Hugh pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. He certainly ached. “Helen cheated on me. She enjoyed making me watch her flirt and flaunt her body for my friends and peers at the Club. I didn’t love her, but it did make me feel...feel, I don’t know...less of a man. It was what she wanted. She wanted me to feel like an uncouth giant. Not a man with a smooth tongue and manners.
“When she was feeling particularly vicious, she would take one of the men and screw him in a back room at the Club, knowing I knew and the man’s wife as well. She managed to make me feel like I wasn’t good enough, and I hated her, but I hated myself more for allowing her that power over me.
“I pretended indifference. I learned to swallow the humiliation and the hate for my…for Helen.”
“I’m sorry that you had to go through that.” Rowan was frantically blinking. She didn’t want to cry and interrupt Hugh, who was sharing his deepest traumas.
“William was one of them. We were in our twenties and just taking over our family businesses. We were brash and didn’t care fuckall if we hurt someone’s feelings. Everyone knew Helen was lose with her favors. It appeared to our group that I didn’t care what she did. I don’t believe William ever slept with her. I had the feeling it was just for show, on his part, at least. I think he truly loved his wife, Katy.
“When I found out you were seeing each other…Christ, Row, I know my reaction was terrible. I know I was out of line, but it was you, Rowan.You. It took me back, and I’m ashamed that I embarrassed you. I’m drowning here, Row. I need an absolute commitment from you. I need the words to feel secure.”
“What words do you need besides I love you?”
“I want you with me always. I want us to live together. Here in Oklahoma and in Ireland. Wherever we find ourselves, I want it to be you and me.”
“Will you acknowledge our relationship? To any and every one we’re around? Will you call me your girlfriend?”
“No. I’ll call you mine. My everything.”
“What words then, besides I love you, do you need?” she asked again.
“Forever.”
“Forever then.” Rowan could feel tears spring to her eyes again.
She walked around the counter where she could take his hands in her own. “I’m glad that’s settled, babe.” She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. Giddy didn’t begin to encompass the joy flooding her body. Rowan climbed up on the tall barstools, swiveling the seat so that she could grab Hugh’s hands and pull him between her legs.
“I vow to never give you any reason to doubt my commitment to you. Do you accept?”
“Yes. God yes, Row. I vow the same to you. I will never give you any reason to doubt me, either. Ever.”
“Good, because I wasn’t going to let you run again. I would chase you to the ends of the earth if I needed to. When you look at me like you are now…” Rowan shook her head, unsure how to describe Hugh’s strength, the thrill she felt when he looked at her with his grave, dark eyes.
“What do you see?”
“I see a wolf in wolf’s clothing,” she smiled, hooking one foot around his calf. “What do you see?”
Grinning, he leaned down so his eyes were in line with her own. “Dinner.”
20
“Dinner, huh?” Rowan teased as she leaned against the back of her stool, putting a bit of distance between them. “Do you still want to look under my dress, Daddy?” Hugh’s hands paused on the hem of her dress, a look of horror rounding his eyes.
“Please, God, never call me Daddy again. Our family’s going to get enough looks as it is when we show up together.”
“Fine,” she laughed, but does this mean you won’t call me your good little girl?”
“Never.”
Hugh was barely paying any mind to her words. His focus was trained on her dress slipping further up her thighs. Her voice sounded breathier than a moment before when she asked, “Even if you spank me, and I’m brave and don’t cry?”
“Even then, but Christ, stop putting thoughts like those into my head,” he growled. “I’ve been praying for hours that I don’t come the moment I touch her soft skin.”
She leaned as far back as she could, arching her back and opening her legs just that tiny bit more as he finally got allthe soft linen of her dress bunched at her waist. Hugh exhaled deeply as he looked his fill.
“For all we’ve done in front of one another, and on my couch and in your bed, we’ve never touched each other,” he paused to grasp her inner thighs, placing her thumbs to either side of her sex, “here.”
She felt a pulse between her legs at his words. “No, we haven’t. I dreamed of touching you.” Hugh looked away from her sex to meet her eyes. “For our first time,” Rowan felt her cheeks heat but continued, “I want to be in your bed. I want both of us naked. I want to feel your body as you feel mine.”
