Page huffed. “Well, if you don't, I will. I can't go on knowing what all has happened. No one can expect me to forgive and forget. I refuse, even if it was a possibility, which it’s not.”
Randall could see that she was really upset. “You don't have to worry about anything, Page. You're safe. We're all safe now and we’re going to find our place. It's not here, but it's somewhere.”
Page honestly didn't like the way that sounded. It sounded like she was being told to leave. Being there with Allie and talking about raising the children together as cousins as they should be, sounded a lot better than running off into the distance. Page said as much, and Randall was speechless for several moments. “Are you telling me that you don't want to leave?”
She agreed, “I want to stay here. Everyone has been so nice to me.”
Randall didn't know what to say. He’d condemned his family for the way they acted and now Page was trying to make him feel differently about it. Should he? Was his brother redeemable?
“Let's not talk about that right now. None of that matters, Page. All that matters is that you're back in my arms going home. Seems like we have a lot of catching up to do.”
Chapter 25
Page
While Page would have liked to stay with Randall's people, she felt safer in numbers. Randall was not ready to forgive his family as quickly as she was. Maybe it was because at least at the end of the day the siblings truly cared about him. Page did not feel that way, probably had never felt that way. She knew what she was worth to her family, and it wasn't a whole heck of a lot. Her father was still likely mad at her, and he had told her before if she didn't marry who he said and act with the respect that their family deserved, that he would disown her. Page had thought at the time that it was such a horrible thing but now she could see it as probably the best option.
She needed to show Randall the difference. His family was not horrible like hers and while Ben had definitely made some bad decisions along the way, at least he was trying to make up for it. Her dad was just as bad, likely worse, but there was no desire for him to apologize. He didn't think he had done anything wrong.
Now instead of going into the village where they should have gone, they stayed at a rented house that was quite a way away. It didn't stop Allie from coming to visit; the two women had built quite a bond together. Ben came by a couple of times,but it was so awkward that he left quickly after he arrived. Page wanted to help that situation, but how? The more she tried to figure it out, the less likely it was that she would.
Life was good and a couple of weeks after being rescued, Page was already forgetting all of the fears and emotions that had come with it. She was ready. The fact that Ethan was still walking around and breathing bothered her. After everything he had done to her and Randall, she couldn't imagine that he was going to get away with it. It made her angry to even think about it. He didn't deserve to walk away without some dire consequences. It just didn't even seem fair to even think it through like that.
Randall was busy in the other room putting the children down, no small task but he was actually really good at it. She had expected that it would take him some time to get into the flow of things, but it really hadn't. If she was being honest, Page was a little jealous that it took him less time than it had taken her. It had just been so overwhelming for her in the beginning. It was becoming easier, but not by much. She still wondered what she would have done without him, glad that she didn’t have to know then.
When he got back from the other room, Page take a good look at him and she felt the attraction to him. It made her realize how long it had been since the two of them had been together. It had been far too long in Page's eyes. She must have had some kind of look on her face too, because Randall told her that she needed to stop looking at him that way. Page wasn't sure what “that way” was, just that she really wanted him in that moment.
“It has been far too long,” Page said as she moved closer. She pulled him in for a kiss. Between the two of them, Page was the aggressor. She no longer could wait anymore. They had only been together a couple of times, a couple wonderful times andthen they were separated. It had been months, weeks, way too many days. Page was worked up about how different everything was, how it felt almost strange. She was going to have to work on that, but couldn’t get the desire off her mind.
While he had her attention, Randall had to remind her a couple of times that it was too early. They couldn't do anything like what she wanted, even though Page was dying for it. That was not the answer she needed. Page tried to pull it together, but it really wasn't possible. She only wanted to feel the two of them together again. It had been far too long, as far as Page was concerned.
“Are you saying that you don't want me?” she asked with the pouty face. Randall waved her off and said that it wasn't going to make any difference if she made a face or not. Page tried to test it out and he repeated the sentiment. She could tell that he was 100% sure about it.
Randall shook his head. “I would never say that. I mean, look at you. No man in their right mind wouldn’t want you.”
He said that no one would deny her, even as she was being denied at that very moment. She looked amazing and he told her so. Page liked the stroke of ego, but his words were not enough. She missed his touch, and she knew that it wouldn't be long that they had alone together. That was what she was thinking about. She was thinking about what they could do, not what they couldn’t.
“What if I told you that I needed you, so bad?” Page asked innocently. It was paired with a look that said she meant it. “Do you know how long I've been waiting for us to be together again?”
He growled at her in response.
“You are starting to make me think that I am not pretty enough for you, Randall. Have you changed your mind? Do you wish that you hadn’t gotten together with me? Do you wish that you would have let Ethan marry me instead?”
Randall growled louder at her, and Page wasn’t paying much attention to that. She wanted an answer, and he told her that there was no way that she felt that. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
Page shrugged. “What am I supposed to think, Randall? We’ve been back together for a while and there hasn’t been one move toward me. It makes me think that maybe you don’t want us to be together. I don’t want that to be true, but I feel like it is.”
Randall was shaking when he pulled her into his arms. “How could you really think that I don’t want to be with you? I mean, really? I am in love with you, have been for a long time and there is nothing that is going to change that. I just don’t want to hurt you, Page. You just gave birth, and it takes time.”
Page groaned at him and said that she was just fine for him to touch her. He wanted that to be true, said as much, but neither one of them was going to get what they wanted. Randall finally pulled her into his arms and kissed her. He wanted them both to feel pleasure running through them, but Page pushed him too far. Several times, he had to pull his own body away, as she tried her best to make him want her. He did, needed her badly, but tried his best to hold back.
He needed her to get off and calm down. It didn’t take long until she was biting her lip and calling out his name with her head back as he touched her. It was hot to watch her come so hard, but it didn’t last very long. Instead, he moved back, fingers wet and watched her breathing return to normal. Randallwanted more, but for now, he knew that was all he was going to get. It was going to have to be more than enough.
“That’s not fair, Randall. I didn’t get to touch you. Let me please you in the same way,” Page begged. She was still shaking with his pleasure, but she was asking for something more and that scared Randall. He wasn’t ready for that sort of attention and as soon as he saw what she was doing in response, it killed him even more. He was throbbing and didn’t think he had the control to let her touch him in the same way.
Page wasn’t going to take no for an answer though. She slid her hand down to the hard bulge that was in the front of his pants, and he grimaced with the pleasure and feeling that came over him. “Fuck, Page.”
She giggled at his foul mouth and reminded him that he was a potty mouth. “It’s been too long, Randall. I want to see all of you, taste you.”
