“Okay.”Enclosed in the sanctuary of his arms, my eyes fell closed.“I can do that, Sir.”
“Well done.”His tone washed over me like soothing, warm water.“And how about being my good girl?Can you do that, too?”
“Of course.”I stretched an arm around him.“I’ll be good, and if I’m not, I know you’ll deal with that, too.”
My pussy clenched at the memory of the delectable ways he managed those situations.I’d never known discipline could be so fucking sexy until it had worn Harper’s handsome face.
“Yes, I will.”His laughter wrapped around me like a comforting hug, every inch as reassuring as his strong arms.“You never need to worry on that score.In fact, I don’t want you worrying at all.”
I tilted my head back to meet his big, blue eyes.“It might take a while for me to not worry at all, Sir.”
“I know.”Sympathy flashed in his eyes.“I know how much Fortorus fucked you up, and I accept that I’m to blame for that, but please, trust me to help make this right.”
“I do.”My hand shifted to press gently on his abs.“I trust you completely.”
A satisfied silence settled over us, and whatever trepidation lingered waned with the security of his embrace.He was right.Whatever happened, things would be okay because we were together.We’d found each other, and we were eminently stronger as a couple than we were apart.
“The agreement we signed with Fabian ends in a couple of days.”He stroked the back of my head as he broke the contented hush.“Which means we either need to find somewhere new to stay or ask for another short-term lease while we await your documentation.”
“How long might the documentation take?”I traced my fingers along his dark hair, enjoying the way it tickled my palm.
“It’s difficult to say.Maybe another couple of weeks.I’m thinking it might be better to stay where we are for now.”
“Yes.”Staring into his eyes, I could still see the face of the man in charge of Fortorus, yet in the light of the bedroom, those hard edges were smoother.Being together had revealed a different side to the commander general, but in truth, he was still such an enigma.I was head over heels for the man, yet I knew virtually nothing about him.“I agree.We’re settled here, and if we stick around, we can try that Italian restaurant we saw down the road.”
“Good thinking.”His lips curled.“It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed fresh pasta.Maybe we should head to Italy next.Have you ever been?”
“No.”I stifled my disappointed chuckle.“It was always on my list to travel to, but then...shit happened.”
“Yeah.”He swallowed, presumably knowing what ‘shit’ I referred to.“So, let’s go to Italy together.”
“To Venice?”I couldn’t help but grin at the idea.I’d wanted to visit the city since I was a kid.“I’ve heard it’s very romantic.”
“Yes, to Venice.”Tugging my hand to his face, he kissed the tips of my fingertips.“And Sorrento, and Rome.Wherever you want to go, little girl.”
The life of travel and frivolity he described sounded too good to be true.Not only would I be free, but I’d be with the man I adored, and we’d be able to go wherever we chose in Europe.I could hardly imagine that version of myself.Amidst the happy possibility, I remembered Fern, and Jean, and all the other women who hadn’t been so lucky.Maybe I’d never know why I’d been the one thrust into such an amazing and contrasting lane, but there and then, I vowed to make the most of the opportunities Harper had gifted me.I owed it, not only to him for taking such huge risks for me and giving up everything he’d ever known, but to Fern and the others, for the lives they’d never get to live.
“Do you speak Italian, too?”I ran my thumb over his stubbly chin.Even with the new razor he’d bought, he still wasn’t clean-shaven, and I wasn’t sorry for his choice.Over the days we’d been forced into ‘hiding’, I’d grown to love his impromptu beard.
“Un po’.”Mustering his best Italian accent, he winked at me.
“Which means?”
I shook my head, still unable to fathom how many languages he knew.Wherever he’d gone to school, his education had clearly been better than mine.His vast knowledge base was only another example of something in his life I knew absolutely nothing about.
“A little.”His lips curled.
“Can I ask you a question, Sir?”If I was going to inquire about his past, there was no better moment than the current one.
“Anotherquestion?”
He arched one of those delicious eyebrows at me, and I wished I could have said I was immune to its impact, but that would have been a lie.Even after so many weeks of weaponizing the gesture against me, its effect was instantaneous, pooling heat between my legs.
“Please.”My hand slipped to his nape.“I just know so little about who you were before Fortorus.I’m besotted with a man I scarcely even know.”
His brow rose, suggesting he hadn’t been expecting that line of questioning.“What do you want to know, little girl?”
“What did you do, Sir?”
