Page 18 of Starving for Her
“He’s not bothering you, is he?” I hear James’ voice behind me and whirl to see him coming through the front door. He looks like a king in his robe, but he also seems drained, like he’s just run a marathon.
“He threatened to kill me,” I tease, glancing at Al with a smirk. “If I didn’t have sex with him.”
“Ooooh,” James chuckles. “Sorry, Al, but I’m gonna have to let you go, ol’ buddy. Pack your shit before I beat you senseless.”
Al turns and shrugs with a smile before disappearing through a door. Seeing James makes my body come alive again. I don’t know how long he’s been gone, but it feels like forever.
“Quickie with your other girlfriend?” I ask. It’s a joke of course, but there’s a slight hint of truth in my question, and I hate myself for believing for a second that it might be true.
“Ex-wife actually,” he smiles. I think he’s joking, but as he takes my waist in his hands and gazes into my eyes, I realize he isn’t. Jealousy hits me like a brick to the stomach. “And I stress the ex part.”
I don’t even know what to say. It’s like the glass fantasy of our evening has been shattered by a rock or an evil hammer. My feelings must be written all over my face, because James gently strokes my ear and frowns warmly at me.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he says. “She’s my ex and that’s all there is to it.”
“But…you just left me to go see her…”
“Well, when a psycho bitch calls, sometimes you have to go,” he says with a sigh. “She’s…let’s just say she’s trying her best to get more money out of me. She’s not the nicest girl in the world.”
“And so you didn’t—”
“Hell no!” he scoffs. “I only have eyes for you now, Layla. Trust me.”
I look up at him, searching his eyes for dishonesty. But I find none. I realize my heart is beating quickly so I take a breath and try to calm myself. I have no right to be upset by the fact that he has had a relationship before me; it’s just the fact that he left me for her…
“You can smell my dick if you want,” he suggests with a smirk. I burst out laughing. “Or you can trust me, let me take you back upstairs and finish what we started.”
I think he’s just going to snatch me into his arms and throw me over his shoulder again, but he doesn’t; he waits. So far, this entire evening I’ve felt like I’ve been under his control. But right now he knows that this decision has to be mine, and he’s going to let me make it.
A warm bubbling sensation swims through me, starting in my toes and stopping in my stomach. He reads my expression perfectly and pulls my lips to his.
“Now,” he whispers. “Where were we?”