“Listen very carefully, Addilyn Dawson. I knew the moment I saw you up on that stage that you were meant to be mine. And I’ll admit, I took advantage of the situation and used your tipsy state to make sure you couldn’t get away from me.”
I opened my mouth to point out that I had, in fact, managed to give him the slip, but the deadly look in his narrowed eyes had my jaw snapping shut really fast.
“Don’t think we won’t be talking about your little disappearing act, baby. I still haven’t decided whether I should put you over my knee and spank your pretty little ass.” I gasped, but he kept talking. “Anyway, I may have let you marry me when you were drunk, but I wasn’t about to take your cherry without making sure you were giving it to me when you were sober and one hundred percent aware of what you were doing.” He suddenly released my face and placed his hands back on my hips, pulling me down as he ground his thick shaft between my legs. “However,” he gritted out through a clenched jaw. “The other reason is simply that I’m a selfish bastard, and when I take you, you will know without a doubt who you are with and who you belong to.”
Okay, so that speech was pretty damn hot. And also, really sweet. My arms had been hanging at my sides but between his words and the way he was making my body come alive, my head started to spin, so I quickly grabbed his shoulders to steady myself. “If I’d stuck around the next morning”—I swallowed hard and licked my dry lips—“how would that have gone?”
A growl rumbled in Knox’s chest, and he stood so fast I had to cling to him for fear of falling. Not that he would have let me. His hands were firmly under my ass, holding me close to him as he stalked toward the bedroom.
To my shock, he didn’t go straight for the bed and instead, veered to the left and entered the large walk-in closet. He dropped my legs and let me slide down his body until I was standing on my feet. For a few seconds, we just stood there in the semi-darkness, breathing heavily. Then he took several steps back and pointed over my shoulder. “Put that on, and you’ll find out.” He was out the door in a flash, leaving me confused until I turned around to see what he’d been referring to.
One side of the closet was taken up with men’s clothes, but the one I was now facing, had my jaw dropping. Both ends were filled with what was, unmistakably, my wardrobe. He’d moved me in? What the hell? I was about to stomp out of there and yell at him about making decisions for me and blah, blah, blah, but my attention was caught on the open space between the two groups of clothes. Only two hangers were in the center of the rack. The first held a familiar white bra and panty set. On the second was my wedding dress. My shoes were set neatly on the floor below them.
He wanted me to put on my wedding dress? I realized then that it wasn’t the morning after that he wanted to play out. He wanted a do-over of our wedding night. Excitement at the idea zinged through me. I carefully, but speedily, changed into the outfit that had made me feel so beautiful at my wedding. I’d had a moment of pause when I slipped on the underwear, my mind flashing back to his reaction when I’d dropped the dress. But I pushed it away and trusted that Knox would wipe it out completely with a new memory.
The closet had its own entrance to the huge bathroom, and I went in search of a brush, rolling my eyes when I once again discovered all my possessions neatly stowed away in the cabinets and drawers. I combed through my long curls and added a touch of lip gloss before standing straight and checking out the finished product in the mirror. I nodded, happy with the result, and returned to the interior of the closet.
Slowly, I stepped out into the bedroom, and my breath hitched as I took in every detail of the scene before me. There were candles everywhere, soft music played from a small speaker on the dresser, and a little table was set up with glasses, champagne, and silver domed plates.
Knox was standing by the table, dressed in a suit and his expression brooding, until he caught sight of me. He inspected me from head to toe, and heat flared so brightly in his eyes that I wondered if we’d skip over all the other stuff and go right to bed. I wasn’t opposed to that option, by any means. However, he ran a hand down his face, and when he looked at me again, he’d clearly reined himself in, though the embers were still there.
“You look unbelievably beautiful, baby.”
My cheeks heated a little, and I inclined my head. “Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.”
With a soft smile, Knox pulled out one of the chairs at the table and gestured for me to sit. I walked over and lowered myself into the proffered seat. A second later, I shivered when I felt my hair pulled off my neck and pushed over one shoulder. Silky lips slid along the exposed skin, and I bit back a moan.
“If I’d waited and done our wedding night properly, I would have brought you back to our suite—to a setup like this.” He moved from behind me and sat in the chair next to
