The curtains are pulled back and the sun is already high in the sky. I’m cuddled in bed, but out of the corner of my eye I see my phone light up again, begging for attention. I lean up a little and look at it to see another Google alert has gone off. I sigh and fall back onto my pillow, ignoring it. I’m sure the story from last night is everywhere by now and will probably be the highlight over the next few weeks.
I look at his side of the bed and see it’s empty. I don’t remember falling asleep after I woke up with him inside me. The sex was urgent and hard like he was trying to brand me. But even after all of that, something is still wrong. I could feel it in his touch early this morning and I’m pretty sure I woke up once with him sitting in the chair next to the bed watching me.
Was my father right? Does Daniel see me as a piece of property? I’ve always thought the man is a little obsessed with me, but this is a whole new level. I sit up and take the sheet with me and wrap it around my body. I grab my cell phone to take a look at what the rest of the world is saying but instantly regret it when I begin to read it.
“I was wondering when you were going to get angry.” My head snaps up as Daniel steps into the bedroom. He only has on a pair of pants that I’m guessing he threw on when he rolled out of bed this morning. He doesn't look like he got much sleep.
“You can’t leave me.” His eyes meet mine in a challenge.
“I’m not scared of you. Try that look on someone else.” I drop my cell phone down onto the night stand with a loud thud, not caring if I cracked it. I wouldn't mind throwing the damn thing away right now.
“Why haven't you asked me if it’s true or asked me if I made a deal with your father?”
“Don’t call him that.” I shake my head. “He’s not my father. I should have realized that when my mom never told me about him. She had a reason.” It’s all clear to me now. She was protecting me from him by keeping me away, but how she hooked up with him in the first place will forever be a mystery to me.
Daniel’s eyes roam over me and I can tell he’s trying to figure me out. “Okay, I won’t call him that, but you haven’t answered my question,” he tries again.
“Because I believe you. I remember that night and you were going to have me one way or another.” He closes the distance between us and grabs the sheet I’m holding around me. I knew the kind of man he was the moment I looked at him, and I think everyone else knows it, too.
“Say you belong to me,” he orders as he lifts me.
“I belong to you,” I answer, and I think he’s going to take us down to the bed but instead he turns and presses me against the wall.
I moan as he reaches between us and frees himself right before he thrusts inside me all the way to the root of him. I’m wet and glide up and down his thick, hard cock easily. He groans in my ear as he moves and he doesn’t have to remind me who owns my body and my soul.
“Say you’re going to marry me.” He’s gritting his teeth and I can see how desperate he is for me.
“I’ll marry you!” I cry out as my body responds to his touch and my orgasm quickly builds.
I dig my fingers into his shoulder as his mouth finds mine. He kisses me like he can’t get close enough and he’s trying to drink me into him. I cry out as his mouth moves lower and he ruts me into the wall. I call out his name just as perfection lights up my body and I climax around him.
It’s so hard and fast that I see stars, but the next thing I know Daniel is lowering me onto the soft bed and kissing me gently all over.
“Did I hurt you?” His words are so low and he’s trying to catch his breath.
“Hurt isn’t the word I’d use.” I laugh until I see his face and then I reach up and touch his beard. He hasn’t shaved in a few days and I love the feel of it against my skin. “Why are you making that face?”
For the first time in my life I see something in Daniel’s eyes I’ve never seen before. There’s a vulnerability there that I’m sure no one else has ever seen before, but he shows it to me. It’s probably because I’m the only one who can make him feel it.
“I took you too hard. I should be gentle with you, but I lost control.” He strokes my cheek softly and I lean into his touch.
“I enjoyed myself.” I nuzzle my nose against his as I wrap my arms around him.
He audibly swallows. “I was scared you were going to leave me.” I would normally tease him, but the look on his face has me shaking my head.
“I’m not mad at you. You know that, right?” I’m beginning to understand why he’s so on edge.
“You’re not?” His voice is filled with shock and I can’t help but laugh. It’s a rare treat to shock him.
“Why would I be mad at you? If anything…” I trail off.
“If anything what?” he asks.
“I’m a lot of work. I didn’t know you were helping him and I—”
“I don’t care about him or anyone else. Without him there is no you, so if you want him around then I’ll let him be around. If you want him gone, then he’s gone.”
My heart flutters because others might see his words as lacking feeling, but I don’t. He gets right to the point and lets me know where he stands. There are no blurred lines between us.
“You make it sound so easy.”
“It is. If it were up to me they’d be gone.” His finger traces down my jaw. “But you’ve lost something in your life already and I won’t take more. Even if I think they’re causing you more harm than good.”
I nod in agreement. “I think they’re just hurting the life we have and the one we’re going to keep building. I want to make us a family, and you didn't know your mom either. I thought that this was a chance for us.”
“Baby, you and your mom were a family, weren't you?” I nod my head again. God, he’s right. We were. “My brother and dad love you.”
“I love them, too.” They’re so unlike my family with how they’re warm and affectionate. “You gave me your family and I didn’t have anything to give you.”
“All I need is you, dream girl, you know that. The rest we’ll make together.” A tear slips free and he kisses it.
“I was mad because people online are saying the worst stuff about you. I think my father is spreading lies.”
“You think I care?” I laugh a little, knowing he doesn't but still it bugs me. “All I care about is what you think. Do you think I’m crazy?”
“A little.” I try to fight a smile, but I can’t help myself. “About me.”
“Obsessed,” he adds.
“I know how you are. We might not be married, but I’ve been with you these past few years and nothing that’s come from you this last week is shocking.”
“I went a little—”
“Stop.” I put a finger over his mouth. He kisses the tip before giving it a small nibble. “If you’re crazy then I’m crazy, too. I love how you are with me. You make me feel wanted and loved.”
“Because you’re my dream girl,” he says then kisses me.
I won’t be leaving this bed until it’s time to say I do if Daniel has his way.