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The pulse on her neck beat at a furious pace, and I hoped to calm it with my kisses, moving my way down to her collarbones and then to her breasts. “You’re so beautiful, my darling lass.”
Everything about her turned me on, from the smell of her hair to the feel of her skin beneath my hands.
And she was mine.
I opened her thighs with my knee, settling my cock at her entrance. She would be sore, no doubt, so I pushed in as gently as possible.
Her eyes widened, and her lips rounded into a small circle as she hissed in a breath. I stilled and allowed her time to adjust. “It will get better. Relax, you can take me.”
I gave it a few moments before pressing deeper until I was fully buried in her. She let out a small cry, and I pulled back ever so slightly, then pushed in again, repeating the motion over and over until we fell into a slow and deliberate pattern. She wrapped her legs around me, having adjusted to the feel of me once again. I propped myself on my elbow and brushed a tendril of hair off her forehead, taking in each feature of her face. Her pouty lips. The pale freckles that dotted her nose. Her dark lashes.
“Open your eyes, darling,” I said.
Her eyes opened languidly as if the effort was overwhelming. “Look at me.” Dark green met my gray in a blurry haze, and I could see every emotion play out in their depths. Time stopped, and with each stroke, I hoped to forever leave my mark. If I couldn’t have her, I wanted to make sure she would never forget me, even if I had to brand my name on her very being.
Her surrender came softly as I felt her last barrier give way, and I knew I owned not only her body but her soul. “That’s it, Evie,” I said, increasing the tempo slightly as she arched her back, meeting me thrust for thrust in our final push to become one.
“Keir,” my name rolled off her lips.
“I know, darling,” I answered as desire took over, and we found each other in the dark depths of oblivion.
As I slowly came back to myself, I pulled her back to my chest, spooning her in the protection of my arms. I didn’t want the moment to end. The connection between us to be broken.
I held her in silence until I thought her asleep before speaking. The room was pitch black, and the only sound was the occasional content sigh that left her. While I didn’t want to say what I had to say, I knew I must. She deserved the truth. She deserved to be safe, even if it meant me hurting her to do so.
“I would stay married to you if I could,” I said quietly. “I want nothing more than to protect you from the nightmare you are returning to. But it’s impossible, lass.”
She shifted in my arms, and I thought I had woken her for a second until she relaxed back against me.
“I told you before I had a monster inside me, and I wasn’t lying,” I explained. “He shares my body, and I know his thoughts and feelings just as he knows mine. He makes me a dangerous man. A violent man. A cold man. And for those reasons alone, I could never risk your safety.”
“I told you I don’t believe you,” she answered in a hushed voice. “You’re projecting your past and what you went through onto who you are today. You’re no monster. You just think you don’t deserve a good life.”
She caught me off guard, and I stumbled on my next words. “E-Evie, I’m not lying, lass, and this is not in my head. Trust me, I’ve been to every doctor in Scotland and the States to try and figure it out. And while it defies any laws of nature known to man, it is the truth.”
“You’re scared,” she accused.
“The only thing I’m scared of is hurting you.”
* * *
I satat the head of the conference table with Sir Leonard to my left and Rhys to my right, waiting.
“Where is he?” Leonard asked, looking at his watch.
“I doubt Aidan’s coming. He never returned the messages Alan left him,” I answered. “But I can tell you he wasn’t in a good frame of mind the last time I saw him.”
“Understandably so,” Rhys added somewhat sympathetically.
“You never told me you saw him,” Leonard spat. The harsh glare from the overhead fluorescent lights reflected off his bald head, making him look like he just crawled out from his grave.
“I didn’t know I was supposed to report to you,” I said coolly, raising a brow. “He came to me earlier this week in an uproar. I told him he needed to find a place where he wouldn’t be disturbed and come to terms with whatever he needed to. Alone.”
Rhys nodded at me. “Sound advice.”
“I believe that was the advice you gave me.” I cocked my head toward Leonard. “Wasn’t it?”
He gave a short huff, not quite a sneer, as his mouth twisted in disdain.
