Chapter 14: The Decree

Elias read the signature under the streetlight, and then he read the second one.

"That's his hand," he said.

"It's his hand."

"Then you're free to go wherever you like tonight, Ms. Farrington."

I took my coat out of his arms and put it on.

"I'd like to go to the ninth floor."

He did not move.

"Say what you mean," he said. "Out loud. I'm not going to guess."

"I've got a rule, Mr. Colquitt," I said. "I'm finished with it."

His breath went out of him, and for a moment he only looked at me.

Then he held the car door open.

Neither of us said a word for the whole drive.

His hand lay on the seat between us, palm up, and I put mine in it.

In the elevator he stood behind me and did not touch me, and I watched his reflection in the brass doors.

His eyes were on the back of my neck.

On nine, the corridor smelled of fresh paint.

He unlocked the suite and shut the door, and I turned around and put my back against it.

"Say it again," Elias said. "The part about being finished."

"I want you to kiss me."

He crossed the room in two steps.

He put one hand flat on the door beside my head and the other along my jaw.

Then he kissed me slowly.

I took two handfuls of his lapels and pulled.

The kiss went deeper, and he made a low sound against my mouth that I felt in my stomach.

"You have been wearing that dress for four hours," he said into my neck. "I watched every man in that ballroom look at it."

"Take it off me."

"Turn around."

I turned and put my palms on the door.

He found the zipper at my spine and drew it down an inch at a time.

His knuckles followed it all the way to the small of my back.

The dress fell around my feet.

He stood behind me with his mouth on my shoulder, and his hands came around my ribs and up over my bra.

"Tell me what you want," he said.

"Your hands."

"Where?"

"Everywhere you can reach."

He unhooked the bra and let it drop.

He cupped my breasts in both palms, and his thumbs moved over my nipples until I pushed back against him.

Keep reading free with an account. Start My Foolish Husband's Regret Comes Late from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.