“I just… How could you want someone like me? Someone who’s so—”
“Don’t finish that sentence,” Chromium said, pressing his finger lightly to her lips, shushing her. “Unless you were going to say gorgeous. Or perfect. That’s all you are, Helen.” He was calm but insistent.
He didn’t want her to say any crueler words about herself. He’d heard them earlier, about her weight, and harsher ones resounding in her mind.
He knew that someone must have said all these horrible things to make her feel the way she did about her body, and it made him want to tear something apart.
But right now, it was more important to build something up. And that was Helen’s distorted sense of how beautiful she was.
At least a little bit, for now.
“Just trust me,” he said quietly.
Her worried expression softened, and he pulled off the black garment, leaving her completely bare from the waist up. Chromium’s heart pounded in his chest, his member throbbing with arousal at even the sight of her.
Yes, she was perfect.
And he was going to show her just how perfect she was, right now.
His hands came to her breasts, squeezing as his mouth claimed hers once more. He was ravenous for her, so hungry he could never be satisfied without her coming. She moaned, spurring him further, and he pressed his thumbs lightly into her nipples, arousing her even more. Her scent, sweet and light like frosting and wildflowers, filled his senses.
Like whispered words, he could hear her thoughts. Her own desire to touch him, to explore him.
“Here,” he exclaimed, taking her hands and lifting them to his chest. “You can touch me, too.”
Helen’s eyes went wide for a second as she let her hands rove over his chest, his shoulders. As he did, he kissed at her neck, holding her up with his strength.
But her own avid exploration of his body didn’t last long as his kisses intensified and her hands clutched his back, attempting to steady herself.
Then Chromium had an idea.
He went to the box of cannoli and grabbed one, then acquired a small dollop of the creamy center. Then he came back to her and spread a little of the sweet substance over each nipple, noticing with amusement the blush creeping farther down her neck as she watched what he did.
Then he licked over one nipple, the taste of sugar and skin ecstasy in his mouth. Helen gasped, and he flicked his tongue against her, squeezing her soft, sensitive breast with his hand as he did.
He didn’t hesitate moving to the other side, going faster as his need to devour her intensified. Helen sighed and moaned, pressing her body against him, rubbing them together like steel and flint, creating more sparks of arousal with each touch.
The dragon in him was practically roaring, and he reached one hand lower, pulling up her skirt and finding the apex of her hips as he continued to ravish her breasts with his kisses.
“Yes—yes.” Helen gasped in pleasure as he stroked his finger over her clit, sounding as hungry for his touch as he was to touch her.
Even as her body began to tighten with tension, while Chromium held her tight with an arm around her waist, Helen thrust her hips against his finger, intensifying her arousal.
Then, with one long, torturous stroke, Helen came. All at once, her muscles and limbs went taut, and she buried her face in his chest, trying desperately to hold back her body’s incredible response to so much pleasure.
“Chromium.” She said his name between gasps of air as he felt her body throb in release against him.
It was more wonderful than he could have ever imagined.
Then after several moments of perfection, her body relaxed, and she opened her eyes to look up at him. Her beautiful blue eyes were glazed over, seemingly lost in the aftermath of arousal, and Chromium couldn’t suppress a smile at seeing her like this.
“That was incredible,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. When he pulled back, she looked up at him in alarm.
“Wait, that’s it?” Her pulse was still beating rapidly at the base of her neck, and her cheeks were still flushed. “What about you?”
He lifted his hand to lick a stray bit of cream from his thumb, keeping his eyes locked on her. “Utterly satisfied.”
For now, it was enough to maintain control of himself and pleasure her utterly while showing her clearly how he felt about her curves.
He could wait for anything more.
“I… That was amazing,” she said, putting her bra back on and buttoning up her shirt. She fumbled with several buttons, and Chromium came up, helping her with the misplaced ones while she straightened her skirt.
“There you go,” he said when she was finished.
“I guess I should go,” she said reluctantly. “I have to get up early tomorrow for work.” But the look of longing in Helen’s eyes as they took in the sight of his bare chest said much more than her words did.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be down to help with breakfast. Though, to be honest, breakfast would be best eaten off of you, I think.” Chromium was still memorizing the face she made as she came so he could always have the sight of her like that in his mind.
Helen blushed again, her eyes darting to the side in embarrassment. She was so easy to read, her body communicating to him everything her human logic refused to say out loud. “You’re too good to me, you know that? Cooking and helping me in the restaurant and… doing what you did…” She trailed off as she turned toward the door, ready to head out.
“Oh, that wasn’t even half the things I want to do to you,” he said, watching her intently. “But I can wait until tomorrow night.”
Helen’s gaze snapped to his, then down to the ground in embarrassment. “Oh God, you’re right. I’m going to be back, aren’t I?”
Chromium just nodded, folding his arms and enjoying the way she licked her lips as she appraised the bulge of his biceps. He flexed just for her and laughed as she sighed and then opened the door.
