Free Knock Love Out (A Sensual New Adult Crossover Romance) by Pella Grace

wrong?”
    “Just tired.” She lies.
    “And?”
    Her bottom lip rolls between her teeth, eyes cast down. Back to her hands on the mug.
    “The silent shit might be alright with your husband, but it doesn’t work for me, Lil. In fact, it drives me insane. I’m not Adam.”
    “ Exactly .” She pushes away from the counter, feet on the floor and down the hall. The bathroom. I give her until half of my coffee is gone before I hunt her down.
    She’s leaned against the counter.
    I rest my face into her hair, toying the ends with my fingers.
    “I didn’t think I’d feel guilty,” she whispers.
    “What did you think you’d feel?”
    “I don’t know. Better? Like I proved something? I just feel like shit.” Her head lifts, looking to me in the reflection of the mirror.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Now I’m hurting you, too.”
    Surrounding my arms around her shoulders, trying to prevent her ugly crying in my bathroom.
    “Do you honestly think you’re the first married woman who has regretted having sex with me?”
    She pulls away and I smile. “It’s not funny, Cash.”
    “I know, but I wish it was. I’d much rather see these lips smile,” my thumb touches her, “than those eyes cry.”
    “I’m sorry,” she repeats.
    “I’m not. Not at all. Well, that’s not true. I’m sorry you feel like shit. That part has to go.”
    Her eyes dance between mine. “I don’t want you to think that I feel like this because of you. I don’t. If I was single and twenty-something …” She shakes her head.
    I slide my hands to her hips. “You’d what?”
    “I’d have woken up feeling completely different. Let’s leave it at that.”
    “No way.”
    Hiding her face against my chest.
    “I probably wouldn’t have got out of the bed. Ever. Now shut up.”
    “One night with me and already she’s ordering people around.”
    “ Cash ,” a warning, twisting her head to look toward the mirror.
    I follow, eyes unable to look away.
    Soft girl pressed to my bare chest, the aftermath of my presence. My existence in her world. My teeth embedded in her skin. Red marks that tell a truth. Scratches along my arms where her nails have left a reminder. Where she has walked along my streets. Imprinted herself onto me. Traces of the paint on her hand, palm flat to my chest. I lower my hands, treating myself to the same luscious skin claimed last night.
    “What did you dream about, Lilla?”
    Highlighted cheeks turning crimson as she silently remembers where all these designs came from. How they came to be. Adam at the back of her thought process.
    “You.”
    As intended.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Eleven
     
     
    DAY FIVE
    I wonder where her leash is.
    I wonder if he will permit her to use the restroom or if she will have to lift her leg and seek a silk plant.
    If she finishes her shopping quickly, will she be treated to a cookie from the bakery? A swift pat on the head and a ‘that’ll do pig’.
    “ The fuck .” I push off the glass window, overlooking the sales floor from the office above, watching as Lilla and her damn husband begin unloading items to Mary’s register. It’s her first day of training. Mary. Not Lilla.
    Brown eyes are searching for me. Left, right, all around. Hide and go seek, my pretty. Catch me if you can. I flail my arms, knowing this is only a one-way conversation.
    Frightened little Lilla. Adam must be in a hurry. An exchange of grumbles has her putting items on the belt with an irritated quickness. There go the eggs. Mary is going to break up this marriage, today. She has only scanned two items, so far. Entering fruit codes is not her forte.
    Not that anything is.
    “Give the girl a hand, son. Stop being a jerk.” My father, Claude, gives a glance to the floor below.
    “Which one?” I josh.
    “ Both . And you’re still not forgiven for abandoning your shift.”
    My eyes stay on her . “I had a good reason.”
    “You always do, Warren.”
    When I was a kid,