Page 27 of A Midnight Romance

River

I get a few hours of sleep after taking Lux back to her room from the garden. I asked her to stay with me, but she insisted on being with Stevie if she woke up with more questions—which I’m sure she did.

Sebastian and I spend the late afternoon in my office, working through the logistics of this weekend. Relying heavily on my team for most of the setup, we discuss every part to be played out.

“Lux is to be nowhere near the inside of the house until I give the okay,” I firmly remind him how vital her safety is. “Everything has to go exactly as planned. I will not risk her getting hurt.”

“Yes, River, we know, and I will reiterate once again with the guys.” Sebastian still isn’t completely comfortable with Lux’s involvement, but I sense he’s slowly coming around to her.

With her wanting to be more involved, I’m both proud and nervous. Proud about how brave she’s becoming, but nervous for the exact same reason. Her tenacity could become a risk.

“I’m just making sure.”

Sebastian’s eyes narrow. “You’re, like, into her, aren’t you?”

“I want her safe.”

“It’s more than that, though. I mean, do you have like feelings for her?”

Carrying a weight I’m not expecting, his words fall on me with deep realization of how my view of Lux is changing. I don’t want to think too much about it. But nothing could ever come of it even if I did .

“Just make sure to follow my lead.”

He senses my apprehension to discuss my feelings about her and simply nods.

“Are you going to let her pull the trigger by herself this time?” Sebastian asks, closing his laptop.

I glance over at the screen with the garden. She’s buried behind her computer, tucked into the corner of the bench. The same spot where we cuddled together a few hours ago.

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe talk to her about it beforehand,” Sebastian points out. “At least that way, we’ll have a plan.”

“She should decide in the moment.” My eyes flick back to her slight frame and delicate lips.

“I think it’s important we know, though.” He rests his chin in his palm with his elbow bent on the armrest of the chair, clearly frustrated with this wild card part of our planning. Not typical, Sebastian is pushing back against it.

“I’m not going to pressure her, Sebastian,” I spit out. “Lux has been through enough. Whatever she needs in the moment, we’ll do for her.”

He sighs with a subtle eye roll. “You’re the boss.”

“That’s right.” I notice the time on my watch and remember my martial arts training session this evening, Sensei Clark is tough and doesn’t like to be left waiting.

I push off the desk and rise from the chair, sending the wheels back to hit the window behind me.

“I’m late for a session with Sensei Clark. ”

Sebastian scoops up his computer and slides it under his arm. “I saw him this morning. He kicked my ass.”

“It’s because you’re a little bitch. ”

He whips his head around as I follow close behind him to the door. “It’s been a long time since we’ve met on the mat,” he challenges with a spark in his eyes. “Maybe it’s time for us to spar again, like when we were kids.”

I pull the door closed behind me. “You seem a little too excited about that.”

“Scared?” He shoves my shoulder.

“Of you?” I respond by pushing him into the wall. “I’d beat you like I always have.”

Sebastian’s eyes bounce around the long hallway.

“Who are you looking for?”

“No one.” He swings his arm around, pushing mine down in order to duck under it.

“I think she should stay with us until this is all over.”

I briefed Sebastian the other day about my conversation with Andrew, but I left out the idea of Stevie staying with us.

“Who?”

“Lux’s sister.”

“River, this is our home—not a hotel,” he says, cocking a brow. “We can’t keep inviting strangers to stay here.”

“They’re not strangers. She’s Lux’s family. We can’t risk something happening to her.”

He may not like the idea, but he knows I’m right. It’s a tough situation, and I understand his reluctance to let people in, but it’s safer for her to be here.

“Fine,” he huffs out. “But don’t make me keep her company. I can’t stand her.”

My brows furrow. “Why?”

“She wouldn’t shut up about the mortuary during breakfast. ”

Sebastian and I round the corner to the gym. “And?”

“I don’t want to have to listen to her ramble about her mortician job all day.” He waves at Sensei Clark who’s sitting at his desk in the corner of the gym filling out our tracking sheets.

“And we think our nightly activities are morbid? Their dad’s a homicide lieutenant, your not-so-innocent Lux writes about crime and turned into a murderer, while her sister—who looks like she just stepped out of a 2000s Abercrombie & Fitch catalog—is a fucking mortician.”

