Page 19 of Hide Little Traitor

CHAPTER TWELVE

KINGSTON

NOW

It’s been so long since I let someone touch me that her hands pressed to my chest and her body pinned to mine are almost enough to make me come in my pants like a fucking teenager.

I’ve spent the last ten years preparing for this moment, but now it’s here, and I can’t fuck it up.

Not if I want her to stay.

Watching her explore the house from my office was a unique kind of torture because I wanted nothing more than to be beside her, showing her all the things I’ve done to make her life here more comfortable.

The library full of her favorite books, the sitting rooms that get the perfect amount of sun throughout the day, and the pool I had installed outside for the summer.

But instead I stayed put, allowing her to explore alone.

I know she was looking for me, wanting to tell me in no uncertain terms that she would not be marrying me, but she doesn’t have a choice in the matter.

As badly as I want to give Chloe the world, I need her to be my wife.

I need to know she’s mine in every possible way, even if she hates me for it.

A better man would have asked. He would have got down on one knee and pledged his undying love. But I’ve never claimed to be a good man.

It takes every ounce of restraint not to throw her on the bed behind her and spend the rest of the day exploring her perfect body, but we’re not there yet.

I have to take things slowly if I want her to believe I’m serious.

Not too slow, though, because I have little doubt that Ryker will sniff us out eventually. He’s my number two, the person I trust more than anyone else in the world, but I don’t trust him not to take Chloe from me.

He’s already broken the rules once when it comes to her, not that I can blame him.

She’s perfect.

Sweet and innocent, but with a fire that draws you in.

There’s a reason both the Lombardi boys were so taken with her, and there’s a reason Ryker and I have since been dragged into her orbit.

But only one of us can have her, and it’s going to be me.

Tugging the hair at the back of her head softly, I trail kisses down her throat, licking and sucking on the soft skin as I go.

I want to taste her everywhere, want to make her beg for more, only to plead for me to stop. I want to overwhelm her with so many sensations she can’t tell where she ends and I begin.

But first I need to make her my wife.

Preferably before Ryker and Ronan tick off too many of my potential locations.

It won’t take him long. He’s one of the best hunters I’ve ever met. Tenacious and unyielding, he can find just about anyone, and he has the added benefit of knowing me better than anyone else in the world.

The fact Ronan knows his way around a computer is an added problem, but not one I’m as concerned about. After all, he and his family have been looking for me for years and have never come close to finding me.

Chloe’s hands fist into my shirt, tugging me closer despite herself. It’s going to take some time to convince her that marrying me is the right decision, but I have faith she’ll get there.

And even if she doesn’t, it’s still happening.

She can have anything she wants in this world, as long as she’s my wife.