Chapter 24: Whatever You Ask

The ask I had whispered at City Hall was a small one.

I wanted the lamp on, the door open, and no one in the house but us.

I wanted him to want me out loud.

By nine that night Muriel had gone home with the last of the cake, and the nurses had gone back to their shifts.

The house was quiet.

Jonas stood in the bedroom doorway with his tie loosened and his hand on the frame.

"Is this the ask?" he said.

"Part of it."

"And the rest?"

"You'll know it when it comes."

I stood by the tall window with my back to the room.

The hills ran dark below the glass, and the city shone far off, with the Tower in the middle of it.

I had unpinned my hair, and I wore the green dress still.

I heard him cross the carpet.

He stopped behind me, close enough that I felt his heat on my back.

"Tell me what you want, Mrs. Arceneaux."

"Unzip me."

The zipper went down slowly, one tooth at a time, and his knuckles followed it along my spine.

The dress slid off my shoulders and pooled at my feet.

I had nothing on under it, and his breath caught.

"You planned this," he said, rough.

"I planned this at the clerk's window."

His hands settled on my hips.

He pulled me back against him, and I felt how hard he was through his trousers.

His mouth found my neck and stayed there, hot and open.

"Put your hands on the glass," he said.

I did.

The cold of it shocked my palms.

His fingers slid around my front, over my stomach, between my legs.

I was already wet, and he swore into my skin.

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