when they arrived at home. Yet once they’d climbed into bed, he’d given her a chaste kiss on the cheek and then rolled over and gone to sleep.
His indifference annoyed her.
Cyrus looked up at Daniella from his now empty plate. Tendrils of smooth, dark hair brushed her cheeks and kissed her shoulders before falling down her back. “What are your plans today?” he asked.
What would she do if he kissed her—the kind of kiss that would have her flushed and breathless? He’d learned the true meaning of blue balls the past couple of weeks. Their lack of intimacy drove fantasies through his mind at a constant rate, and kissing her on the cheek last night had only made the situation worse.