Sweet Possession (Carson-Fox Resorts #2)

Chapter 22

Cora

T he couple who Savannah had introduced me to were talking aboutthe type of cake they wanted for their engagement party, but their words weren’t sinking in. The only thing I could focus on was the unbearable pain in my chest as my heart cracked a little more with each breath I took.

Every inch of me wanted to run far, far away from this party. Awayfrom the evil woman who was lurking in the crowd, throwing daggers at me.

Away from the image of Dominique and Fox, who were still laughingtogether.

Away from all the hurt.

But running wouldn’t get me away from the voices in my head. Thevoices of the woman in the bathroom and her venomous words. The voice of my dad laughing at me for thinking I could ever be more than a pathetic little girl who no one wanted.

There was no getting away from those voices.

“Cora, honey, are you okay? You’ve gone white,”Savannah said,gently grabbing my arms when my body began to sway.

I swallowed past the lump lodged in my throat. I didn’t want to make ascene, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to keep it together.

“I…erm, I don’t feel well,”I managed to say without turning into ablubbering mess.“I think I need to go to the room and lie down.”

It wasn’t a lie, Ireallywas beginning to feel unwell. Nausea churned,and the delicious champagne I’d consumed earlier was now sitting like acid in my stomach.

“Okay,”Sav said, her brows pulled together in concern.“Let’s go getFox and get you up to your room.”

She took my hand and led me through her guests before I couldobject and tell her I didn’t want to see Fox,thatI wanted to go to the room on my own. As we neared him, his head whipped up from where he was talking to Dominique, the smile he was wearing falling the second he took me in.

“Baby girl, what’s happened?”he said, worry lacing his tone as hetook my hand from Savannah’s.

My bottom lip wobbled, tears threatening to erupt despite me tryingmy damned hardest to keep them in. Fox’s concern for me hit me straight in the heart, breaking it a little bit more.

“She said she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to lay down,”Savannahsaid, speaking for me when I couldn’t get the words out.

Fox cupped my cheek tenderly. The warm, content feeling I usuallyfelt whenever he touched me tried to bubble up through all the pain, but I couldn’t let it. I’d already fallen hard for Fox; it was going to hurt enough when heinevitably ended things between us. This was a chance to protect myself as much as possible from the heartache storming my way.

“I’ll take her,”he said, pulling me into his arms, a frown forming whenhe felt my reluctance to fall into his side.

“Let me know if she’s okay,”Sav said before turning to me and softlystroking a strand of hair from my cheek.“I hope you feel better, Cora.”

I gave her a small smile as Fox led me away, my heart beginning toshatter at the realizationthatI wouldn’tjustbe losing Fox, but Nash and Sav too.

The only friends I had.

Agony tore through me like a ball of flames, seeping into every singlepart of my body and scorching me alive. My knees threatened to give way to the monumental weight of heartache I was now carrying as my lungs turned to iron, making it difficult to breathe.

Before I could comprehend what was happening, Fox had ledme out of the party, the din of the evening growing fainter as we reached the elevator. As soon as he pressed the button, the doors slid open.

Still clutching me, he led me inside, but when he let go of me so hecould fish around in his jacket pocket for the keycard, I took the opportunity to step away, needing to put some distance between us. I wrapped my arms around my body as ifthatwould shield me from the evils of the world.

When Fox found the card, he tapped it against the reader beforeturning to me, his brows flying to his hairline when he saw the space I’d put between us.

“Baby girl, has something happened?”he asked, stepping toward me.

My feet moved automatically, my back hitting the mirroredwall as I kept the gap between us. The elevator doors closed, locking me in with the only person I wanted to scoop me into his protective arms and tell me everything would be okay, but the same person I wanted to run a million miles away from .

“Cora…”Fox said as if he was trying to calm a wild animal backedinto a corner.“What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Ijustwant to lay down,”I replied, my voice weak as I forcedthe words out.

His throat bobbed as he swallowed, his lips turned down. I loweredmy eyes, unable to see the hurt he wore so obviously on his face, but for the rest of the ride in the elevator, I could feel his questioning stare burning into me.

I counted down the seconds for us to reach our floor, telling myselfthatIjustneeded to hold it together a little longer andthenI would be alone.

Like I was used to.

No one could hurt me if I was alone.

After what felt like an eternity, we reached our floor. When the doorsgracefully slid open revealing the foyer of our suite, Fox waved a hand, letting me step out first.

