I warned him that Haven is sleeping, and because he’s my bro, he knows exactly why that is. I don’t keep secrets from my brothers. When Haven is struggling, they know not to bother me, so if Bas needs to chat? He’s got a reason, and I’m willing to hear him out.
The vial is one he returned to me. I wasn’t sure if he would need it for his Annaliese, but when he handed it back to me justnow, he said that she didn’t need it. Luckily for them, she sleeps like the dead. No problems there.
So what has him showing up at my door unannounced like this?
Bas doesn’t need an invitation. He’s the only one of my friends that Haven tolerates, though I’m not sure she would agree given her current mental state. I know she’ll be okay with time; if not okay, then at leastbetter. When she’s like this, though, she shuts everyone out… except me.
I’m all Haven has, and while that’s all I ever wanted, I wish it didn’t come with moments like these?—
I lean in my seat, giving Bas a smile that I don’t quite mean. “So… how’s it going with you and the missus?”
Bas sighs, running his fingers through his hair. “Fuck me, Connor. Let me just tell you… Adrian had it so much better.”
I give him a disbelieving look. I don’t see how. Bas had his wife arrange to marryhim. Adrian had to execute one of our old friends in the same church where Bas said ‘I do’ just to get Loni to marry him, and that was only the beginning of him trying to get her to love him.
But Bas, lost in his own misery because Annaliese doesn’t worship the ground he walks on, nods as though trying to convince himself. “Yeah. At least Loni had feelings for him once upon a time.”
“She hated him.”
“Yeah, but she loved him, too. When he got her back, he just needed to remind her that she loved him.”
“Haven hated me,” I offer helpfully.
The look that Bas gives me says that maybe I’m not being that helpful. “Yeah, but she had a good reason to.” True. “And you made it up to her. Once you did, she couldn’t help but love you. But Annaliese… she’s keeping up walls.”
And? “Knock ‘em down.”
Bas argues with me. I’m barely listening. I have one ear cocked open to make sure that we’re not breaking through the sedatives, waking Haven up. Bits and pieces filter in, and I get the gist that Sebastien is blaming Annaliese’s hesitancy to go all in with him on his being a second son of a founding family of the Order, but all I can think about is how that’s bullshit.
I try to tell him so, and even start to mention Julia before changing my mind.
In the end, I remember some very excellent advice that eighteen-year-old Bas once offered me during that party at his house.
I clear my throat. “Bas… listen. If something’s worth having, you do whatever the hell you can to keep it.”
Okay. So maybe my gaze goes to the ceiling, thinking of the brunette beauty that’s waiting for me in our bed. So maybe I’m talking about my Haven, and how there isn’t a single thing I won’t do for her.
Dropping his voice, Bas tells me that Haven will be okay. That she’s been talking to Loni, and the fact that she’stalkingis proof that she’s come a long way from the mute woman we found curled up on a sheet in the warehouse.
He’s right, too. I know he is. Just like how I’m well aware that there might always be a time that I have to stand by that. Iwilldo whatever it takes to keep Haven, in sickness and health, ‘til death do us part.
Bas gets the message. He’s returning to his wife, determined to find a way to show her that he wants to keepher. As for me? Once I say goodbye to my old friend, I think about the promise I made to Haven. I think about how I love her more with each day, and how the good days outweigh the bad by so much, it’s worth it for me, just knowing she’s mine.
She is mine. She always has been. She always will be.
My body is already stirring as I start up the stairs. I’ve suffered through blue balls, finding release in the shower or in a pair of Haven’s panties because I didn’t want to bother her with my lusty libido while she was dealing with her nightmares. My dick was the least of my worries, but after yesterday…
I pause in the hall. The bedroom door stands slightly open. Inside, Haven is fast asleep, a peaceful expression on her gorgeous face. There are no lines. No worry. Just my beautiful wife, sprawled out on her side, snuffling gently as the sedatives keep the nightmares at bay.
My heart jolts. So does my erection. I palm it, telling the impatient bastard to wait a second as I simply enjoy watching Haven for the moment.
I’m always watching her. Whether it’s because she’s right next to me or it’s through the computer setup in my office, becoming her husband didn’t lessen my obsession with her at all. Nope, it only made it worse, just like how getting my first taste of her only whetted my appetite for more.
I had to survivenine fucking yearson a single kiss I stole when we were eighteen. Now we’re both closing in on thirty, happily married, and I’ve been allowed to worship this woman… worship this body… for the last year and a half. When she’s awake, she has total control, and I adore it.
But when she’s asleep?
I can take what I need, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