Sebastian keeps talking about Stevie, and I find it interesting but decide not to give him a hard time about it since she’ll be staying here.

“They’re definitely not an average family, are they?”

“No shit,” he says.

While talking about the possibility of both Lux and her sister staying here, a sudden bolt of panic shoots up my spine. Lux might want to show her sister around and wander into…

Did I remember to lock my office door?

Fuck. The cameras.

As much as I’ve told Lux, I haven’t told her everything.

“I’ll be right back, Sensei Clark. I forgot something.”

“You only have a thirty-minute session today, River,” he shouts.

I hurry out the door, leaving him and Sebastian in the dust as I yell over my shoulder, “You’ll still get paid.”

I’m too far away to hear his reply, as I’m in a full run from one end of the house to the other. Approaching the North Wing where my office is, I see the door ajar.

I push the wooden door to take a quick glance around my space, when my eyes land on Lux standing in front of the screen wall with her arms folded at her chest.

Fuck. Fuck !

“Lux?” I close the door behind me.

Her head whips to the side, two flared eyes meeting mine. “Is that my townhouse?”

My heart drums against my ribcage. I had plans to tell her about the twenty-four-hour surveillance I’ve had on her since the night we first met, but I haven’t found the right time.

I swallow hard. “Yes.”

She steps closer to the screens, focusing on one in particular. “Is that my bedroom ?”

“Yes.”

Lux’s hand comes to cover her mouth before shrieking, “What the fuck, River!”

My boots thud on the floor as I eat the distance between us. “I can explain,” I tell her as I reach for her.

She jerks away from my touch, and a pang of guilt squeezes at my chest.

“How long have you been watching me? How did you get these into my house?” Her voice cracks with disbelief.

I hate it…but as much as I would rather pretend…I don’t want to lie to her. “Since the night I brought you home from the cabin. While you were passed out, Hayden installed them.”

“Oh my god!” Her eyebrows snap together. “How could you do that to me?”

“I needed to make sure you were safe.”

“You sat outside of my house every night,” she bites back.

I shake my head. “Yes, but it wasn’t enough.”

“I can’t believe this.” Lux’s posture straightens.

A beat passes and I let the silence settle between us, aware she’ll probably need some time to accept it—and because I’m not sure what else to say or do. I wish I could understand more about human emotions. The ability to read people and properly respond to them, are two entirely different things.

Confused and unsure of how to act, I stand in the middle of my office with my hands at my sides.

“I don’t even know what to say.”

“Is there something I should say?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what do you need me to say to make you feel better about this?”

Her arms fold across her chest. “I don’t know, River. Is there something you’d like to say? Maybe an apology or an acknowledgement that this is really fucked up.”

“Sorry you had to find out this way.”

“Do you not have remorse?”

I shake my head, then take a couple steps toward her, but she backs away again. “Not really.”

“Why not?” The tone of her voice is pleading with me to admit my fault, but I can’t. I was infatuated with her and I needed to make sure she was safe no matter how I did it.

“From the moment I met you, you became my responsibility. And I was ready to do whatever it took to ensure no one harmed you again.”

Lux’s nostrils flare as her eyes blink rapidly. “By invading my privacy and putting cameras in my house?”

I reach out to touch her arms and she doesn’t back away this time, giving me hope. She wants to be mad, but there’s a part of her that understands my methods—and maybe even finds pleasure in it.

“Yes.”

“You should have just told me.” Her voice lowers slightly .

“ That , I am sorry for.” I let my thumb caress the skin of her bare arm.

“I don’t know what to say.”

Lowering my lips to the outside of her ear, I graze my nose along the shallow indentation.

“You’re mine, Lux. I will continue to do whatever it takes to make sure you’re safe.

I will go to the ends of the earth for you and gladly walk through fire to do it.

” A sharp inhale causes a tiny gasp to escape her lips.

“And I’m not going to apologize for how I feel. ”

Her head lowers between us as she tries to grapple with my actions. Fighting between how she feels and what she should believe is morally acceptable.

She starts to walk away from me, but I catch her wrist and pull her into my chest and a tight yelp escapes from her throat. “River!”

