Natalie sucked in a breath and studied him from her vantage point a few feet away. There was a flame in his eyes as he watched her in return and a subtle tension in his limbs that he couldn't hide.
Her mind raced. He obviously had issues--cheating issues--sharing issues. She knew at once that she didn't want to lose him, but she couldn't be too easy on him. She couldn't let him get away with what he'd done without him knowing damn good and well he couldn't do it again.
When she continued to watch him in mute silence, his nostrils flared and he said, "What do you want?"
Natalie knew he was asking her what she wanted from him to make this all go away, but she had another issue that needed to be resolved as well. "Did you tamper with my laptop?"
"Hell, no." He stared at her without flinching and she knew he was telling the truth. He waited two heartbeats before continuing, "Again, what do you want?" he asked.
"You could start by apologizing, but then, you don't ever apologize, do you?"
The look he gave her was flinty. "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry you got caught," she retaliated at once.
"Yes," he had the nerve to admit.
"Damn you, Marco! You don't even know how to fight the right way."
A hint of a smile crossed his lips but just as quickly disappeared. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you. I'm sorry I tracked you." All humor left him as his expression became unyielding, unmerciful, obdurate. "Promise you're mine, Natalie. Give me that promise and let's put this behind us."
She let out a shaky breath. "I've promised before."
"No. I've demanded and you've given in."
"How's that different from now?" she questioned.
His muscles loosened beneath his suit and Natalie sensed it was because he was so close to his goal. His voice came firmly, his cadence steady as he laid out his points. "It's different because now I'm asking you to stay. To stay for the sole reason of being with me. You and me. Nobody else. I'm promising fidelity to you. That's something I've never promised before in my life and I want the same promise from you."
She didn't hesitate or think twice. "You have it. But you need to do better, Marco. You need to prove you trust me."
A frown came between his brows. "How?"
"I don't know. I'll leave that up to your analytical brain to figure out."
He crossed over to her, lifted her chin in his hand and kissed her on the forehead before encircling her tightly in his arms. "Thank you."
****
Marco walked in from work the next day and didn't say a word. He strode into the kitchen where Natalie was working, picked up her hand, and began pulling her in the direction of the elevators.
"What are you doing?" she asked as she stumbled and almost fell.
"Proving that I trust you," he answered quickly, as he pulled her into the elevator with him.
He released her hand and crossed his arms over his chest, and watched her intently with an expression she couldn't read. Leaning casually back against the wall, his eyes ran over her, from the top of her hair to her feet, stopping briefly to study her breasts. After the indolent appraisal, his gaze lifted to hers again and he spoke, dark humor and sarcasm lacing his voice. "Did you have a good day, dear?"
Natalie had no idea what he was up to; his manner and actions nothing she'd ever seen in him before. She answered hesitantly, "Yes."
He stared at her, his face impassive. "Would you like to fuck your lover in the elevator, darling?"
A quick coil of heat and shock gripped her and she flushed. "N-no."
"No to the elevator or no to the fucking?"
"No to the elevator."
"But your boyfriend hasn't ever been fucked in an elevator before, sweetheart," he continued in third person, "and he'd really like it now." He pushed the button to stop the private lift on its decent and gripped her by the waist.
He turned her and pushed her against the wall. "How--how is this going to prove you trust me?" she managed to ask as her heart began to hammer and her legs began to tremble.
"Oh, it won't. That will come a bit later. First, you get to prove something to me." He pushed his torso against hers and adjusted his pants and freed his erection. Natalie swallowed. It was large and hard and jutted against her.
She licked her lips and breathed deeply as she watched him in semi-shock as he rolled on a condom. "What do I need to prove?" she asked shakily.
He pushed her cotton shorts and panties down her legs and wrapped his hands around the soft flesh of her butt, lifting her and spreading her open to him. She could feel the head of his penis pushing against her, getting ready to push inside of her and she flooded with heat. His fingers bit into her flesh, just short of pain as he held himself at the precipice. He answered her through gritted teeth, "You get to prove that you'll let me fuck you whenever I want, however I want, as much as I want. You admit that you want this, you want me, just the way I am." He pushed an inch inside and his voice became even more gravelly. "You prove that you can handle me, the way I am, and that you're not scared of me. I don't want you scared of me, Natalie. But I can't change how I am. I don't want to have to worry every two seconds that you're going to get scared and run. You belong to me and you need to prove it now by giving yourself to me, all of you."
He hung at her entrance, waiting. Waiting for her to answer him, and Natalie knew this was yet another point in their relationship that they were crossing. He was going to trust her to be his if she could prove to him that she was his, that she wanted to be his, completely. Her eyes glazed over as she felt the wet heat he always induced within her body sliding down and easing his way. She was conscious enough to know she still needed to give him an answer. Give him the only answer she could. "Yes."
He slammed inside her and held himself within her while he shoved his head against hers, demanding her mouth without words. Natalie gave it to him, and his tongue plunged inside, and he began kissing her as if his very life depended on it.
Her hands ran up and into his hair and she kissed him back. Their lips clung and their tongues swirled together as he began taking short, stabbing strokes, his hips banging against hers. Her mind began to shut down as he began hitting that place inside of her that she couldn't resist. He pummeled her, and she twisted her head away, needing oxygen as she began to come.
"Come, baby. Come on my cock," he demanded in a harsh, gravelly voice.
She couldn't fight it and she heard a sharp, keening sound and only barely realized that it came from her throat. Her body stiffened as pleasure consumed her. She felt him take three more strokes, and then he was coming with her.