Chapter 12

• How did it end up like this?
• Was it the wine?
• The small talks we had as a way to fill the silence between us?
• Or the way his voice dropped lower with every word he speaks, threading through the air until it wrapped around me like silk?
• After a few minutes, my mind had finally registered what was actually happening, but by that point, it was already too late.
• Arlo’s hands were latched firmly onto my wrists as if to anchor them both, pinning them above my head and against the wall.
• I can tell that I was blushing fiercely by the way he smirked after seeing my face, so I averted my gaze.
• “Look at me, Kerri.”
• I did.
• This was the first time he addressed me by my name, and it sounded so... alluring.
• “Tell me...” He studied me, quiet for a moment.
• “Tell you what?” My voice sounded upset, but he just smiled at the sound of my voice cracking by the end of the sentence, giving away the fact that I was just forcing myself to sound so tough.
• “That you want this...”
• “No,” I lied.
• His smirk grew wider, “I think you’re lying,”
• I flinched at the fact that he saw right through me.
• How is it, that the man I just met in just five days knows more about me than the man who I was married to in five years?
• The claws of those haunting marriage still had a hold on me and the more I see Arlo in this light, the more my heart and body ached for it.
• My marriage with Liam was, as people had already known, quite dull and boring. He rarely came home, and when he did, he would smell of someone else’s perfume.
• I had forgotten what it felt like to be wanted, to be touched, to be loved.
• Now Arlo Frantz, the king of a global fashion conglomerate and perhaps someone far more dangerous than a mere billionaire, is asking for me to say out loud that I want to spend the night with him.
• “You just met me,” I glared at him, but despite the hesitation in my tone, I was not trying to break free from his iron-clad grip around my wrists.
• “I know you,” he trailed his fingers over my exposed collarbone and moved so that he was behind me.
• One arm draped around my waist, the other over my shoulder. His chest met my back, and it was so shocking to find out that my body fit perfectly against him.
• My breath was caught hard in my throat. I thought I would choke when I felt his arousal pressing into me, and it was even more shocking that I thought about what it would feel like to have that thing inside me.
• “Arlo...” I breathed.
• This was also the first time I addressed him with his name, and I guess that is what made him
• “Say it,” His head rested on my neck, “Say you want me,” I was about to lie again and refuse but failed when I felt his hands swirling around my apex and my body instantly arched against him.
• I couldn’t speak, so all I did was meet his gaze and nodded.
• He grinned, showing the face of a victor.
• Arlo answered by pushing my chin up so he could kiss me from this position, tilting my head to get a better angle. My breath mingled with his and my pulse quickened by the intensity of the kiss.
• His arm moved again, and my eyes followed it and saw that he was headed for my breasts, groping it, while his other hand was still on my sensitive nub of my core, grazing it in a circular motion.
• “Ah.” I inhaled sharply.
• “Breathe,” he whispered in my ear.
• His deep voice was hypnotic,
• I was losing my mind.
• Is this the effect of being so sex-deprived that my body is reacting so wildly like this?
• I have never felt this way before, not even with Liam, who only focused on satisfying himself and once he is done, then it’s done without worrying about me.
• Arlo was kissing my skin ruthlessly and cupping my breasts, pinching my nipples through my shirt until it was hard to the point that I felt like I would explode from the pressure pooling around my stomach.
• But suddenly, he pulled away.
• The absence of his body from mine was so shocking I was stunned for a few seconds with a gaping mouth.
• I turned around and looked at him to see why he did that and saw that he was taking his clothes off.
• “I have a feeling that you keep comparing me with your ex-husband,” he sounded upset.
• He didn’t take his intense gaze off me as he slowly stripped.
• “What are you talking about?” My mind reeled through the possible reasons why he would feel upset that Liam keeps haunting me, but my brain short-circuited when my eyes descended from his face to his arms and chest, and held at his arousal.
• He stepped closer, saying nothing until he was a few inches away from me. He reached for my face, caressing it softly and tucking away the few strands of hair behind my ear.
• Arlo began sliding my shirt off, and I allowed him to work his way down until I too was stripped bare under his watchful gaze.
• When he was done, he rose to his full height and looked back at me.
• “You can keep saying your ex’s name, but by the time we are done tonight, you won’t.”
• For a second, I forgot to breathe again after hearing that.
• The sheer presence he carried, fills the space between us until there was nothing else to hide.
• I feel like what he said has something to do with his bulging size, which is incomparable to Liam’s... and I am prepared to see if he lives up to his words.