He didn’t want that for her. Never her.

It had been a long few weeks since she insisted he leave her be and let her do her job. Seeing her disappear in back with different men nearly killed him. Xavier wasn’t the type of man to check his emotions or reactions to situations he couldn’t control, which was why he found himself spending less and less time at The Den whenever she was there. Otherwise, he was likely to scare the shit out of Aurora with the sick and twisted things he felt compelled to do to any man who touched her.

As if the car had a mind of its own, he found himself on the familiar road. The same road that would take him to her. It would seem he had become a glutton for punishment since meeting the beautiful and intriguing Aurora James.

Xavier drove slowly by her apartment building. It really was a shit hole. Not a place for someone like Aurora. And definitely not a place for a young mother and her daughter. They belonged in a safe fucking house overlooking the Goddamn lake, just like she wanted.

The lights in her unit were out and he glanced at his clock, cursing that it didn’t look like she was back from Marx’s house yet. It was just after midnight. Marx never kept a girl that long.

Hitting a button on the steering wheel, the car filled with the sound of his phone ringing.

“Boss,” Eddie, his driver, answered on the second ring.

“You still with Aurora?” he asked, barely controlling his temper.

“Yes,” the man confirmed.

“Is she upstairs?”

Hesitation and then, “Yes.”

Xavier punched the steering wheel in frustration. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He never should have let her push him into kissing her that night. If he hadn’t lost control, he never would have taunted her into defying him.

And it wouldn’t feel like there was a fist wrapped around his heart right now.

His first instinct was to send Eddie upstairs to make sure she was safe, even though he knew Marx would never, not ever, harm a woman. Especially one of Xavier’s girls. Even if he was tempted to, he knew Xavier would kill him for it.

No, he wanted Eddie to go up there so whatever was happening between the two of them would be interrupted. He loathed the idea of Marx wanting more from Aurora.

Hell, he loathed the idea that Marx had seen her naked. Had touched her smooth, creamy skin. Something Xavier had been longing to do since the first time he laid eyes on her. Something that most definitely would have happened that night in her kitchen if he hadn’t stopped before things got out of control.

“Let me know the minute she comes out.” He barked the order into the phone and then disconnected.

Throwing the car in drive, he drove faster than the law allowed to Marx’s. Why he did it, he wasn’t sure. The only answer that came to mind was that he really was a glutton for punishment.

And surely that was the reason, for twenty minutes after he pulled up across the street from Marx’s condo, he watched as Aurora alighted from the building with Marx right behind her.

She looked stunning in a burgundy dress that clung to every delectable curve on her body. Just looking at her had his body tightening with need. Memories of the way she felt against his body darkened his mood even further. It was pure torture remembering how responsive she was for him. How he wanted to get her off. Wanted her beneath him. His name on her lips as she came for him.

What the fuck is Marx playing at? he wondered darkly as the man’s hand rested low on her back, practically on her ass.

Eddie climbed out of the car and stood attentively at its side while Aurora turned to Marx. She looked up at him with a beaming smile. Marx’s hands settled on either side of her face. His head descended and his lips brushed against hers. They murmured something to one another before she reluctantly pulled away from him and ducked inside the car door Eddie was now holding open for him.

Son of a bitch.

The tires squealed as Xavier pulled away from the curb.

He was a bastard. He knew it. And he was getting nothing less than what he deserved.

I was scrubbing the bathroom while waiting for Sophie to get home from Ruth’s, a smile playing on my face as I thought about how sweet and sexy Marx had been the night before.

When Eddie had dropped me off at Marx’s, I was surprised to find I wasn’t nervous at all. I was actually anticipating my time with him. He was so handsome and polite, and it didn’t hurt that he really knew how to get a girl off.

Instead of getting right down to business like we had the time before, we sat at the bar making small talk for a while. He surprised me when he remembered the drink I’d ordered the last time, making it efficiently before leaning against the bar. While we chatted, his fingertips trailed lightly over my hand and forearm, making random patterns. His eyes followed the movement with rapt attention before lifting my fingers to his lips and sucking one into his mouth. My words died on my lips at the seductive move.

With my attention fully on him, he led me to the bedroom where his preferences hadn’t changed. Tied up, I struggled against my binds while he jerked off, coming on a towel on the floor.

I bit my lip while I waited to see if he’d see to me as he had before. I didn’t have to wait long before a long finger sank inside me. It felt so fucking good.

The orgasm built with lightning speed. I was so close to the precipice when his tongue joined the foray, flicking against my clit with such precision I moaned long and low. When his lips wrapped around my flesh and sucked and his finger stroked my G-spot, I detonated. My body convulsed, my hands pulling roughly at the rope around them, and my toes curling. I struggled to breathe as my heart continued to gallop in my chest.

Marx brought me down with gentle strokes that were surprisingly tender. Instead of cleaning up after his release, he untied me first. His arms lifting me and placing me further in the bed. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled the covers down and climbed in beside me before settling them back over our bodies.

At first, I was taken aback by this change in plans. Surely this was more the type of behavior expected of a boyfriend and girlfriend not a prostitute and client. Granted, I had only been with Marx once, but I still hadn’t seen this gesture of affection coming.

With his arm wrapped around my back, a hand resting on my hip, his other running idly through my hair, I laid my head on his chest and draped my arm across his stomach. It would seem Marx liked to cuddle, and he was rather keen on knowing every little detail about me I was willing to share. He asked me question after question, leaving my mind spinning in confusion.

“I don’t understand,” I finally told him. “This is way more personal than the last time we were together.”

He hummed his agreement.

“What’s going on here?”

“I like you,” he simply said.

“I like you, too,” I whispered and tightened my arm around him for emphasis.

“Would you ever date a client?” he asked several moments later.

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully, considering I had never really given it thought before.

“I very much wanted to fuck you tonight, but I don’t want to do that as your client. I want to do it as your lover.” His finger under my chin tilted my face up to his so I could see the sincerity in his eyes.

“I don’t know what to say to that,” I whispered, barely able to speak past the sudden lump in my throat.

“Think about it. I’ll give you my number, and should you ever want to see me outside of this arrangement, all you need to do is call. Any time of the day.”