Sweet Possession (Carson-Fox Resorts #2)

Chapter 14

Cora

T he morning after the most amazing night of my life, I pretended tobe asleep when Fox leaned over to kiss me before heading to work for the day.

I was a coward. I didn’t want to face him, terrified of being rejected.

Again.

At least that’s what it felt like.

As soon as the door closed, I rolled onto my back and sighed. I musthave done something wrong last night. What though? I didn’t know, but it was the only conclusion I could come to.

After we’d left the Empire State Building, Fox took me to see a showon Broadway. And notjustany show, but The Lion King. He’d remembered me telling him it had been my favorite film when I was younger, and would watch it on repeat until my dad got fed up with me singing Hakuna Matata around the house, and snapped the DVD in half.

The show was spectacular, but there was a part of methatcouldn’tconcentrate. I couldn’t stop thinking about what I wanted to happen when we got back to the hotel.

I was ready.

I wanted Fox to take my virginity.

But I didn’t know how to tell him I was ready. I didn’t want to soundlike the inexperienced virgin I was by blurting to himthatI wanted to have sex, and the more I worried about how to instigate it, the more my insecurities dominated my thoughts.

By the time we got back to our room, I’d managed to convince myselfthatFox wouldn’t want to have sex with me because I would be completely and utterly rubbish at it. My self-doubt only grew when we got into bed and Fox pulled me into his arms, kissed me on the cheek, and whispered goodnight.

His hand didn’t move between my legs like I’d imagined, nor did hestrip me out of my pajamas and kiss me all over like I’d hoped. I didn’tevenfeel his erection pressed against my back as he held me.

I laid awake for most of the night letting my demons dance in myhead, reminding methatI was useless and no one would ever want me. When Fox’s alarm went off, Ijustcouldn’t bring myself to look at him out of fearthathe would finally see the pathetic girl I was, and end things before they couldreallybegin.

I let out another sigh, a soul-crushing weight pressing down on mychest as despair seeped into my marrow. Hoping a shower, along with the memory of Fox’s mouth between my legs would help to shake my sour mood, I jumped out of bed and headed for the ensuite.

But the shower didn’t help.

If anything, it only soured my mood further when one of the littledemons still prancing in my head told methatFox didn’t want to have sex with me because I must have tasted disgusting.

The stream of the warm water hid the tears cascading down mycheeks.

Giving up on hopingthatI’d start to feel better, I got out and started todress.Justas I finished putting my top on, a knock at the door echoed through the suite, followed by someone announcing it was room service.

“Hi,”I said when I opened the door and found the same member ofstaff as yesterday holding a tray of food.

“Good morning, Miss Clarke,”she said brightly, stepping into theroom and putting the tray down on the dining table.“How are you today?”

“I’m okay, thanks,”I muttered glumly.

“Wonderful. Well, I hope you enjoy your breakfast,”she replied,evidently missing the somberness in my tone.

“Thanks.”

As she turned to leave, I caught Fox’s wallet on the side. When she’dcome yesterday, there’d been a moment of awkwardness when she’d hovered, waiting for a tip. Of course, I didn’t have any money to give her, and she’d left with a forced smile.

I’d mentioned to Fox at dinnerthatI felt awful for not tipping her, andhe’d said he’d make sure to leave me some money the next day.

“Oh, wait.”I grabbed his wallet and pulled out a $10 bill, handing itover to her.

“Thank you,”she said, a warm smile on her face this time.

When she closed the door behind her, I went to shut Fox’s wallet, butthe corner of something glossy stashed behind a credit card caught my eye. I didn’t want to snoop but curiosity got the better of me and I pulled it out.

My heart sank .

It was a photo of a gorgeous woman lying on a bed, only her face,shoulders, and chest visible. Mussed-up blonde hair fell to her shoulders, bright blue eyes stared at the camera, and rosy red lips were puckered as if she was blowing a kiss.

Her ample breasts were covered by a lacy bra, her nipples visiblethrough the white material.

Tears stung my eyes. The woman was the complete opposite of me.She looked confident and sexy, and I imagined she had legsthatwent on for days, and knew exactly what to do to please Fox.

I turned the photo over and found a message scrawled on the back.

Daddy,

A little something to remind you of me when we’re not together,

Love Lily.

Lily.

The woman Fox had been sleeping with before we met. He’d told mehe had broken things off with her because she’d developed feelings he didn’t return. So whythen, was he still carrying her photo around?

I turned the photo back to look at her as a tear slid down my cheek,and the evilest of demons playing in my head asked me a question I had no answer to.

Why would Fox want me when he could have someone like her?

My heart leaped into my throat when the door to the suite opened andFox called out my name. It was a little after eleven in the morning, and I hadn’t expected him back until much later.

I quickly brushed away the last set of tearsthathad fallen, hoping hewouldn’t notice.

“Hey, you haven’t eaten your breakfast,”Fox said, coming into theliving area where I’d sat staring out at the view.

“Yeah, I wasn’treallyhungry. I’m sorry,”I replied, trying my hardest tokeep the anguish out of my voice.

