Chapter 90: No Feelings

Naomi shot him a look. She folded her arms tighter around herself, then looked away. "I don’t know. Maybe because we’re having sex. We live together. Everything is already..." She waved vaguely between them. "A lot."

Dorian drew in a slow breath. He understood what she meant. Probably more than he wanted to. Their marriage was supposed to be simple. Six months of pretending to be married so they could both get what they wanted and walk away without destroying each other’s lives.

Then they had started sleeping together. Simple left the building.

"If I tell you that I do not love you and I do not plan to fall in love with you, would that put your mind at ease?" He wasn’t even sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"Yes," she said quickly. "Yes, it would."

Something inside him tightened.

Ridiculous.

He had asked the question. He had received exactly the answer he should have wanted. So why the hell did he dislike it? "Why are you afraid of my feelings?" He couldn’t help himself. He just couldn’t. "Shouldn’t you be more concerned about yours? My feelings are mine to handle."

"It complicates things. You tell me you love me and I don’t know what to do with that." She hesitated. "Because I wouldn’t want to hurt you."

There was something almost absurd about Naomi worrying that she might break his heart. She had no idea how thoroughly that particular organ had already been educated.

"Trust me," he said dryly, "I learned not to hurt so easily after Lillian."

"Can we just start afresh?"

Then her eyes moved toward the Mercedes.

"And maybe answer me why you need a gun?"

"Chefs may not need one, but I am a lawyer, Naomi. A criminal lawyer."

"Did something happen tonight?"

"Naomi—"

"I mean, I have had that car for weeks and you suddenly remember there is a gun in there? Something must have happened Dorian."

"It’s nothing. I just think someone might be stalking me. Someone unhappy with a recent case, maybe."

She stepped closer and rested one hand against his chest. "Please be safe..." she said quietly, looking up at him. "Please?"

Dorian’s hands moved instinctively, closing over hers. "I will be. You don’t have to look so worried."

She nodded, but her gaze dropped to where their hands rested against his chest. She didn’t understand why seeing him with a gun had unsettled her so badly.

Dorian was a criminal lawyer. He dealt with dangerous people. Logically, owning a gun shouldn’t have surprised her.

Still, something about seeing him holding one had made her brain foggy.

"Hey..."

Dorian lifted her chin gently until she looked at him again. "It’s nothing."

"Yeah..." She managed a small smile. "I’m sorry I was being difficult."

His thumb brushed lightly along her chin. "Trouble, what scares you scares me too."

"How about we make a pact?"

Dorian immediately looked suspicious. "Okay?"

"Not a contract."

"Good, because Adrian might actually resign if we amend another one."

Naomi laughed. "Just a promise. We do not complicate anything with emotions."

Another ridiculous need they both had to put rules around something that was becoming increasingly difficult to contain.

Sex on Saturdays.

Separate bedrooms.

No feelings.

If they kept naming the boundaries, they could pretend they weren’t constantly stepping over them.

Dorian raised one hand solemnly. "I hereby solemnly swear that I shall not hereby or forthwith let emotions get in the way of being a proper fuck accidental husband."

Naomi burst out laughing. "You’re such an idiot."

"Now that’s legally binding." his eyes dropped to her mouth. "Shall we kiss on it?"

Naomi barely had time to register the question. He was already pulling her closer. His mouth covered hers.

And that was the end of sensible conversation. It took all of five seconds for the simmering heat between them to detonate.

Five seconds.

Naomi was pulling him into her, Dorian had his fingers in her hair. Their mouths, lips and tongue fucking in anticipation.

Dorian tightened his arms around her and, with very little effort, lifted Naomi completely off the ground.

She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist.

"What’s the time?" he asked against her mouth.

Naomi barely bothered to think about it. "Past midnight, I think."

That was all the confirmation either of them needed.

Saturday.

Their ridiculous little contractual loophole had officially opened for business. Naomi immediately went back to kissing him.

Dorian turned with her still wrapped around him and carried her toward the Mercedes. When he reached the car, he lowered her onto the hood.

The robe she had thrown over herself upstairs immediately became an inconvenience. Dorian pulled it away from her shoulders, expecting bare skin underneath.

Instead, black lace appeared. The same sheer floral lace from the picture. The satin sash. The plunging neckline.

The robe that had taken several years off his life.

He shook his head as his gaze traveled over her. He wasn’t taking that off. It was a work of art. His hand closed around one breast through the lace as his mouth returned to her neck.

Naomi’s head tipped backward immediately. The teasing from earlier had left no hesitation between them now. Her fingers slid into his hair while his lips moved along her neck. "Dorian..." she whispered.

He made a low sound against her skin.

"I need you... now." Naomi shifted farther back on the hood and spread her thighs wide enough for him, planting her feet against the smooth surface so he could see exactly how serious she was.

"Trouble..." His kisses moved lower.

Over the lace. Down her stomach. Then lower still until his mouth was between her thighs. Naomi’s breath broke immediately.

His tongue covered her clit, flicking before he sucked gently, and her entire body reacted.

"Oh..." Her hand tightened in his hair. "Your tongue feels so good right there..." she moaned, holding herself steady with her other hand against the hood. "You turn me on so much, it’s not fair..."