Lux needs to accept this is my way of expressing my devotion to her. I grow impatient with the direction this conversation is going, because I know deep down, my obsessive passion for her doesn’t scare her.

“You like that I was watching you, do you?” I nudge with a low growl. “It excites you, knowing I’ve seen you come all over your fingers with my name on your lips. Doesn’t it?”

“River.” Her voice grows deep.

Tightening my hand around her wrist, I bend to meet her fiery gaze. “How would it make you feel if I told you I jacked off watching you pleasure yourself?”

Lux jabs her elbow into my side, but it does nothing for the grip I have on her. “Seriously?”

“Yes.” I twist her in my arm, bringing her back to my front. Wrapping myself tightly around her body, rendering her unable to move. “You speak to my soul, Lux, and I know I speak to yours, too,” I whisper into her ear .

“So what? It doesn’t give you the right to watch me without my knowledge.” She fights against my hold, but… “Have you been protecting or keeping me, River?”

With a free hand, I pinch her cheeks together, angling her head up so her skin runs flush with mine. “Both.”

A whimper slips out from her delicious lips before her knees give out. Sensing the shift in weight and preventing her from throwing herself onto the hard, unforgiving floor, I pull her to my desk.

“Bend over.” I slip my free hand under her skirt. The silkiness of the black stockings makes my mouth water. If I have learned anything about Lux, is that she is a fucking loose cannon—one that enjoys being controlled .

“River.” She slides her leg out and swings it under me, and I’m not expecting it.

“You like to be controlled don’t you?” I tease, coiling my hand through a chunk of her hair.

Lux arches her back, inviting me in as she slides her hand under her skirt and yanks her panties down. My cock is pulsating and pokes the inside of my joggers with a painful desperation. “Maybe.”

“Open up for me,” I command, thrusting my hard length into her ass cheeks, separating her legs.

The last of her fight melts away, and I loosen my hold on her and pull my cock out, fisting myself a few times before sliding into her.

“Oh god,” she moans.

“There you go, Lux.” I roll my hips into her.

She lets out another moan and her head falls back onto my shoulder.

Bending to bring my lips to hers, my tongue darts out, licking across the seam of her lips .

“Say it.” I enjoy how her body sucks me in. Barely able to slide out, I roll my hips angling upward. “Say that you’re mine.”

“Yes,” she pants. “All yours.”

Grabbing the side of her ass, my fingers sink into her soft skin. “That’s what I thought.”

“Did you really watch me make myself come?” Her eyes roll back into her head as our bodies move in sync with one another, the sounds of slapping echoing through the room.

I knew she liked it.

A laugh rumbles inside my chest, while my lip quirks up. “I watched you play with that pretty little pussy of yours,” I confess, slamming into her. Lux lets out a guttural groan, arching her back and taking my cock even deeper inside her cunt. “Are you upset about it?”

“Only if you’ve watched others too.”

Pumping myself into her a few more times, I come closer to my climax. “You’re the only one.”

Lux’s body tenses just as she falls flat on top of my desk, sending the pile of documents floating to the floor.

“Show me how well you cum for me.” I rest a hand on her lower back.

“Oh, River,” she moans.

While her body trembles underneath my grip, I continue to pump a few more times until she pants with a pleasure riding her orgasm. I come shortly after and continue pushing in and out of her until we’re both spent.

Throbbing with pleasure, I painfully pull out. Dazed and looking sated, she flips her body around, pushing herself on to my desk. Sweat mists her forehead and her eyes are dark, feral as ever. Then her legs fly open, flashing me a full look at her swollen pussy, like a tease .

I drop to my knees in front of her. “Look at the mess we’ve made. Let me clean you up.”

“You’ve been a bad boy, River.” Lux shakes her head. “Watching me on those cameras.”

“Have I?” I bury my nose into the wetness between her legs, breathing in the scent of us.

But then, before I get a taste of us together, she inches her skirt back down, hops off my desk, and walks toward the door. With a flip of her hair, she turns to me. “This isn’t over.”

I laugh, shocked and surprised by how much she fucking amazes me. “It’s not?”

“No. But for now, I’ll let you continue watching me.” And with one last glare and a click of her tongue, she says, “I have work to do.” Then slams the door behind her, leaving me alone in my office.

For the first time in my life, I am not the one who is in charge.