He holds my face with one hand, running his thumb over my lips, gazing at me deeply. “I’m sorry if that was a bit savage.”
I smirk. “The more savage the better.” And it’s true, because anything that could border on the sweet and sensitive, the emotionally-laden sex that is so often called “making love,” well, I don’t think I could maneuver that very well. After all, as savage as that fuck was, it still unleashed a torrent of emotions that I’m not equipped to handle. I’ve had a black heart my whole life, and it doesn’t know what to do with anything that could turn it whole and pink.
Noises come suddenly from behind the room’s locked door, and we quickly exchange a sheepish glance before we hightail it down the corridor, Lachlan flicking the condom in the trash can as we leave.
Once in the foyer, we pause, spotting the group still in the wine bar, laughing about something.
I look up at Lachlan. “We don’t have to join them.”
“Aye,” he says with a nod. “But we should. Come on.”
“Do I look like I just got thoroughly fucked?” I whisper to him.
He glances down at me and there’s a flash of a wicked smile. “Oh yes.”
“There you guys are,” Steph says as we approach the table, and it’s too late to even smooth down my hair. I know that my face and chest must be flushed. “I’d ask where you’ve been, but I don’t want to know.”
I give her a haughty smile and take my seat like a prim and proper lady. “Just getting some fresh air.”
Nicola snorts from beside me. “I think I might need to know where you’re getting your air.”
“Sweetheart, your air is just fine,” Bram says to her from across the table.
With the wine tasting over now, everyone is just splitting a couple of bottles. I hesitate to have a glass, already feeling quite woozy from earlier, but Lachlan surprisingly has one so I join him.
Eventually our stomachs start grumbling and we all head to dinner in one of the restaurants. Lachlan quickly stops by the room to get Emily since we learned you can have pets out on the patio, and we spend a few hours drinking more wine and eating as the sun goes down in the distance, casting a glow over the vineyards.
I breathe in deeply, enjoying the heat of the night air and the crickets that fill the silence. Bram and Nicola excuse themselves, Nicola saying she needs to call her mother and speak to Ava before it gets too late. Then eventually Steph and Linden leave too, hanging onto each other like two drunken fools.
“Alone at last,” I say to Lachlan who is sitting splay-legged beside me and puffing on a cigar that the waiter hasn’t said anything about. In fact, I think they purposely forgot we were all out here.
Lachlan lets out a small grunt, brow creased and deep in thought. I think he’s drunk, but it’s hard to tell. If anything, he’s gotten quieter as the night goes on.
“Are you all right?” I ask.
His eyes flit to mine. His stare is hard, flinty. “I’m just fine,” he says giving me a tight smile.
I swallow. “That’s such a girl answer.”
He blinks, intensity brewing like a thunderstorm. “Excuse me?”
Even Emily raises her head.
I lean back slightly, appraising him. Even though I was kind of provoking him just now, his mood switch is surprising.
Still, I refuse to be intimidated. We’ve passed too many bodily fluids between each other for that. “I said that’s a girl answer. You said fine, like everything isn’t fine, and if that’s the case, I just want to know what’s up.”
His dark brows lower, and it’s almost like he’s glowering at me. Still, he doesn’t say anything. He sticks his cigar in his mouth and looks away.
I sigh and put my hand on his shoulder. “Hey. You can tell me.”
He closes his eyes, his head leaning back for a moment. “Love,” he says, an edge to his voice. “I’m fine. I’m just…processing what’s going on.”