I didn’t try hard enough.

“Baby girl, you’ve been crying,”Fox said, dropping to his knees infront of me.“What’s wrong?”

My bottom lip quivered, fresh tears threatening to fall at his kindness.“Nothing, I’m fine.”

He reached out and brushed a thumb over the tear-stained evidenceon my cheek.“Please don’t lie to me, Cora. Talk to me. I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

His tone was soft and full of worry, and I couldn’t stop the tears fromescaping.

“I’m sorry,”I cried, burying my face in my hands.

Fox stood, and a second later he pulled me to my feet beforewrapping his strong arms around me, holding me against his chest.

The dam broke. Tears soaked into his shirt as I sobbed and sobbed,all the while he stroked a soothing hand down my hair, letting me get out all the hurt I’d been harboring since last night.

A minute or an hour could have passed, I wasn’t sure. Fox didn’t rushme to pull myself together. When the last of my tears dried up, and my body sagged with exhaustion, I pulled out of Fox’s arms, finding him watching me with caution as if I would shatter again.

“I’m sorry. I’ve ruined your shirt and kept you from work.”

He gave me a small smile.“I’m not worried about either. But I amworried about you, baby girl. Give me a minute, and we’ll talk.”

He shrugged out of his jacket before pulling his phone out, pressing several buttons, and holding it to his ear.“Carry on with the interviews without me for today, a personal matter has come up, and I need to take care of it.”

I shook my head, panic replacing my pain. I didn’t want him to cancelhis work because of me. He grabbed my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.“Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Once he’d hung up, he scooped me into his arms and lifted me ontothe dining table, pulling my legs apart so he could stand between them. With his hands on either side of my hips and his face an inch away from mine, I was caged in.

“Talk to me, Cora. What’s going on?”

Embarrassment crawled through me, and I sucked in a shaky breath,certainthatwhen I told Fox what was wrong, he was going to laugh in my face and call me a stupid little girl.

But instead of speaking my fears about him not wanting to have sexwith me, I blurted something else.“Why do you carry a picture of Lily around with you?”

His brows shot up as he reared back.“What?”he said, his tonelaced with confusion and a hint of anger.

Was he madthatI’d gone through his wallet?

“In your wallet. I didn’t mean to snoop, but I found the picture ofLily…she’s half naked. ”

He scowled as he stepped away to grab his wallet, rummagingthrough before he pulled the photo out from where I’d put it back in the same spot I’d found it.

“Fuck sake,”he hissed, instantly ripping the photo in half, andthenhalf again, and throwing the pieces in a bin.“Cora, I didn’t know it was in there, I don’t usethatcard the photo was hiding behind. She must have put it in there when we were sleeping together, but I promise you, I didn’t know it was in there.”

He came to stand back in between my legs but I couldn’t look him inthe eye as embarrassment seeped further into my bones.

“That’s not the only thing you were upset about, was it?”He tilted mychin, holding me in place so I had to look at him.“What else is going on?”

I blinked, my eyes brimming with unshed tears.“You don’t want tohave sex with me,”I whispered, wishing for the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

Embarrassment had turned to mortification, and I wanted nothing more than to disappear off the face of the earth.

He didn’t say anything for what felt like an eternity, his silenceallowing the mocking voice in my head to laugh at me.“What makes youthinkthat?”he said eventually, still holding my chin.

“I…”I stuttered, unsure of what to say. My palms turned clammy asmy heart began to race.“You didn’t touch me last night after our date. I wanted to have sex, but you didn’t want to touch me.”

I pulled my face out of his grasp, unable to look at his expressionlessface any longer.

And then I waited.

Waited for him to tell methatI was right.Thathe’d changed his mindabout us, andthathe didn’t want me anymore. I waited for my heart to be broken into a million little irreparable pieces.

Only it didn’t happen.

He inched closer to me, turning my chin again to make me look athim.“Baby girl.Thatcouldn’t be further from the truth. What did I tell you on the plane?”He paused, waiting for my answer but my mouth had forgotten how to work.“I told youthatyou needed to say the words. If you wanted me to feast on your delicious pussy, or if you wanted my cock inside you, you only had to ask. I didn’t want to rush you, Cora. I was waiting until you told me you were ready. This is all new to you, and like hell was I going to rush you into doing something you weren’t ready for and would later regret.”

He released my chin to brush a thumb across my cheek, soothing myworries away.“Cora, this is all new to me too. Sure, I’ve been with women, but this is the first time I’ve been with someone who I’ve wanted more thanjustsex with, and I’m terrified I’m going to mess it up. So I need to knowthatyou’ll tell me when you’re ready to try things. I need you to tell me if I’m taking things too fast because, baby girl, I don’t want to do anything to risk losing you.”

I couldn’t speak. His words hit me right in the chest, and my heartwas about to beat right out of me. For the longest moment, neither of us spoke. Hell, neither of us breathed, we were as still as statuesstaring at each other.

“Say something,”Fox said, breaking the electric charge growingbetween us.

I took a breath and said the only thing I wanted to say.“I’m ready.”