Everything about her appeared utterly pleased. He followed outside, watching as she crossed the walkway and entered her own apartment. She gave a quick wave before her door closed, and he listened for the sound of her lock snapping tight before closing his own door and turning off the lights to go to bed.
And as he jumped onto his back and settled in, a wicked smile crept on his lips as he plotted all the myriad things he would do to get his hands on his mate again tomorrow.
Chapter 8
Business.
It was so hard to focus on business with the memory of Chromium’s hot hands on her, fingering her up against the door like there was no tomorrow.
Except there was a tomorrow. Today. And she’d been unable to think of anything but how she was going to resist another interlude with him ever since she woke up this morning and had to host breakfast.
Breakfast had gone without a hitch. He’d helped the crew cook and quickly became a part of the kitchen. He was kind and patient with shy Jenny, easily brushed off Steve’s advances, though he was confused by them, and was quickly earning Mario’s deep trust.
Her trust as well.
Despite her tendency to look for the catch when things were going this well, she couldn’t see anything at all wrong with Chromium. He seemed to be a genuinely good, kind man and sincerely interested in her.
That last part was a shock to her, but after last night against his door, there was no doubt. He wanted her, seemingly as bad as she wanted him. Perhaps this was something simple, a fling between two people brought together for a limited amount of time.
Perhaps it was something more. She didn’t want to allow her heart to hope.
Still, he’d made her feel so beautiful, so desired, and he’d been so dominant, so powerful in the bedroom, so completely the opposite of her ex, Darren, who’d preferred to be bossy outside the bedroom and have her to do the work inside it. Darren had always made her feel she was lucky to just have him, and it was her job to please him.
She supposed he’d
come into her life at a particularly vulnerable moment, when she’d lost her parents. They’d been so in love with each other that it had been bittersweet that they’d gone together—in a car accident while doing their beloved traveling—than one at a time as they grew too old to enjoy life together.
She missed them a lot, but the ache was growing softer with time and could occasionally be mixed with fond memories.
She smiled, thinking of what her adoptive dad Bill would have said about Darren. As she wiped down a table, her last task to finish after the lunch rush, she knew it wouldn’t have been anything good.
And then, as if summoned by her mocking thoughts, Darren appeared at the door, sullen and wearing a suit and staring at her through the glass.
Given his personality, she was surprised the “closed” sign hanging over the door was even stopping him.
But not for long as he shoved it aside and pushed the door open, walking in as though he owned the place.
She left the rag on the table and took a step backward, toward the kitchen where the employees were still cleaning up.
They were close enough for her to yell if she needed to, but he’d never overtly hurt her, except with words. He’d threatened to a few times, but it had never come to that.
It had been long enough now that it was time for her to stand up for herself, to not cower in his presence. She wasn’t the loser he’d made her out to be. She’d been doing a great job alone with the restaurant, and she was comfortable in her life. And she had a new person inside of it who made her feel she deserved much more than to be degraded by this bastard.
“We’re closed, Darren,” she said firmly, keeping a safe distance between them.
He scowled at her, shoving his hands in his too-tight suit pockets. He reminded her of the guy Chromium had dumped lasagna on. That guy luckily hadn’t come back, probably because he knew Helen could get him slapped with assault for grabbing her.
“I can’t come into my own restaurant?”
“For the last time, it’s not yours. The lawyers already made that official, so I’m pretty sure that’s the end of this stupid argument.”
He slammed his hand down on the table next to him. “I helped make this place. You were nothing when I met you. Floundering. Without my guidance—”
“My parents built this place. I struggled after their deaths, but I would have gotten through it without you. Probably better.” She folded her arms and tried to look braver than she felt. “Besides, you’re the one who wanted to sign the prenup. You thought for sure your company was about to take off, and you didn’t want me to have a part of it. Well, guess that backfired.”
He glared at her, and she could feel such hatred in those cold, black eyes that it was hard not to take another step back from him, even though the rest of him was composed.
“This isn’t finished,” he said. “I don’t care what the lawyers say. We both know that—” He stopped as he looked up behind her, and his lips curled in a snarl. “Oh, I see. Is this your new boy toy giving you this new backbone?”
She turned around to see Chromium coming out of the kitchen to check on her, a protective expression on his face.
Darren let out a cruel laugh. “Will you never learn? You know what men like us want from you.” He eyed Chromium with that awful sneer, and Chromium just stood silently behind her, an immovable wall of support.
“What do I want from her?” Chromium’s voice was low and held a subtle warning that she was pretty sure would fly right past Darren.
“You’re just using her,” Darren said, practically spitting. “You’re going to let him trick you into making you think he wants you? You better not give him what’s mine.”
She felt a possessive, warm arm wrap around her waist, pulling her back against Chromium.
