“Hah! Falling in love,” Addilyn snorted. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”
I stopped walking to stare down at the gorgeous woman in my arms. “What the fuck does that mean?”
She huffed and gave me a cute little glare. “It means I wouldn’t be here right now, trying to fix our gigantic mistake, if we were falling in love with each other.”
Every muscle in my body locked. I refused to believe what she was implying, not with how excited she’d been when we got married. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if it turned out that I’d read the situation completely wrong and it’d been the alcohol talking the whole night. Then I shook that thought away. No. No fucking way had I been wrong about what was between us. “Don’t even try telling me you’re not falling for me, Addilyn.”
“My feelings weren’t the problem,” she whispered. Her gaze dropped to my chest, but not before I saw the pain in her pretty brown eyes. I wasn’t sure what I’d done wrong to put it there, but I’d do whatever it took to wipe it away once I got her alone.
Luckily, my sister came to the same realization. “That sounds like my cue to give you two some privacy so my bonehead of a brother can fix this.” She gave me a pointed look that said I’d better figure it out or else before flashing Addilyn an encouraging smile. “I’m sorry. If I’d realized you doubted his feelings for you, I would’ve dragged his butt downstairs so he could explain why he got you to marry him the same night you met instead of suggesting you talk to Will.”
“You? Why? What?” Addilyn dropped the hand she’d been cupping against her chest and tilted her head back to look up at me with wide eyes when Ariel walked away without any further explanation.
“Give me fifteen minutes and you’ll understand.” It was more of a demand than a request, and I factored in the time it would take me to get her back to my suite. Without giving her the chance to argue, I stalked toward the closest side entrance to the Lennox. My entire focus was on getting her alone, and my determination must have been obvious to everyone who saw us because they all scattered when they saw us coming. I still had five minutes left when the door of my suite slammed shut behind me and I set Addilyn down on the couch.
“I don’t understand why you brought me back here,” she grumbled, wrapping her arms around her stomach in a protective gesture.
I hated that she felt the need to guard herself against me. Dropping on the cushion next to her, I slid my arm over her shoulders and pulled her into my side. “Because you never should’ve been anywhere else. If you hadn’t run off, we would’ve spent the past day and a half here, together, celebrating our marriage.”
She jerked away and glared up at me. “Oh, please! You couldn’t get away from me fast enough the other night. It was quite obvious you regretted us getting married as soon as we got back here.”
“What the fuck?” I shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t regret a damn thing about that night except for not cuffing you to my bed so you couldn’t run off while I slept! I even hacked into Will’s calendar to find out when you’d be at his office. Would I have done that if I wanted out of our marriage? Pulled in favors from a buddy at the police force to access traffic cams because I wasn’t sure I could last until this afternoon without seeing you? Or spent thirty fucking hours running all over the fucking place trying to track you down?”
“I’m not sure why you did any of that.” She squeezed her eyes shut and heaved a deep sigh. “Look. I get it. The champagne goggles came off when I dropped my wedding gown to the floor, and you realized you weren’t as attracted to me as you’d originally thought. These things happen, I guess.”
My head reared back in shock. I couldn’t wrap my brain around what she was accusing me of. Yanking her onto my lap, I ground my hard on against the heat between her thighs while pressing her hand against my heart as it pounded in my chest. “Does this feel like I don’t want you with every fiber of my being?”
8 Addilyn
I was thoroughly confused. And completely turned on. Which was making rational thought pretty difficult.
I’d felt Knox against me before, but to have his hard and, obviously, very large erection trapped between my legs was a whole new kind of panty-drenching sensation. Involuntarily, my body rocked against him just the tiniest bit, and I sucked in a breath at the shot of pleasure that exploded in my pussy.
The rapid beating of his heart matched the pace of mine, and I started to wonder if I’d truly misread the whole situation. His body certainly seemed to be reacting as though he wanted me. I wiggled again, just to test my theory. Knox dropped his head onto the back of the couch and groaned, his hands clenching on my hips to hold me still.
After a beat and a deep inhale, he raised his head and locked our gazes. “Are you convinced that I want you? That I can barely hold back when I’m near your incredibly sexy body?” he rasped.
I cocked my head to the side, studying him and seeing only sincere desire in his beautiful blue eyes. “I do…” And I did, which only added to my confusion. “So why did you push me away on our wedding night?”
Knox’s grip loosened, and his hands traveled up, making my breath catch when they skated along the sides of my breasts. He kept going until he was cupping my face, and he leaned
