C14, PT. 9

“You give me too much credit.” He kissed the curve of her neck as his hands slid over her body, slippery from the bath oil. “I like it when you give into me. I love it more when you fight and need to be tamed.” He sighed. “It’s fucking dangerous. I never know what I, or you, will do.”

“You think too much,” she mumbled.

He grunted. “Is that your way of telling me to shut up?”

“Yes. I’m in my happy place.”

He didn’t say another word, but held her safe in his arms as she floated on two different planes and drifted to sleep.

***

She was vaguely aware he removed her from the water at some point. She didn’t feel a draft because he quickly wrapped her in a robe and carried her to bed. She hummed contentedly as she burrowed under the duvet. When he slid in beside her, she mumbled, “Don’t you have to get to work?”

“I have time.”

She didn’t remember falling asleep, but she woke when she heard the rumble of Roth’s voice.

“Something came up.”

Her eyes fluttered as she tried to surface.

“I know. We’re going to have to push the appointment.” Pause. “Cancel my meeting with Heinrich, too.”

Her eyes popped open to find Roth pacing near the bedroom door with his cell phone to his ear.

“Book him next year. I don’t care.”

“Roth!”

He turned, saw she was awake, and immediately came toward her. “How are you feeling?”

She registered that he was standing in full sunlight and dressed in a pair of sweatpants and burgundy long sleeve. “What the hell are you doing here?”

He frowned and brushed her hair back from her face. “Do you need painkillers or something to eat?”

She gaped at him before she gave him a shove. “I’m fine! Go to work!”

When she heard cackling through his phone, she snatched it from him. “Sarai?”

“We need to do another coffee date.”

Sarai’s voice was jittery with excitement.

She ignored that and snapped, “Don’t cancel his appointment with Heinrich. Actually, do you have his number?” She rolled across the bed when Roth tried to take the phone from her. “I promised to get together with his wife.”

“I’ll get the wife’s number. There’s no reason for you to have his,” Roth snapped.

“He’ll be there within the hour,” she said and hung up on the sound of Sarai’s delighted laughter. “Did you miss your call with Grayson?”

Roth scowled at her. “How do you know that?”

“Did you?”

“I worked here.”

She didn’t want to be the reason Roth missed a meeting with Grayson. She didn’t want to give him more reasons to dislike her. If it wasn’t for Grayson, her father may have succeeded in destroying Roth. She was hoping one day they could be friends. They had a lot in common. They were the only ones who had seen something in Roth that no one else had.

She got to her feet and hissed when her tender backside throbbed. If he wasn’t standing there watching, she would have collapsed. Instead, she made a great show of standing up straight, even though it hurt like a bitch. Her ass felt as if it had gotten the worst sunburn ever, and the sharp, dragging pain was great enough that she definitely needed painkillers and would be laying in bed for the rest of the day. But for Roth’s sake, she put her hands on hips and declared, “See, I’m perfectly fine. Go to work!”

“You’re certain?”

“Yes!” she stressed, exasperated. “You didn’t do anything I didn’t want.”

“You’ll take it easy today?”

“Yes.”

“If you need anything—”

“Roth, aside from the hundred or so over-attentive staff in this building, you employ a small army of men willing to do anything to please me.” When his eyes narrowed, she grimaced. “That came out wrong.” When he stalked toward her, she held up her hand. “And you can’t cancel with Heinrich just because…”

When he stopped in front of her, she lost her train of thought.

“Because?” he prompted.

She came back to herself and waved her hands. “Because nothing happened! It was innocent!”

He held out his hand. As she handed his phone over, she realized two weeks ago she wouldn’t have even considered doing such a thing. Today, she’d done it, knowing there would be no serious repercussions. Amazing how much could change in so little time.

He cupped her chin, forcing her to look into his unflinching stare. “Don’t interfere with my schedule.”

“But, you’re canceling an appointment because of me.”

“He’s fucking with me. All of them are.”

“What? Who?”

“The men I was with when you visited the office have been spreading rumors. Heinrich was deliberately trying to rile me.”

Oh, boy. She hoped these men knew what they were doing. Roth had little to no sense of humor and wouldn’t appreciate being baited, even though it was done in good fun.

“Cancelling his appointment will just make it worse.” She sighed when he scowled. “Fine. Do what you want.”

She tried to go around him, but was pulled up short when he grabbed her arm, halting her.

“We’re okay?”

She didn’t roll her eyes, though it hurt her to control the impulse. “Yes.”

“You’ll rest?”

“Yes.”

She knew the exact moment he decided to believe her.

“Call me if you need me.”

“Yes. Now, go.”

She watched as he strode to the closet. He was dressed and ready to go in less than ten minutes. He stole a kiss, even though she was in the midst of brushing her teeth. He carelessly wiped his mouth on a towel before he exited, leaving the tantalizing scent of his cologne lingering in the air.

She stared at her reflection and the toothpaste dripping onto her robe, and shook her head. She was so fucked.

**This is a raw draft of Bitter Confessions. Please do not share or distribute.

Copyright © 2024 Mia Knight. All Rights Reserved.

Author's Note: 

I belatedly realized I should probably be leaving author's notes on certain scenes if there was background I wanted to share. Sigh. Oh well.

This chapter always stands out to me because I had no idea where to go after the whole Thanksgiving dinner with her family, the office visit, and then that massage scene.

I actually saw this clip on Instagram of a girl surprising her gym crush and hopping on his back while he was doing a plank, which actually gave me the idea to have her visit Roth at the gym. That was the general idea and nothing else. I thought it would be interesting to show their daily routines. I had no idea how that simple idea would bloom into this chapter or that any of this would happen, which is actually super important because it shows their dynamic and digs a little more into their psyche and needs and dark desires, etc.

I spent way too much time on this chapter. No joke, I probably have close to two dozen variations of certain sections. I'm not 100% happy with it, but will only know on the final pass if I want to tweak stuff.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Or at least were intrigued by their constantly changing dynamic.