“Oh yeah?” Chromium muttered, nuzzling down against her ear, making her squirm right in front of Darren. The blatant show of possession would have been too much if it wasn’t kind of hot.
And it was nice to see the utter rage in Darren’s eyes. To see him look helpless for once.
“I’m going to take everything,” Chromium said, wrapping his other arm over the top of her shoulders, crossing her breasts. She could feel his calm, steady heartbeat but also sense the tension in his body. “Nothing is yours.” His hands moved over her. “It’s all going to be mine. It is already.”
Darren looked angry enough to spit, and he turned on his heel, fists clenched tightly, only looking back as he reached the door. “Don’t be an idiot, Helen! You know what he really wants. Don’t make the same mistake again.”
The door slammed shut, and when Darren had stomped out of sight, Helen let out a sigh of relief.
“You can let me go now,” she said, trying to turn to face Chromium.
“No.” She felt him shake his head as he kept his hold tight around her, apparently not caring who saw.
“I appreciate the show you put on for him, but—”
“There’s no show,” he said in a low growl. “I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I want all of you. And apparently, he does as well. What does it mean that he used you?”
“He just… He’s my ex. We got divorced about six months ago. He was only trying to use me to help his company get started. When it failed, he wanted a free ride with mine. He tried to take part of the restaurant.”
Chromium was quiet for a moment, and his hold loosened slightly. “I’m sorry he was such a jerk. You deserved better.”
“I know,” she said, putting a hand over his arm. But did she? Perhaps Darren was right. Was she falling for someone that was too good to be true again? After five years, she could barely remember what things were like between her and Darren at the beginning.
But she did know the staff had never liked him, and he’d never had the honest frankness about him that Chromium did, so that was something.
“Why are you still nervous? He’s gone.”
“I guess I still don’t know why you’re interested. What you want. What your game is.”
“Not all men are playing a game,” Chromium retorted, lowering his lips to place a kiss on her shoulder. “In fact, I would think those men are in the minority. Most of us know what we want and just go for it.”
“I don’t know what planet you’re from, but here, men play games almost constantly.”
“That is too bad. They are terrible mates, then.”
Mates. What an antiquated word. Animalistic yet intimate. “You mean partners.”
“Sure.”
She stood there watching the empty restaurant, still feeling unsettled from seeing Darren’s face. Had he been sweet to her at the beginning? She seemed to remember him being charming, sweeping her off her feet.
She shuddered, remembering how things had gone bad. How she’d been tricked. She never wanted that again.
“What’s wrong? I can tell you’re still bothered.”
She tried harder to turn in his arms, and this time, he let her, looking down at her with a serious expression. “It’s still a little hard to believe someone like you could be interested in me.”
He snorted. “You can’t be serious.”
She looked at the ground.
His expression grew stern. “Maybe I didn’t make this clear enough the other night, but I’m about to. I don’t like when my partner talks bad about herself.” He scooped her up in his arms and held her tight against his chest as he headed for the back door.
“Chromium, wait!” She covered her face, feeling shocked and embarrassed and still a little shaken after seeing her ex.
“Woo-hoo!” Steve shouted, poking his head out of the kitchen as they passed. “Go get ‘em, cowboy.”
Chromium gave him a nod, then looked to Mario. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to help with prep.”
She watched as her whole staff simply smirked while she was practically kidnapped and then glared at Chromium as he carried her up the stairs to his room.
“Just what do you thi
nk you’re doing?” she asked, her tone furious. “We have to go help clean up.”
“No.” He shook his head, not slowing his pace at all. “I have to teach you a lesson about how beautiful you are. And this time, you aren’t going to forget.”
Chapter 9
Chromium was seething, not only from seeing the stupid ex-husband glaring at his mate and saying mean things to her, but also from her own sad opinion about herself.
And the aspersions cast on him and his reasons for wanting her.
Of course he wanted more than her body, but it seemed most important to let her know he wanted her body was well, since that douchebag before had made her think men would want anything but.
But Chromium could still see frustrated desire in the other man’s eyes and knew that his pretense to not even like Helen had just been a tool of psychological manipulation to make her feel bad about herself so he could control her.
But no longer.
Now she would have a partner who strengthened her, who showed her just how powerful and beautiful she was so she could leave if she wanted to. But he would be so wonderful that she would always want to stay.
That was how partnership should be. Partnership, since she apparently had a problem with the word “mate.”
He walked straight into his bedroom and tossed her on the bed, pacing in front of it angrily as she struggled to right herself.
“Say something else about yourself. I dare you.” He pinned her with a penetrating glare.
“I’m… not right for you. I’m old and fat and—”
He jumped on the bed, pinning her in one movement and bringing his lips crashing down on hers. He gathered both her wrists in one of his and held her there, moaning and squirming as he kissed her senseless.
He pulled back to look at her, keeping her hands pinned over her head. She was breathless, trying to focus, already flushing, and he smiled.
“Say that again?”
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