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"Atticus, I love you."
"I know. I mean, I have loved you for longer than you've loved me, but we won't quibble."
I laughed. "What are you talking about?"
"It doesn't matter."
It did make me think about what he meant by that though. He had relentlessly pursued me. But that wasn't love; that was lust, right?
It was interesting to be chased. It had never happened before. Lance didn't necessarily count because he was always just there as my friend. In those moments where it looked like it might tip into something else, something always happened to make it stop from going there. But the way Atticus had been single-mindedly focused on me, that was different.
By the time we got home, I was happy and buzzing from the sugar high, and I had put Lucy out of my mind. Until we stepped back in the penthouse.
In the foyer, Atticus took my hands. "You got tense again."
"Sorry. But you know what? Why don't you take me to our bedroom and make me forget all about her,” I said suggestively.
"Okay, I think I can make that happen."
I halfway expected to find Lucy in my living room, still sitting there, eating our snacks and watching our TV, but she wasn't there, thank God. We found a note on the corner of the dining room table from Morgan that said she'd gone to bed and please not to wake her by breaking any of the furniture because we were fucking on it.
I so wanted to laugh. "Oh my God."
Atticus read the note over my shoulder. "I think she underestimates us. We don't need to break the furniture for me to fuck you on every surface in here."
"Oh, Mr. Price, you do tempt a girl."
With a teasing laugh, he took me to our room, but he sobered when he discovered the door was locked. "Where was she?" he asked as he let us in.
I pointed at the bathroom.
"Is that why you locked the door?"
"Yes. I didn't want her to steal anything. My laptop was in here, and I don't trust her."
"And that's smart. Your instincts are never off, Gwen. If you think something's up, then something is up, I trust your instincts implicitly."
I hadn't known how much I needed to hear those words until that moment. "Thank you,” I said sincerely.
“In case it's a mystery, you are my North Star, Gwen. You are all I think about, all I dream about. When I see my future, it's only you, our children, the work we can do, what we can build. The good we can do for the world. You shouldn't feel off kilter or concerned because you own me body and soul. I already gave you my empire, but my heart and my body have been yours since you glitter-bombed me on a balcony. I will tell you this every single day until you feel it, not just know it. In the meantime, I want to erase the presence of her being in our bedroom from your mind. And I am going to talk to Morgan about letting us know ahead of time when she's going to have a guest so you won't get surprised again."
"Why are you so good to me?"
"Because you make me feel like a whole man. All those little holes in my soul from before are gone. Because of you.”
Tugging me toward the bed, he sat me down on it, and I leaned back on my palms, watching him as he shed his jacket and tossed it somewhere behind him. Then he unbuttoned his shirt and tugged off his tie. But what made my eyebrows raise was him planting the tie across his wrist and then very deftly using his fingers and his teeth to tie himself at the wrist.
"I'm giving you full access to my body, Gwen. It's always been yours, but it seems you need a reminder of that. So I'm all yours. Tie me to the bedpost and do whatever you want with me. You don't need to ever feel unsure of my love. Where you go, I go."
I stared at him. "Wait, you're going to let me tie you up?"
"Well, technically I tied myself up, but I'm going to let you tie me to the bedpost and do anything you want to me."
I searched his eyes for any sign of hesitation. “Anything? You're not going to break free?"
"Well, anything within reason. If I think you're in danger or the penthouse is on fire or something, that’s different. But yeah, do whatever you want."
I stood then, turned him around, and eagerly pushed him back on the bed, eliciting a laughing oof from him.
