Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 135847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
He still was working something out.
Controlling his environment, controlling me, after his control had been taken away from him.
Maybe?
That day, while Fliss and Carole cavorted in the pool, my crew and I toured the garden where the network had decided we were filming the interview. I’d left Chuck and Zoey behind to build camaraderie with the local team while I’d gone to lunch with Mankowitz, who at the time introduced me to Maggie Mae. I was meeting Fuller the next day. And we were filming the interview the day after.
Even so, I’d taken the opportunity to look up a few things, and I dived as deep as time allowed.
I didn’t have a handle on what made Hale like Hale, and what made me like me, sexually. I wasn’t a psychologist and I didn’t have all I needed, specifically about Hale, to totally understand it. Nor had I had the time to look into it thoroughly.
But it also wasn’t outlandish to think, in a lifetime where a lot of dysfunction spiraled around him, he’d seek order and control, even, or maybe especially, because that was when you were at your most vulnerable, sexually.
As for me, having his undivided attention and devotion during sex, being responsible for so much in life, being so driven, but letting go during intimacy, having that additional release, made sense too.
Or maybe we were just born this way.
I broached it with Hale.
“So, I looked up a few things today,” I said to his throat.
“What’d you look up?”
I traced a finger along his throat. “Um…collars?”
His body stilled in my hold. And then he pressed me so close, I was having difficulty breathing.
Not exactly a surprise. One of the things I learned was that was a kind of claiming ritual between lovers who engaged in dominance and submission, and it was important.
Not to mention, during sex, a collar could come in handy.
“You interested in that?” he asked.
“I saw a gif where this guy pulled this girl up by her collar, her mouth right onto his cock. It was smooth as hell. It was also hot.”
“You’re into it,” he muttered, stroking the skin above my ass. “I’ll order some things for us.”
“Oo, exciting.”
“It will be.”
Cocky.
Hot.
I rubbed my face into his skin, smelling him, and sex, and the residual tang of salt air.
So very Hale.
Best smell in the world.
“You and Genny did the dishes, and it all seemed good,” he remarked.
“It was, honey. We got over the hump.”
He said nothing about that, likely because of why we did.
But he asked, “What does neshama sheli mean?”
“My soul,” I whispered.
“That’s beautiful,” he whispered back.
“It’s more like, you’re a part of my soul.”
He gathered me closer.
“Too much?” I asked.
“No, neshama sheli,” he answered. “Not too much.”
With that, I pressed my face into his skin.
Hale ordered, “Go to sleep, Elsa.”
I didn’t, even if I forced myself to relax into his arms so he thought I did.
No, I didn’t because I couldn’t.
Not until I heard his breath even out and his body settle against mine.
Only then did I sleep.
CHAPTER 21
SMART AND SAVVY
Elsa
The morning after we filmed the interview, I was sitting on Hale’s balcony, drinking coffee, when I saw him jog up the beach.
It was Saturday. We were all set to fly out Sunday afternoon, Hale coming with us. He’d informed me he was then spending a month in New York “at least.”
I’d been ecstatic and didn’t hide it. This had made Hale smile at me in a happy, mellow way that I’d never seen, but I’d love it immediately.
That was miracle one.
Miracle two was the fact that both of us were taking the entire weekend off. No work, at all. Fliss and Carole were going out shopping. Chuck and Zoey were going out sightseeing. We were all going to meet for dinner at the Dresden later.
But that day, I got to relax, just Hale and me.
He lifted a hand when he made the base of the steps up the cliff, his head angled back, looking at me.
I waved in return, thinking about sweaty Hale and smirking to myself, because he’d left me in bed for his run, he was a morning sex person, so I wondered what the next hour or two would bring.
On this happy thought, my phone vibrated on the table beside me, and I saw it was a text from Zoey.
I picked it up and read it.
I don’t want to mess up your day, but you should know. Click this whenever you’re ready.
Me. Curiosity. I wasn’t going to wait until I was ready for whatever I’d see.
I was going to make myself ready and look.
I clicked and it was a gossip website. A rival of mine…well, they used to be. I’d elevated. They’d descended into the mud.
It Must Be Love? the headline read.
Under that were pictures of Hale and me on the very beach in front of me, but farther down.