Untamed

5.) Ultimatum

James managed to get me to dance with him, "...to keep up fronts." He told me the first time.

We spent a good amount of time dancing before heading back to the table to eat. Drinks were distributed graciously throughout the night.

Eventually, all I did was drink with Nat and Yelena while everyone else danced and hung around chatting.

Once the wedding was over, the ring felt like a block of lead on my finger, I now bore the last name Barnes. Yet the man I married was still a stranger to me. No matter how much my parents told me that I could trust him. Something inside me was telling me that I couldn't.

Even as he smiled at everyone he spoke to and joked around with my father. I couldn't bring myself to trust him, especially after what happened in Las Vegas.

I was anxious when I was near him. I wanted nothing more than to go back home and focus on my restaurant. 

My mother, however, asked me to be calm and do this for her. For me. If she trusts him, I should be able to, yet I was still hesitant.

I quietly said my goodbyes before making my way out of the ballroom and heading to the elevator.

I stood in front of the mirror in the bedroom of the suite, unable to take off my own dress because I couldn’t reach the buttons in the back of the dress.

I was so distracted by trying to undo the back of my dress that I didn't hear the door to the suite or bedroom open.

James walked in, his bow tie already undone, the top buttons of his shirt already popped open. He slipped off his suit jacket and tossed it over the chair as he stared in my direction.

I could see him in the mirror’s reflection, as I tried and failed to undo the buttons yet again.

He stared at my back unflinchingly.  Unaware of the fact that I was staring at him through the mirror. He was looking at the tightly buttoned dress.

As he approached, I began to feel his body heat, radiating towards me as he stopped a foot away from me. He wordlessly began to walk toward me, undoing the buttons of his white button down shirt, slowly showing more and more of the dark ink that decorated his skin, and the hard plains of his chest and chiseled abs.

I swallowed hard, realizing my throat had gone dry, as I pretended not to be affected.

His eyes flew to mine as he slowly began to unfasten the buttons. I could feel his hot fingers slowly trace down my back. One by one. I could feel his eyes looking at the back of my neck, drinking me in as his fingers continued moving down.

I wordlessly reached back and pulled my hair over my shoulder to give him better access to the buttons.

I turned to stare up at his face. I looked at those icy blue irises, his five o’ clock shadow, his hard, angular jawline.

It felt like the night in Vegas all over again. The tall, brooding, handsome man, who saved me from the perverted asshole, and then took me back to his hotel suite to ravish me.

My nerves were buzzing with excitement, but my heart was beating too quickly in my chest. It felt tight with unease.

When all the buttons were undone, he met my look in the mirror. An unfathomable emotion crossed his eyes before he controlled them. His irises turned a shade darker as he stared back. I silently stared back, my pulse racing as I stared.

He silently took a step closer to me, his eyes searching as his hand gently touched the side of my face. His thumb caressed my cheek as his eyes looked at my lips. His tongue peeked out and ran over his bottom lip.