I’d been so excited to see the suite, but with the heavy rockthathadsettled in my belly, excitement was nowhere to be seen. I followed Fox through to the living area, keeping my head bowed.

“Can I get you anything, baby girl?”Fox said, loosening his bow tie.

“You don’t need to stay,”I replied quickly as guilt joined the myriad ofemotions pounding through me when he took his jacket off.“You should go back to the party.”

And Dominique.

His face contorted as if he’djustsucked on a bitter lemon.“I’m notleaving you alone, especially if you’re unwell.”

There was no point trying to argue, notthatI ever did. I was nothingbut a pushover, no wonderthatwoman had said I wasn’t strong enough to handle a man like Fox.

“I’d like to go to bed,”I said, finding our overnight bags had beenbrought up from Fox’s car, and were waiting on the sofa.

“Our bedroom is over there,”Fox replied, pointing to a hallway off theliving area.“Go and lay down, and I’ll bring you some water.”

I didn’t move, but tears once again began welling in my eyes at theknowledgethatwhat I was about to say was going to hurt the both of us.

“Is there another bedroom? I’d like to be alone.”

He reared back as if I’d slapped him, and I couldn’t stop a tear fromsliding down my cheek.

“We sleep together, Cora. I’m not sleeping without you in my arms,”he replied, desperation in his voice which only added to the pain spreading through me.

Another tear fell. I hatedthatI was hurting him, but I had to protectmyself. I didn’t know what was going to happen tomorrow, or the day after, orevenin a month’s time. But what I did know isthatfrom this moment on, I had to protect myself from further damage.

I sucked in a breath, willing myself to be strong, if only for aminute.“You said I always had a choice. I choose to sleep alone.”

My voice cracked on the last word when anguish flashed throughFox’s coppery eyes.

He didn’t reply for a long, tense beat, but a muscle ticked in his jaw.“Okay, Cora. If that’s what you want.”He paused, giving me a chance to change my mind. I didn’t.“Take the master bedroom, I’ll sleep in the other room.”

Disappointment washed through me,eventhough he was respectingmy wishes. I didn’t want to sleep without him either, but I needed space. Space to think. Space to work out what I was going to do.

Space to breathe .

Fox held my gaze, trapping me on the spot. It was as if he was tryingto read my mind, to crawl under my skin, and understand what was going on in my head.

With every ounce of willpower I possessed, I looked away andreleased a heavy breath. Blinking tears from my eyes, I spun and grabbed my bag.

But before disappearing down the hallway to the bedroom, Fox calledmy name. I paused, but I didn’t turn back, cowardly avoiding the hurt I was sure to see on his face.

“I’ll be right here. When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be waiting, baby girl.”

Atthatmoment, I was glad I hadn’t faced him. Otherwise, he wouldhave seen the waterfall cascading down my cheeks.

My dad once said to methatthe only way to get through life was tonot depend on anyone. They’d only let you down when you needed them the most. He said love was a weakness. It made you vulnerable. Left you in theclutches of someone who would inevitably crush your heart in the palm of their hands with a smile on their face.

I didn’t believe him. No matter how badly he treated me, no matterwhat hurtful words he threw my way, I always had hopethatone day, I’d find someone to give my love to, and have their love in return. To have someone by my side through the good times, and the bad.

But now I knew the truth .

Having hope was stupid. Hope was a diseasethatgnawed throughthe roots of pointless wishes and dreams, leaving them in tatters.

Hope was a curse.

It was these thoughtsthatcircled my head as I sobbed into the pillow,still wearing the dress I’d worn to the party, finally crying myself to sleep.

The shattering of glass, followed by a string of expletives woke me. Ibolted upright, my heart racing as it took a few seconds to remember where I was. Disorientated, I blinked at the clock on the nightstand.

03:09 am.

What the hell had smashed?

Curiosity mixed with worry had me jumping out of bed before I couldgive it too much thought. I cracked open the bedroom door, light spilling in from the living area lit up the small hallway.

My bare feet sunk into the plush carpet as I crept to where the soundof feet shuffling filtered in.

“Shit,”Fox hissed, making me pause in the doorway. He was staringdown at his hand, a streak of blood trickling from a gash in his palm.

My gasp at seeing the blood drew his attention to me, and a grimacetwisted on his lips when he saw I wasn’t wearing any shoes.“Don’t come any further, Cora. There’s glass all over the floor.”

