She was my cure.
I woke up the following morning and saw her wrapped tightly around me, clinging to me as if she had the same fear. She was in my t-shirt and her panties, her long and slender legs brushing against mine under the sheets. I didn’t move because I didn’t want to wake her up. I entertained myself by watching her sleep, watching her chest rise and fall rhythmically.
When I returned to Scotland with London in tow, I knew that would cause a rift between Ariel and me. None of my other employees cared for her, not when she was the reason some of the men lost their lives. The only person who did like her was Finley, and that was because he hardly interacted with her.
Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing.
I didn’t know how this was going to work or for how long. Taking an appropriate wife had been a priority because I did need to have children, and not just to continue my line. Kids were something I’d wanted for my own reasons.
To regrow my own family.
I didn’t have parents or a brother. I was all that remained of my bloodline. If I had sons and daughters, I could share my legacy with them. Hopefully, I could look at them and see my own parents’ features looking back at me.
Since London wasn’t a suitable partner, that set me back. She didn’t have any wealth or connections to bring to the marriage. I wasn’t even sure if she wanted to have children. She didn’t seem like the kind of person who wanted to put her career aside to be a mother. She was just as ambitious as I was.
Maybe I could spend a year or two with her before I had to let her go.
Or maybe I was just setting myself up for torture.
I really didn’t know.
She woke up a moment later, her big and beautiful lashes opening to reveal the emerald eyes that haunted my dreams. She took in my features slowly, the recognition gradually dawning on her.
She needed a moment to understand this was real.
“Morning.” She slid her hand across my cheek, feeling the stubble that had grown overnight.
“Morning.” I dug my hand into her hair and kissed her, feeling the electricity immediately surge down my spine. I didn’t make love to her last night because I was too furious about her nighttime visitor. I didn’t like thinking about the last time he was in her apartment, the last time they fucked.
So I didn’t ask.
But I hadn’t been able to get it off my mind. I kept picturing a man’s hands all over her body—a pair that didn’t belong to me. It made me more than angry—more than jealous. In fact, he broke my heart.
But I had no right to be angry. She told me there hadn’t been anyone else when she stayed in Scotland. If I hadn’t taken so long, nothing would have happened. The second she came to New York, she resumed her life without thinking about me.
She wasn’t bluffing.
So it was my fault.
I’d been with other women too, so my hands weren’t clean. But that didn’t make it hurt any less. I wanted to be with her when there wasn’t another guy in the picture, sitting on her doorstep for an obvious booty call.
My cock was hard, but I tried not to push it into her hip, giving her the wrong idea. If she went down on me or rode me, I wouldn’t have the strength to say no. But I didn’t want to extend an invitation.
She stretched her arms above her head before she hooked her leg over my hip, pressing my cock right against her own hip.
Now there was no hiding it.
“When do you want to leave?” I asked.
“Leave for what? Breakfast?”
Of course, she was thinking about food. “No. For home.”
“As in, you want me to leave today or tomorrow?”
“Preferably.”
She sat up in bed, her hair messy from the way my fingers had run through it. “Well, I need to put my two weeks’ in first. I signed a six-month lease, so I need to take care of that too. To pack and ship everything will take a while…”
I was already an impatient man, but there was no way I waiting for all of that to get wrapped up. “We can take everything you need on my plane. You’ve seen it—it’s huge.”
“My dressers and bed?” she asked incredulously.
“You shouldn’t take that stuff anyway. I’ll buy you new things.”
She stared at me hard.
“What?”
“That’s not part of the independence condition. I don’t need you to buy me anything.”
We hadn’t even had breakfast yet, and she was already annoying me. “I don’t want you to move in to a shady place like you had in Edinburgh.”
“There was nothing wrong with that place.”
“It wasn’t a good side of town. There’s a lot of criminal activity in that area. I know the area a lot better. Let me choose.”
“You’re gonna choose a castle or something.”
“If I were gonna choose a castle, it’d be my castle. No, there’s a nice community in Edinburgh that I approve of. I’ll get you situated there.”
“A community?” I asked.
“A nest of houses. It’s in a gated community.”
“Well, I don’t have a car, so I wanted to walk everywhere.”
“You aren’t walking anywhere,” I snapped. “I’ll get you a car or a driver.”
That same look returned to her face.
“That’s nonnegotiable. Scotland is a beautiful place, but it’s certainly not safe.”
She made the smart choice by not pressing it. “So I leave all my stuff behind.”
“Except the essentials. I’ll help you get settled. And if you ever want to change your mind about moving in to the castle, the offer is always on the table.” I missed having a quickie on my desk in the middle of the day. I missed seeing her in the bedroom the second I walked in the door. Her need for independence was irritating, but after keeping her as a prisoner for six months, I would be insensitive not to understand.
“I know, Crewe.”
“So, can you leave tomorrow?”
“I still need to put in my two weeks’.”
“Why?” I demanded. “Just tell them you’re leaving.”
“What if one of your employees just got up and left?”
“I’d get over it and hire someone else. Life goes on.”
“Well, I don’t own a business, so I can’t afford that luxury. I need to be a good employee if I want to get a good job later down the road.”
“Don’t forget who you’re sleeping with,” I reminded her. “I can get you whatever job you want.” Even though I’d prefer it if she had no job at all.
“I’d rather get a job on my own, Crewe.”
I hated it when she didn’t need me. That clingy act she put on before was probably all for show, but I wish she would behave that way again. “Two weeks is too long.”
“You don’t have to stay. I can put most of my stuff on your plane then fly out on my own later.”
I didn’t want to return to Scotland without her. I didn’t want to sleep in that big bed alone. I wanted my woman protected in my arms and surrounded by the stone walls of my keep. “You’re really going to wait two weeks?”