Page 86 of By His Vow
She’s going to be forced to live here with me for a year. The least I can do is try to make it comfortable for her.
I’ve seen her apartment. Hell, the place gives me nightmares. But it’s also told me a lot about how she likes to live her life.
My dark gray couch now has a blanket artfully draped over the back. A pink blanket. There are also a handful of cushions scattered over it.
I shake my head and rub the back of my neck.
Who knew agreeing to an arranged marriage included the addition of fucking cushions to my life?
There’s a vase of matching pink roses on the coffee table and when I look up, I find another huge bouquet in the middle of the dining table and more in the kitchen.
“This is?—”
“Yeah,” I agree, still rubbing the back of my neck. “Welcome home.”
“You did this. For me?” she asks, turning to face me.
I shrug one shoulder, somewhere between embarrassed and confused by the changes.
Reaching out, I take her hand before gently pulling her toward the stairs. There are two guest bedrooms on this floor, but I have zero intention of letting her stay in one.
If she’s here in my apartment, then she’s in my bedroom as well.
“So, this is where all the magic happens,” she deadpans as I take in the colossal new bed in the middle of the room. Just like downstairs, it’s much softer than its black metal-framed predecessor. The heavy oak is warm and homely, and the new bright white sheets really set it off.
“Tatum,” I warn.
“There’s really no need to try and cover up the kind of life you live, Kingston. I’m more than aware of how many women have rolled around in that.” She jerks her chin toward the bed.
“Is that right?” I mutter, walking around her and pulling my tie free.
“You’re a player,” she states. “If you’re not figuring out how to take over the world at work, then you’re fucking your way through fifty percent of the population.”
My brows rise.
“Says the virgin.”
Amusingly, she has the decency to blush a little. It’s cute.
“Never said I was an angel. But I also haven’t stood you in front of my bed like I expect you to sleep in it after…” She trails off, deciding against whatever she was going to say next.
I shrug off my jacket before unbuttoning my shirt and dropping it into the laundry.
She’s still standing motionless, staring at the bed as I walk up behind her.
She gasps the second I press my body up against her back, and then she shudders as I dip my lips to her ear. Just like she did at her parents’ house before we left.
My cock swells, remembering just how needy she was. Her body was screaming at me to take her, to give her the escape from life she so desperately craved while stuck in that situation.
I release a breath, letting it rush over her skin, loving the way she shudders again.
“No one has slept in that bed, baby. Not a single person,” I confess, my voice deep with my need to test it out.
“W-what?”
“It’s new, Tatum. It’s ours.”
A laugh of disbelief erupts from her throat.