Those were only a few of the questions flooding my brain as I finally found my phone in the sitting room of the penthouse and snatched it up. When I saw that I had fifteen missed calls, some from Emmie, some from Linc, and two each from my mother and sister, I groaned. My text message count was even worse. I knew why they had all called so much. I hadn’t gone home last night, and with a glance at the clock on the wall by the television, I saw that most of the day was gone. I’d promised Linc I’d be home by eleven the night before. Shit, he was probably worried sick.
Sighing, I skimmed my finger over his name. It hadn’t even finished ringing the first time before he was answering. “Where the hell are you, Natalie? Are you okay?”
The first question was easy to answer. I was in Devlin Cutter’s penthouse room. The second one? Not so much. I didn’t know if I was okay, I didn’t know anything about what I was feeling right then and there. My body was sore, but satiated. My heart was racing, hurting. My head was a jumble of thoughts and emotions because I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before or today for that matter. Devlin had made love to me countless times and I was still trying to remember if we’d used protection at any time.
Nope. Not one time. And I’d gone off the pill after my last female doc appointment because I’d had no need for them. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Natalie?” Linc sounded almost hysterical now. “Are you okay?”
I realized I hadn’t spoken yet and let out a tired sigh. “Yeah, Linc. I’m…I’m fine. Look, I can’t talk right now, but I’ll be home within the hour.”
“Do you need me? I’ll come get you if you tell me where the fuck you are.”
The sound of footsteps behind me had me turning to find a naked Devlin walking toward me with a satisfied smile on his devilishly sexy face. “No,” I spoke into the phone. “No, I don’t need you right now. I’ll be home soon.”
“Nat…”
“Bye, Linc. Love you.” I ended the call and glanced down at my nakedness. I couldn’t go out like this and I no longer had a dress or even panties to put on. Devlin had destroyed both last night.
“Muscle-head worried about you?” Devlin asked as he stopped inches in front of me and lowered his head to press a kiss to the top of my head.
“Don’t call him that,” I snapped, pulling away from him. “He has a name. Use it.”
“Okay, was Linc worried about you?” he asked calmly as he reached out for me.
I moved away so he couldn’t touch me. If he touched me then I didn’t know what I would do. My brain clouded with desire too quickly when he touched me. I needed a clear head so that I could figure out what I was going to do. Damn, damn, damn. Okay, I could stop at the pharmacy on the way home and get the morning-after pill. Yeah. That was a good idea.
I stomped back into the bedroom and opened Devlin’s closet. There was no way he had anything that would fit me. He might be lean but he was wide as hell and all his clothes would fall off me. I heard him behind me but ignored him as I pulled out a pair of sweats from the suitcase open below the clothes hanging. I pulled on the pants, pulled them up as far as they would go, and then rolled them down before tying a knot in the side. Then I had to roll up the pants legs. Next I grabbed one of the OtherWorld T-shirts and knotted it at the back.
I didn’t bother to look in the full-length mirror on the back of the closet door. I knew how I looked. Like some slut who had just had a one-night stand. It couldn’t be helped. It was either this or go naked.
“So you’re leaving?” Devlin asked, his tone angry now.
I turned to face him, refusing to meet his gaze. It was dangerous to look him in the eye right then. I was too vulnerable, my emotions were too close to the surface and I still didn’t understand the majority of what I was feeling. “Yes. I’m leaving. Last night shouldn’t have happened.”
“But it did, and now you regret it.” He clenched his jaw. “And you don’t want to talk about it. Like you never want to talk about anything that has to do with us. Typical Natalie. Running away like a scared little girl.”
I closed my eyes, hurt at him calling me a little girl more than anything else he could have said. Our age difference had always been one of the things that stood in our way. He hated that he was older than me. Hated that I was only twenty-two to his thirty-six. I’d never considered our age difference anything more than a number, but before our very short relationship he had thrown barbs in my face on a daily basis like ‘little girl’ and ‘kid’ and countless other things to remind us both that I was so young .
“Damn it, Nat. I’m sorry.” His apology came too late. I jerked away from him when he touched my arm and walked around him, picking my shoes up when I finally came to them.
“I don’t regret last night,” I finally told him when I reached the door, not surprised to find him just a few feet behind me. “And no, I don’t want to talk about it. Because I’m too fucking scared that you got me pregnant last night to think about anything else.”
“Pregnant?” Aquamarine eyes widened and he actually paled, telling me loud and clear that the idea of me having his baby wasn’t something that he was prepared for. “But… You were on the pill last time, Nat. I didn’t even think about…”
“No. It’s not all your fault,” I assured him, glancing around for my purse for a moment before realizing I’d left it downstairs the night before. Perfect. This day was going from bad to worse. “But don’t worry about it. I’ll pick up the Plan B pill on my way home. You won’t have to deal with a pregnant ex-girlfriend again, I promise.”
“What?” He shook his head. “That… I don’t… Damn it, Natalie! Just stop for five minutes and talk to me about this. You don’t have to take that fucking pill. We can deal with this if you are pregnant. I’ll take care of you.”
Take care of me? I didn’t stop to think about what I was going to wear home before I threw one of my shoes at him. His quick reflexes failed him and my shoe hit him in the chest. I threw the other one, hitting him in the stomach. “I don’t need you to take care of me. I can take care of myself, you prick.”
I saw his eyes darken in anger, but didn’t stick around long enough to hear anything he might have said. The door slammed behind me and I pushed the button for the elevator. It opened just as the penthouse door opened behind me. Not wanting to talk to him or even see his face right then, I stepped inside and punched the button for the lobby, desperate to get away from him.