Chapter 10: The Library

I did not sleep.

The bedroom was bigger than my whole apartment, with a bed I had no wish to be alone in.

At two in the morning I opened the door and went down the dark stairs in my bare feet.

There was a light on in the library.

Christian stood at the window in his shirtsleeves with a glass in his hand, looking at the black water.

His jacket lay over a chair, and his tie hung loose.

"You didn't go," I said.

"You didn't ask me to again."

"I should."

"You should," he said, and he did not turn around.

"Rule one," I said. "I decide the night."

He went very still.

"It's Saturday," he said.

"I know what day it is."

"You said Monday and Wednesday were mine. Nobody ever had to say it. I never wanted the calendar, Lena."

"Then you'd better stop looking at it."

He put the glass down on the sill.

When he finally turned, his grey eyes were not cold at all.

"Tonight," I said. "You."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the one who stays calm when everyone else is shouting," I said. "And I'd like to watch you stop."

He crossed the room in three long strides and put both hands on my face.

He kissed me slowly and took his time over all of it.

His mouth was warm and tasted of whisky.

I pulled him closer by his open collar, and he made a rough sound low in his chest.

His hands found the zip of my black dress, the one Dorian had drawn up so carefully, and he took it down just as slowly, to the base of my spine.

"I've wanted to do this since I saw you in that dress," he said against my jaw.

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