I didn’t mean to ignore him, but my concernthathe was hurt won out.I stepped forward.“Are you okay?”

In three large strides, he crossed the room, blocking me from goingany further. Behind him, roses lay scattered on the floor, surrounded by broken glass and water seeping into the carpet.

“I’m fine. Go back to your room while I clear the glass up.”His toneheld a hint of coldness, something I’d never heard from him before. I hated it.“Cora, please. I don’t want you cutting yourself,”he added, softer this time.

“You’re bleeding,”I said, my voice a whisper as guilt began toswallow me whole.

He’d thrown the vase in anger, and now he’d hurt himself.

My fault.

“It’sjusta little cut, I’ll sort it once I’ve cleared the glass.”He raisedhis hand, the blood now dripping from his hand and splashing the cream carpet. He cursed under his breath.

“Let me,”I said, closing the gap between us to take his hand andexamine the wound.

Tingles shot up my arm like they always did whenever part of metouched him. Neither of us moved. I held my breath, waiting for him to give me permission. Slowly, he nodded once.

Rememberingthatearlier, I’d seen a first aid kit in the ensuite, Fox followed me through the master bedroom and into the bathroom. I grabbed the kit and rummaged through, making sure it had everything I needed before turning on the tap so I could wash Fox’s hand.

He hissed when the cold water splashed against the gash, the two ofus staring silently as his blood swirled with the water and ran down the drain.

A heavy tension descended around us.Evenin the first few days ofFox bringing me home, it was never like this. I craved for it to be how it was before, but for my own sanity, I had to remember whatthatwoman said.

“There doesn’t appear to be any glass in it,”I said once he’d held hishand under the water for a few minutes, and I’d examined the cut now the blood had cleared.“I don’t think it’ll need stitches either, it’s not too deep.”

He nodded, opening his mouth to say something but closing it beforethe words came out. I wondered if he was going to ask how I knew what I was doing.

The answer was simple. I’d had enough practice patching my dad upover the years.

Fox watched intently as I dabbed a towel around the wound todry the water before laying a gauze over it. My brows furrowed in concentration as I wrapped a bandage around his hand, my mind quiet for a few minutes while I worked.

Once I’d secured the bandage, I took a step away from him, needingto get away from his delicious scent surrounding me.

“Her name is Annaliese,”Fox said suddenly.

My heart leaped into my throat as my wide eyes met his.“She’s anemployee. Or was. After tonight, she’ll never work in a Carson-Fox resort again. But I’ve never fucked her if that’s what she told you.”

My heart stopped beating but I didn’t know if it was out of reliefthathe’d never slept with her orthathe knew what had happened.

“How did you find out?”I asked, unable to stop the question fallingfrom my mouth.

His lips tugged up on one side.“I know everythingthathappensunder the roof of my casino. Besides, do you think I don’t know when my girl is lying to me?”

Heat blossomed in my cheeks at being caught out lying to him.

“I need you to tell me what she said to you, baby girl,”he said, hiseyes blazing with unrestrained emotion.

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it fucking matters!”he replied, his voice rising in anger.“I’ve been going out of my damn head wondering what on earth a woman you’ve never met before could have said to youthatmade you believe her over me, someone you have spent practically every minute with over the last few weeks. Someone you claim you trust. ”

He broke off, his body slumping as he looked away. I sunk my teethinto my bottom lip to stop it from trembling.

“I’m sorry,”I whispered, shame coursing through me.

Fox lifted his head, his sorrowful eyes meeting mine. Closing thedistance between us, he stopped in front of me but didn’t touch me.

“Baby girl. Annaliese wasn’t invited to the party,”he said, keeping hisvoiceeven, despite the anger I could sense radiating from him.“She was let into the party by another member of staff who was supposed to only let guests on the list in. Needless to say, he doesn’t have a job after tonight either.”

I gaped at him as my brain struggled to keep up with what he wassaying. If she wasn’t invited to the party, why was she there? Why did she seek me out?

“She’s good friends with Lily,”Fox said, answering my unspokenquestion.“Whether Lily put her up to speaking to you or she approached you on her own volition remains to be seen, but before I deal with Lily, I need to know what Annaliese said to you.”

My eyes dropped to the floor as mortification gripped me in its vices.Fox was right. I’d believed every word she’d said withoutevenconsideringthatshe could have been lying.

