I awoke to an empty bed, an empty apartment, and an even emptier heart. My mind had to have been playing tricks with me; was he really in bed with me last night? Had he really said those words to me? My heart was heavy, and my confidence shattered. I felt like I was being pushed back to the girl who had first arrived. Ky didn’t want me; did I have too much baggage for him? I deserved this, I wanted this, I needed this.

I had practically begged him to take me last night.

It confused me.

It frightened me.

It set me on fire.

I shook the thoughts from my head and threw back the covers. I had a meeting to attend at Anderson Publications and then I would be spending some time getting reacquainted with a deliciously sexy girl called Victoria.

Stumbling out into the vast living room, I was less than comforted by the silence that lingered in the air. The room was shadowed by the darkness of the clouds hanging in the sky that penetrated through the windows. Stormy weather to suit a stormy mood it seemed. I searched the room for my purse and found the red leather sitting on the kitchen island. My eyes latched onto the empty coffee mug beside the coffeemaker that was filled with freshly brewed coffee. A note leaned against the white porcelain of the mug that was meant for me.

I poured myself a fresh mug and fiddled with the note, flipping it over in my hands before I finally found the courage to read his words.

Had a couple of things I need to get sorted. Will be back later today. Ky.

I took the note back to my room and sat on the edge of the bed. The feeling of being dismissed hit me, but then something shocking swept through me—determination, courage, and confidence. If he didn’t want me then I needed to move on. That was the plan. I had to stick with it.

••••

My arms ached from the bags containing the expensive yet deliciously gorgeous lingerie I had purchased, and I was buzzing from the numerous coffees I had consumed during my epic shopping marathon. I hadn’t spoken to Ky while I was at Anderson Publications and I had fled the building before he could get to me, maybe that’s why I had spent a fortune shopping. I felt so much better though. There was nothing like buying a skimpy pair of panties that no one will ever see to brighten up your mood. As I stepped up to Ky’s door, I fumbled around in my purse for the key but was startled when the door flew open and an anxious Ky stood there, taking up the entire door frame.

“Where the hell have you been?” His voice was laced with panic as his eyes darted over my face in concern.

“I’ve been shopping in the city.” I stood in the hall. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head and stepped away from the door. “You just can’t disappear like that.”

“I didn’t disappear, I just went shopping. Why are you so worried anyway?”

I moved into the living room and placed my bags next to the couch then turned back toward him. His eyes burned back at me, they were so dark tonight.

“I… just… please tell me where you go in the future.” His reaction confused me. “I don’t like the thought of anything happening to you and with him out there it scares me okay.”

Jeremy.

He turned his back on me and walked through the apartment toward the dining room table where his laptop sat. What the hell was going on? I jumped at a loud crack of thunder and suddenly the lights flickered out and darkness fell throughout the apartment.

“Shit!” Ky hissed, and I froze. “Stay where you are until I find the candles.”

“I’m going to pack up my things and go stay with Ashlyn,” I announced into the dark space. “I think it would be best.”

I stood in the middle of the apartment robbed of my ability to see. I didn’t know whether it was the darkness, the silence, or the jabs of lightning that lit up the room that made the intensity soar.

My shriek filled the room as Ky’s arms weaved around my waist and pulled me against his chest. I was fully alert to the closeness of his body, and I inhaled violently as his warm breath skimmed the skin near my ear.

“I don’t want you to leave.” His mouth was so close to my ear and a shiver of want fled down my back.

“After last night—” I whispered causing my head to involuntarily fall to the side, and I was rewarded with the lightest of kisses.

“Last night you begged me to take you Eden. Do you know what that felt like, hearing you ask me to give you everything. I don’t want to hurt you Eden, I couldn’t live with myself if I did. I’ve been thinking about it all day and then when I got home and you weren’t here… I freaked out.”

I was trembling against his body, not in fear but of expectation. His words were flooding my ears and the realization of what he was saying was so confusing. Did he want me or didn’t he?

“I needed to distract myself so I went shopping.”

“What did you buy?” he growled against my neck, his fingers kneading my hips.

“Lingerie.”

His body ripped away from mine so quickly and the sensation of loss was gravely intense. Darkness still swamped the apartment and for a moment I thought he had slipped out of the door to leave me on my own. My ears pricked to life when I heard movement to my left but still I couldn’t see him. Finally through the flicker of candlelight dancing on the mantel I made out his features. He moved through the living room and disappeared into the bedrooms, igniting candle after candle until the apartment danced in shadows.

Ky headed to the couch the minute his eyes locked onto the dark pink bags on the floor. My breathing halted as he lifted them and walked back toward me like a man on a mission.

“I want you to try something on,” he suggested in a devastatingly seductive tone as he placed the bag on the floor between us. His dimple popped in his cheek as he smirked and lowered his eyes back to the bag. “You bought it, you try it on.”

When his eyes met mine, we stared at each other for what seemed like eternity. I didn’t even know if I was breathing. My heart thundered in my chest and my stomach swarmed with excitable butterflies at the thought of standing before this man in my lingerie. I nodded and dropped my hand to the bag on the floor and picked it up. His hand came to mine, encasing it with hesitation and stopped me.

“Only do this if you are really sure because if I see you in lingerie, there is no way I will be able to control myself. Say no to me Eden because I won’t be able to stop once I start.”

My actions spoke louder than any verbal response I could have given him. I pulled the bag close to my chest and sauntered down the hall that was illuminated by the candlelight escaping through the doors of his bedroom and the guestroom.

I was really going to do this. I stepped into the guest room and placed the bag on the bed. I had begged him last night for this and now he had practically told me that he would have me tonight.

I gently pulled out everything from within the bag and my eyes fell to my favorite purchase of the day; a dusty pink panty and bra set with a matching silk gown that sat mid-thigh.

Excitement quivered within me as I stepped into the skimpy panties and clasped the bra around my body, the soft tone of the pink complementing the olive of my skin. Pulling the gown over my shoulders, I sighed as the lace and silk caressed my body and swam around my mid-thigh. I stepped in front of the mirror and my gaze roamed over my body illuminated by the candles that Ky had lit. I felt like a goddess ready to present to her god. I swallowed breath after breath and silently chanted to myself ‘you can do this Eden’.

With my head held high and my eyes fixed squarely on the candlelight flickering on the walls of the hall, I moved through like a silent assassin. I stepped out into the living room and through the room lit only by candles I found Ky standing by the window, looking out over the ocean in complete thought.