Page 37 of Xander

She shivered as I traced the ice along the column of her neck. When her eyes closed, I leaned closer. My tongue darted out to swipe the cold water lining her throat. I closed my mouth over her pulse and sucked.

She jumped as if a jolt of electricity shot through her. Jordan set the wine glass on the coffee table with a thump and sprang to her feet.

“I-I should go,” she stammered, desperation lacing her words like tendrils of smoke seeking escape. She searched for the heels she had taken off at some point.

I stood to my full height. “No.”

“I. Need. To. Leave,” she gritted out, her previous sadness suddenly replaced with indignation.

I was angry, too, and just as inebriated from the numerous whiskey neats. I refused to let her slip through my fingers again.

“No,” I growled with unyielding determination, stepping closer until our chests bumped. “You aren’t leaving. Nor will you go back to him. Ever.”

Jordan tried to sidestep me, but I was at her heels. With firm fingers wrapped around her arm, I turned her to face me.

“Did you know he never planned on having children with you?” The words were out of my mouth before I could reel them in. It was the only thing I could think of to make her stay.

She appeared perplexed. “What?”

“Henry had a vasectomy years ago,” I informed her unapologetically, unable to suppress my scoff.

Jordan was thirty-seven. A natural pregnancy for her wouldn’t be viable for long, and my father knew it, too. Henry never told her about the procedure, intentionally robbing her of what she wanted the most in this world—motherhood.

“No.” She staggered, trying to rip away from me.

My grip tightened. Letting her go the first time was hard enough. After kissing her, after touching her, I knew I couldn’t do it again.

“No,” she said again. Denial was the only defense mechanism she had left to explain her wasted years with Henry.

“It’s true,” I ground out, forcing the truth to collide against her clash of wills.

Amidst our heated exchange, the harsh truth had been exposed. The confession pierced through years of deceit, digging into her like barbed wire.

Despondency returned to her eyes, and I hated myself for causing it. But Henry’s deceit and her desire to be a mother were the only things I could exploit to make her stay with me. To possibly guarantee a future with her, too.

“He duped you, Jordan,” I pressed. “He had been running out the clock until you could no longer have children.”

Eyes filled with furious, unshed tears stared at me as her defenses crumbled entirely. Her resolve to escape me wavered under the painful reality, and she stopped trying to pry my fingers off.

The moment she displayed an ounce of assent, I backed her against the nearest wall. She was too distraught to protest when I moved the hair off her shoulders and kissed her throat.

I pressed my lips against her and murmured, “I’m not like him, Jordan. I’ll give you children. I’ll give you everything you want. I have money now, so you don’t have to be concerned if that’s the issue.”

Jordan stilled. “I told you that I’m not for sale,” she stated in a cold voice.

“I’ll take care of you,” I continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Our children, too. You don’t have to worry about a thing,” I added, breathing her in and feeling lightheaded with lust. “All I want in return is you… in any way possible.”

I’d give her a houseful of babies if I had my way. Then, she would never even think of a life with anyone else.

Even if it was too late and she could no longer have children, I didn’t care. I’d forego having a family because the idea of having one without her had always felt hollow.

“Whatever you’re doing, please stop,” she begged. “This is beyond inappropriate.”

I didn’t move; I couldn’t. “Your eyes closed,” I said instead, trailing kisses across her collarbone even as she pushed for space. “Every time I touch you, you close your eyes. You want me just as much, Jordan.”

“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” she grappled for an excuse.

I pulled back and glared at her. “Or were you finally letting your true feelings show?” My thumb swiped over her bottom lip. “You act like it repulses you but secretly enjoy my touch.”