Page 98 of Angels Are Falling

I’d never told him about that account. Come to think of it, I’d never told him about half of what kept arriving. Once, I’d asked how he knew. He’d said, “It was a good guess,” and kissed my temple, and I’d let it drop because the earrings were perfect.

Unlike Stefan’s gifts, Kai’s gifts weren’t weak excuses for blowing me off or apologies for dodging my calls. There were no ulterior motives. He wasn’t buying me off or trying to shut me up. That was the difference. Putting on the outfits Kai selected for me made me feel special. Anytime he pampered me with a personalized gesture or a tangible gift, I felt like he had hung the moon. His form of gift-giving and his attention to detail bordered on scary. It was intense, just like everything else about him, especially sex.

Going into this marriage, I knew he’d expect it, but I hadn’t anticipated the never-ending hunger. I couldn’t breathe under the weight of his attention, which was ironic because nowadays, I felt the most alive under his watchful eyes.

Clearly, I had become a woman possessed. I thought about him all day, every day, all night when he wasn’t fucking me to oblivion.

Seven days.

Seven days, and I’d already started picking out his footsteps in the hallway. Already knew the difference between the sound of his key in the lock and the nanny or the housekeeper.

He had put a spell on me with all the great sex. It was the easiest explanation. The truth, however, was simpler and more alarming—I liked him. I really liked him. In fact, I was falling for him. Not because of what he did for me. Not the mujadara or the bougainvillea or the earrings that arrived before I knew I wanted them. I liked the specific person he was. His humor. The dry delivery. The economy of words. The way he handled the twins’ arguments without raising his voice. His newspaper. His snobbish way of cooking with top-grade ingredients. The fact that he was extraordinary at almost everything and somehow never made you feel small for being ordinary beside him. That was the actual spell.

I’d better google patches for this Kai addiction. Something I could slap on my arm so I could wean myself off slowly, in measured doses, so I could walk past him without my heart thudding embarrassingly. I wasn’t ready for how badly, or how fast, my need for him would spiral out of control.

It scared me how quickly I had gotten used to it. How quickly I had lost myself in him.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

AMELIE

Now that our marriage was public, Kai wasted no time dragging me everywhere—company functions, fundraisers, every social event on the calendar. There wasn’t a single person left in Darster who didn’t know about us.

Tonight, it was a charity event at a five-star hotel. Kai had sent a car for me as he was in Los Angeles and would drive straight to the gala.

Just like Stefan, Kai’s work regularly took him out of town.

Unlike Stefan, Kai couldn’t stand to be gone.

He often went to LA on business, and when I wasn’t working, I’d tag along. We’d make a mini vacation of it, staying overnight and frequenting the food scene. If I couldn’t join him, he’d drive home the same night or the first thing the next morning, the moment his meeting wrapped up. He never said it but made it clear in no uncertain terms that he hated being away from me. I’d wake to find him sliding into bed at three in the morning, ripping open a shirt wrinkled from the long drive. Being away from me was something he couldn’t physically withstand.

Ironically, the last person to make me feel this desired was Stefan. Back when we were in a long-distance relationship, and he couldn’t tolerate another week without me, he’d work around the clock at his part-time job to scrape together the airfare. Even if it brought him only twenty-four hours with me, he’d come. I could still picture him at the arrival gate, scanning the crowd until he found me, breaking into a half run like the flight had been too long to survive. Those memories felt distant now. Stefan had changed so much that they seemed to belong to an entirely different person.

I shook the thought loose and turned back to the mirror, inspecting the outfit I would once have considered too risqué. Kai had stayed in LA overnight and was meeting me directly at the gala, which meant I had the rare chance to surprise him. He had been eager to see me in this dress, and perhaps because I’d missed him more than I’d like to admit, the outfit had ended up off the hanger and on my body.

The reflection was of a woman who was far from virtuous. This little number was a statement dress, to say the least. Fitted corset. Emerald satin. A plunging neckline that was somehow still classy enough for a gala. The hem pooled around my feet with a slit up my right thigh.

The old me would have hidden under a shawl, but the old me was never thoroughly ruined by the man who’d bought the dress. The daring look complemented my new sex life. My life had changed, and my wardrobe should reflect it. Kai had bought every piece of this ensemble for me, down to the strappy heels and gold bangle around my wrist. He just didn’t know I’d be wearing this outfit tonight.

Kai was already in the hotel lobby when I arrived.

His gaze caught me the instant I walked through the doors, as if he had been waiting at the edge of his seat for my arrival. Whatever he’d been saying to the man beside him stopped mid-word when he saw what I was wearing. He went still. Not a courteous mid-conversation still, but one that sucked all the air out of the room.

His gaze dropped to the slit and climbed back up, unhurried, taking the scenic route.

“Hi,” I managed, suddenly feeling stupidly shy.

He didn’t say anything in return. He left the man and crossed the elaborate marble floor toward me as his entourage of assistants and security looked on. I stood there with nowhere to put my hands, which was somehow the worst of the anticipation.

“Do you have any idea what you look like right now?” Even though he was still ten feet away, I heard his low voice perfectly well. His voice always went quiet when he was barely holding on.

“Too much?” He was five feet away now, and I had to tip my chin to hold his gaze.

“That dress is the reason men do stupid things.”

I was within reach now, and he immediately pressed me against the nearest wall and kissed me so lewdly that my knees nearly buckled. It was one of those kisses meant to leave a mark you couldn’t see, imprinting itself so I’d feel it for the rest of the night. For a moment, I forgot where we were entirely and rubbed myself against his erection with a wantonness I no longer bothered being embarrassed by.