I’d let my insecurities dominate rational thought because I was soused to being disappointedthatthe second there was a hint Fox was going to let me down, I’d grabbed onto it and let it take root until it was a dark shadow consuming me.

Gentle fingers tilted my chin up, making me look at the man who’dnever done anything to me but made sure I was loved and respected.

“Cora, I’m not mad at you. I’m madthatyou’ve spent your whole lifebeing treated like shit. The damagethatyour dad has done is going to take time to unpick, it’s inevitablethatthere will be setbacks along the way.”When a tear slid down my cheek, Fox dropped my chin so he couldwipe it away.“Baby girl, I know you trust me. You know you trust me, and you know I would never do anything to hurt you.”

He cupped my cheek, his warm palm sending a wave of reassurancethrough me.“I can only imaginethatwhatever bullshit Annaliese said latched onto all of your insecurities. InsecuritiesthatI need to work harder on to prove to youthatI’m not going anywhere. To dothat, Cora, I need you to tell me what she said. Tell me what she said and let me help you start putting your demons to bed.”

I wanted that.

I wanted to purge myself of every hurtful word she said.

I wanted to rid myself of the doubts and insecurities years of hateI’d endured from my dad had left me with.

If I didn’t, they’d eat me alive. I’d let them convince methatwhatAnnaliese was saying was true, to the point I was willing to walk away from Fox.

The best thingthathad ever happened to me.

Swallowing the fear and ignoring the little voicethattold me I wasbeing naive if I believed him, I turned away, knowing I couldn’t look at him when I voiced what Annaliese had said.

By turning though, I was confronted with something far worse thanfacing Fox.

My reflection.

Only a few hours ago I’d looked at my reflection with happinesstwinkling in my eyes, not a care in the world. Now, my eyes looked dull. My cheeks blotchy from all the tears I’d cried.

I wanted my happiness back.

I sucked in a breath and refused to look away from my reflection as Ispoke.

“She said she didn’t know why you are attracted to me. She said youhad a soft spot for strays, andthatI was desperate.”Pain seared through me like a red hot knife slicing through my skin. Somehow, saying the words for myself stung more than when Annaliese had said them.

Fox moved to stand behind me, tentatively wrapping his arms aroundmy waist as if he were afraid I might tell him not to touch me.“When I first saw your picture, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. I still do.”He paused to lower his lips to my bare shoulder where he placed a small kiss.“But I’m notjustattracted to you because of how gorgeous you are. I’m attracted to you because you have a kind heart.”Another kiss, only this time on the other shoulder.“I’m attracted to you because of the strength you show every fucking day. Despite all the shit you’ve had to put up with, you’ve never let it stop you from wanting to improve your life. You strive to learn, determined to not let your past hold you back. You’re a shining light in the darkness, Cora.”

He moved his hands to my hips, his grip firm.“There are hundreds ofother reasons I’m attracted to you, all of which are no one else’s business. But I promise you, baby girl, I’ll tell you every damn day what I find attractive about you if that’s what it takes for you to believe me.”

He held my gaze in the mirror, his eyes dark. Serious. I let hiscomforting words sink in, the knotthathad been coiled around my heart since Annaliese cornered me finally beginning to loosen.

“What else did she say?”

I sucked in a breath.“Thatyou’d get bored of me,”I said, finding it afraction easier to speak.“Thatyou’ll get bored of the innocent, little girl act and remember what it was like to be with a woman who knows how to please you.”

He smirked, but it was humorless.“Firstly, I’m already with a womanwho pleases me, both in and out of the bedroom. Cora, you have no fucking idea how happy it makes methatyou’ve never been with anyone other than me. You’ve learned what I’ve taught you. What I like. Fuck, every time I rememberthatI’m the only man to have ever been inside you, I’m taken back tothatmoment where my cock was covered in your virgin blood, and I relive our first time over and over. I’m the only man to have made you come. The only one who has fucked your throat.”He slid his hands around to cup my ass, squeezing over the dress.“And when you’re ready, I’m going to claim this ass like I’ve claimed every other part of you.”

My cheeks began to heat when it registered what he was referring to,and I’d be lying if I said my heart rate didn’t spike at the thought of trying anal sex with Fox.

