His lips twitch into a near-smile, the closest I’ve ever seen him to graduating from a smirk. He smooths his thumb over my cheek again and then leans forward, kissing me with surprising tenderness on the forehead.
“It shows how much you care about us,” he says, his voice trembling as though he’s holding himself back from another kiss. “Let me take you out tonight, Sophia. You say you want proof that we can’t just forget about this. Let me take you someplace befitting a queen. Let me treat you like what you are—my woman, forever. And then, afterward, we’ll both know how impossible it’ll be for us to ever walk away.”
I know how impossible it is already, and so does he, but neither of us mentions that.
We don’t mention Caitlin again, either.
Instead, we just sink into each other. I wrap my arms around his torso and grab onto the back of his suit jacket.
I squeeze on and feel the irrepressible strength of him beneath the fabric.
It’s a strength that tells me I’ll always be safe, always be protected, no matter what happens.
We both know that neither of us can walk away from this.
But am I going to say no to dinner with Solomon Sky, the man I’ve dreamed of sharing a meal with my entire life?
Hell, no.
CHAPTER TEN
Solomon
I stand with my hands behind my back, gazing down at the city as the moon makes it glitter blue. Since Sophia left my office the day has felt ridiculously long, as though time lengthened to torture me, making the minutes feel like hours as I wait to see her.
I turn back to the restaurant, deserted and empty except for a single table in the middle of the hardwood floor.
A chandelier sits above our table, casting down glowing orange light.
I’ve had rose petals littered all over the floor, a candle burning in the center of the table, next to a vase containing a single rose.
I smirk as my eyes flit over the scene, struggling to believe that I arranged all this.
In all my life, I’ve never done anything romantic.
I’ve never wanted to.
But now I’ve found the woman of my dreams – the woman I can never turn away from – and I know I can’t imagine not treating her right.
Tension twists in my chest when my mind skirts close to Caitlin.
I want to tell her right now, get it over with before Sophia and I grow into something we can’t control.
As if you haven’t already grown into that, a voice snarls in my mind.
It’s true.
The second I laid eyes on her in my office, I knew that I’d never be able to watch her grow and flourish in the arms of another man.
That’s my right—to be with her for the rest of our lives, to watch as she becomes the woman I know she can be, the mother I know she’s going to be.
I walk over to the table and adjust a piece of cutlery, making sure it’s aligned with the rest of the pieces.
Everything has to be perfect for my woman.
Perfect, that is until the beast inside of me snaps my self-restraint in half and I sweep the table clear. Lifting her onto the table and pushing her legs open with my knee, growling like the animal I am, and then driving myself deep inside of her, pounding her until the table buckles and collapses and she’s left cradled in my arms.
I let out a deep, shivering breath.
I need to wait, for her, for my sweet virgin to be ready.
Finally, the private elevator to the restaurant beeps and opens.
I stare as my woman walks into the room, my blood pumping hotter and hotter around my body each moment.
She’s wearing a tight fitting red dress, a dress I had delivered to her desk earlier today.
It makes her body look as curvy and thick and gorgeous as I knew it would.
Her breasts strain against the fabric, her subtle – yet mind-fucking – cleavage causing my manhood to ache and flood with tension.
Her hair cascades down to her shoulders, her eyes framed with elegant makeup. Her heels are a matching red and her legs are bare, juicy looking, making me want to skip dinner and indulge in the succulence of her flesh instead.
She stops at the edge of the table, aiming a shaky smile at me.
“Evening, sir,” she says.
I make a deep rumbling noise from my chest, fighting the urge to jump over the table and bring my hand down in an owner’s spank on that plump ass of hers.
She tilts her head at me, a flutter of insecurity entering her expression.
“You look incredible,” I say, forcing the words past my choked desire. “I knew you’d look good in that dress, but fucking hell, Sophia.”
“Really?” she says, her face lighting up with glorious light.
It’s the same way she’s going to smile when I make her a mother.
“Really,” I breathe huskily. “In fact, it’s pretty difficult not to tear it off you right now.”
I walk around the table and pull her chair out, nodding down.
She giggles and drops into the seat, shifting with me as I help her to push the chair in.
“What’s so funny?” I ask, moving around to my seat.
“It’s not funny, exactly,” she says. “It’s just that I’ve dreamed of this so many times. The rose petals, and the candle, and everything … It’s just perfect, Solomon.”
“I’m glad I can satisfy my little dreamer,” I smirk, threading my hand between the vase and the candle and take her hand.
She squeezes onto me, sending tingles up my forearm and into my chest, pounding into my heart.
“Satisfy?” she murmurs. “I don’t think that quite does it justice.”
She looks around at the vast emptiness.
“It’s very private, too,” she notes.
I can almost hear her adding, That’s good because then nobody will report back to Caitlin.
But she decides to remain silent about that, and even if it’s
