“Did Patrick have a good time?”
“If you’re asking me if Patrick had nearly naked women rubbing up against him, the answer is a sacred secret I will take to the grave.”
“So, what you’re telling me is that he had a lot of lap dances.”
“I’ve said no such thing.” He laid his head down on his pillow, facing me, trying to hide a smirk.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How many?”
“How many dollar bills did Megan shove into G-strings where you were?”
“None of them rubbed themselves all over her while they were alone in a dark room.”
“How do you know lap dances happen in a dark room?”
“Don’t change the subject, Porter. How many lap dances did he get?”
“We each bought him one,” he finally conceded with a sigh.
“There were eight of you there! He had eight lap dances?”
“It’s not a big deal, Ella. Megan wanted him to have fun and told him to go to a strip club.”
“How many lap dances did you get?”
“None. I told you I wouldn’t.”
“How much money did you tuck into underwear?”
“None.”
“None?” I repeated, not believing his story. Suddenly, I was below him and his arms were caging me in, his long, hard body draped over mine.
“You doubt me all of a sudden. Where is this coming from?” Before I could form an answer, or even open my mouth, his lips were on my ear. “Don’t question my devotion, Ella. Don’t think twice about the fact that every other woman pales in comparison to you.” His hands found my wrists and slid them up, pinning them above my head. His thigh found its way in between my knees, spreading my legs underneath him and my breath caught in my throat. The panties I had put on before I fell asleep did nothing to hide the heat that was building, smoldering against his skin now as only a thin layer of cotton was between us.
“I don’t doubt you,” I managed to whisper.
“Oh, but you do.” His mouth found my neck and instead of the kiss I was expecting, I felt his teeth bite into my flesh. I gasped, surprised by his sudden and unexpected fierceness. He soothed the tender skin by laying a wet, open-mouth kiss over the exact same spot he’d just assaulted. I couldn’t help the moan that escaped at the feeling of his tongue on my throat or the wetness pooling between my legs. “When I see other women, the only thoughts that cross my mind center around how I still can’t believe that I was lucky enough to find you, to make you mine, and to convince you to marry me.” He continued to kiss his way down my throat, pulling not-so-gently on the neck of my nightgown. He growled when he realized he wasn’t going to get to his destination without taking it off.
I was speechless. I knew how he felt about me—how he felt about us. And even though I never wanted to make it seem like I didn’t feel his love or his need for me, lately with everything changing, inside my body and out, I found myself insecure. Obviously I’d let my insecurities into our relationship and he was having none of it.
His hands grabbed the bottom of the nightgown and pushed it up over my breasts and he wasted no time before taking one into his scorching mouth and palming the other, brushing his thumb over my hard, aching nipple. His hand and mouth did wonderfully terrible things to my breasts and I gasped for air, trying to wriggle free of the strong hold his other hand still hand on my wrists.
“Please . . . I need to touch you.”
He pulled away from my breast to look me in the eye. “What more can I do to convince you? To show you that you’re all I’ll ever want, all I’ll ever need?” As he said the words, his hips rolled into mine, igniting a whole new flame within me, sending a slow burn out through my veins. “I’m yours, Ella. I’ll never be anyone else’s and I’ll never want anyone else. Tell me that I belong to you just as much as you belong to me.”
Spurred on by his words, I felt a surge of possession rush through me. Of course he belonged to me and of course he wouldn’t look at another woman, let alone touch one. We were the same, him and I, unimportant in life before we found each other. Worthwhile? Yes. Meaningful? Yes. But lacking still on a very base level. I was nothing until he found me and he had nothing before I found him. Together we were everything that mattered.