“Secondly,”he continued.“There will never come a time when I’mbored of you, Cora. Can’t you see? I’m obsessed with you. When I’m with you, all I want to do is touch you, and do whatever I need to do to seethatincredible smile I love so much. When I’m not with you, I’m thinking about you. When I’m at work, I spend most of my time staring at the picture I have of you on my desk, counting down the minutes until I can see you again.”

“You have a picture of me?”I said, elation filling me.

This time when he smiled, it was full of affection.“Yeah, baby girl. It’sthe one I took of you in Grand Central Station. Every time I look at it, it reminds me of our time in New York. They were the happiest days of my life.”

My face fell at the reminder of what Annaliese had said of our time inNew York.“Were you emailing Lily while we were there?”

His brows furrowed, and after a few thoughtful seconds, hetook his hands off my ass so he could pull his phone out of his pants pocket. He held it in front of us so I could watch as he unlocked his phone and pulled up his emails before opening up a folder and bringing up an email.

“I emailed her once after she sent an apology for turning up at thehouse. This was my response.”

I slowly read through the two emails. My reading had gotten a lotbetter, but I was still slow. Fox was nothing but patient as I scanned through, making sure I’d read it all correctly.

Once again, mortification took over. I’d let my imagination convincemethatFox and Lily had been exchanging hundreds of dirty messages while I slept next to him.

“What else?”Fox said, locking his phone and repocketing it.“Whatelse did she say?”

I closed my eyes, knowing this would be the hardest part to say. Ididn’t want to look at him or myself as I said it.“She saidthatonly certain types of women can handle you. Women like Dominique and Lily. She said you’d fucked Dominique, and with the way you two were eye fucking each other, she was surprised you hadn’t fucked in the middle of the party.”

His reaction was not what I’d expected. He started laughing, his eyesalight with mirth.

“Why are you laughing?”I said, spinning around to face him.

He managed to compose himself.“Because Dominique is amadame.”

“A what?”

“A madame. She’s into BDSM. She gets off on dominating herpartner. She ties them up and whips them, amongst other things. I stupidly thought it was something I wanted to try, but I hated every second with her, especially when I couldn’t sit down for days after. It was about three years ago, and I’ve never slept with her since, nor would I again.”

My mouth hit the floor as I stared at him, imagining Dominiquestanding over Fox with a whip. I couldn’t stop the snort from leaving me at the mental image. In an instant, the charged tension in the atmosphere lightened, almost returning to how it normally was between me and Fox.

He took my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.“Baby girl, Domand I are friends, that’s all. She knows nothing will ever happen between us again, and now she knows you and I are together, she wouldn’t ever dream of trying to come between us, she’s not likethat.”

“I saw you two talking and laughing, and it looked like she wantedyou. I was jealous,”I said, embarrassedthatI’d let my jealousy get the better of me.

Fox’s lips quirked up on one side.“From the second you walkedaway, to the second Sav brought you back, I was talking about you, baby girl. I was telling Dom how fucking incredible you are.”Heat flooded me at his compliment, the flush on my cheeks spreading down to my chest.

When Fox pulled me into his arms, I wrapped mine around hiswaist as he kissed the top of my head.“Anyway, I likethatyou got jealous. It’s how I felt when every guy I introduced you to eyed you like they were imagining what you tasted like.”

“They didn’t!”I said, rearing back to look up at him.

He grinned down at me.“That’s another thing I’m attracted to. Youhave no clue how fucking gorgeous you are.”

A shy smile curled my lips, the coil around my heart now completelyunraveled. How could I have ever let myself believe Fox didn’t want me?

“Was there anything else?”he asked, returning to the conversation.

I bit my lip, debating whether to hold back the final part Annaliese hadspewed or whether tojustget it all out.

Honesty won.

“She saidthatyou couldn’t stay away from Lily, andthatyou two weremade for each other. She said it will only be a matter of time before you crawl back to her.”

Anger flashed in his copper orbs, his lips pursing.“I don’t tend toregret things in my life because they’ve led me to where I am now. But I do regret ever getting involved with Lily. I should have listened to Nash when he warned me off. Don’t tell him I saidthatthough,”he said, winking and pulling a smile from me. He sighed heavily.“Cora, if there was a way to erase Lily from my past, I’d do it in a heartbeat. In fact, I’d erase every single woman I’ve been with right up to the day I met you. But I can’t. All I can do now is reassure youthatLily doesn’t mean anything to me. There’s only one woman I want for the rest of my life. The woman I love. The woman who is standing right here in my arms, where she belongs.”