His to use and his to love.
I’d never been happier.
***
“HERE YOU GO, BEAUTIFUL.”Delivering the hot cup of tea to my bedside, his dark hair fell past his eyes as he took a seat on the covers next to me.Staring at the man who’d changed everything, I still couldn’t believe how fucking attractive he was.His hair was starting to gray around his temples, making him even hotter in my opinion, and somehow, he still had a body more frequently seen on a man half his age.“You need to stay hydrated.”
“Thank you, Sir.”Stretching back on my pillow, I let out a comforted sigh.“Are you coming back to bed?”
We’d spent the last hour cuddling between the sheets after we’d made it back to our feet, and while I appreciated him taking care of me, I missed the warmth of his body beside mine.
“Miss me, do you?”His tone was sardonic.
“Always.”It was the truth.I never quite felt safe anymore unless he was at my side.
“Caroline.”My name was a sigh on his lips.“I hope you know I’ll never leave you.I don’t know how I ever got by without you.”
“I hope you never find out again.”I crawled from the covers, closing the short distance to where he was sitting.“I don’t want to be without you, either.”
“You won’t be.”He wrapped a protective arm around me, already easing me backward onto the covers, and I went with him gladly, happy to entwine my legs around his torso.“I promise.”
“You promise?”I grazed my fingers through the strands of his hair, revealing more of that sexy gray.
I couldn’t recall seeing so much of the silver when we’d met at Fortorus, but perhaps it had been the whirlwind of encountering me, leaving his command, and needing to smuggle us both out of the country that had provoked the growth.I smirked at the thought.It was oddly reassuring to know I’d sent his life into a spin.Twirling the gray strands around my fingertip, I realized the silver might always have been there, but not being allowed to touch him had meant I just hadn’t noticed.
“You know it.”He smiled as my fingers tugged at his tresses.
“So...no regrets then, Sir?”
I reached up to brush a kiss over his lips, relishing the tender moments we shared every inch as much as the carnal ones.Affection had been missing at the camp for obvious, vicious reasons, but ever since we’d shared how we felt about the other, I’d begun to see the softer, more caring side of my lover; the man who’d hidden behind the regime’s brutality.
“About this?”His gaze rose to the room around us.“About being here?”
“About me.”
“No fucking chance.”He swooped, claiming my mouth while he pinned me to the bed, and for one blissful moment, there was only him.No past, no future, and no concerns about either—nothing but the feeling of his mouth on mine, and the insistent electric pull between us.Suspended in time, I trusted in that feeling, accepting it was all I truly needed.“I’ll never change my mind about us, little girl.”
“Whatever happens, I don’t want you to ever forget how thankful I am that you saved me.”I sensed our perfect bubble of bliss was fading, as though speaking had tainted the sensation somehow.
The weight of all the potential future scenarios awaiting us landed on me again, the rush of the uncertainty spiking fresh anxiety.I was out of Fortorus, and as safe as I’d been since his old friends had taken control of Britain, but there was still a wall of ambiguity where our happily ever after should have been.
Even with the document he promised and the security his money bought, we didn’t know where we’d end up living, or how life would pan out once we made a home there.Harper had told me he’d take care of me, but I couldn’t really allow him to pay for everything.At some point, I’d have to get myself together and stand on my own two feet.I’d have to—
“Hey.”He rolled to one side and propped himself up on his elbow.“You’re welcome, but I’d hoped being saved would have inspired a little more happiness.”He gestured to my presumably bleak expression.“You look like you’re on the verge of tears.”
“I’m just thinking.”I smiled, bemused at how well he could read me.Living on my own for years before the world had fallen down meant I wasn’t used to having someone around who gave a shit.
“Worrying, more like.”He sighed, tugging me closer to where his muscular body was stretched out beside me.Naked from the waist up, he looked like one of the guys I’d only previously seen on billboards.“Stop overthinking.The future will take care of itself, and I’m here to take care of you.”
“It’s too much to ask of you.”I went to him gladly, burying my head against his chest.There was such comfort in the somatic experience, in knowing there was somewhere real I could finally rest my head.
“But you didn’t ask,” he corrected.“I’m telling you.”
“So, that’s another command then, Sir?”I kissed his soft chest hair, relieved to relinquish control of the apprehension.
After so long having no say about what happened to me, I’d thought grasping back control of my life would exhilarate me, but oddly, I’d been wrong.Stripped of all my rights and possessions, I had nothing to offer the new world I found myself dropped into, so, for the time being at least, there was no choice but to depend on my dark protector.Fortunately for me, he required no more than my love, trust, and submission; three things I’d already happily given him.
“Definitely.”He pressed a caress on my crown.“I just need you to keep talking to me, okay?”
