‘I’m sure they’d rather you came home in the morning, safe and well-rested. You don’t want to worry them now, do you? Next time they might not be so happy about you going out in the first place.’
I shouldn’t be playing into all her insecurities like this, but if I’m sure about one thing this evening, given the way things have panned out, it’s that I’m damned if Niamh isn’t going to spend tonight right here in my bed. I don’t trust anyone else here to keep her as safe as I will, and as I don’t plan to do anything to harm her, why shouldn’t I take the opportunity to indulge myself with her company?
‘Did you bring a bag?’
She nods. ‘It’s downstairs. In the cloakroom.’ She bites her bottom lip and stares down at the floor embarrassed by the reminder of what happened earlier. ‘I’ll go and get it.’
She’s out the room before I can stop her, and the temptation to chase her is suddenly very real, and no matter whether I justify that to myself as ensuring that she’s okay, I know that most of my reasoning will be the thrill of the chase. I’ll stalk her, tire her out, build the anticipation of the moment when I catch her, watch as she surrenders to me…
I shake my head and sigh. Put away my shoes and hang up my jacket, unfastening my cufflinks, then undo the buttons on my shirt. Sometimes I yearn for the days when I was able to dress more casually, but as I’m now solely responsible for running our family businesses, including both Elliots and The Three Graces, I have to be projecting the right image in public. Rose will contribute more to the family businesses once she graduates but I want her to focus on her studies for now. We need a reliable lawyer on the team as our current lawyer is talking about retiring.
I strip off my remaining clothes, either hanging them neatly over my chair or dropping them in the laundry basket. I usually sleep naked but that’s not an option tonight, so reluctantly I pull on a pair of grey joggers. A sharp intake of breath alerts me to Niamh’s presence. If I thought she was blushing before, then this is next level. She stares at me from the bedroom door, open-mouthed at my bare chest, and hastily takes a step back, swiftly closing the door.
‘Sorry,’ she squeaks from the other side of the door. I grin, doubting she’s ever going to open that door again voluntarily, so I cross to open it. On the way, I catch sight of my bare chest in the mirror and the way the stark black of my tattoos stands out against my skin tone in this light. I glance back into my room, frowning when I think I might have caught a glimpse of Vittoria’s face in the mirror, but there’s no sign of anything other than my own bedroom when I recheck the mirror. Fuck me, I’m tired and just want today to be over.
‘I’m sorry,’ Niamh squeaks again when I open the door. ‘I’m in your way. I should go.’
‘No.’ I reach for her, the smooth bare skin of her arm warm in my hand. I slide my fingers further up her arm, loving the feel of her, but stop when I realise she’s staring at me, curious but fearful. She hasn’t given me permission to touch her, and without that I won’t take this any further. I’d rather my partners were trembling because they want to be touched, not because they don’t. ‘Please stay. You’re safer here tonight.’
‘Okay’—she nods, her tone becomes more confident as she says—‘but you weren’t massively keen on me being here earlier, so what’s changed?’
Should I tell her that Chris was setting her up? That should really frighten her, not all the men here know where to draw the lines of consent and most will obey Chris without hesitation.
‘My sister shouldn’t have abandoned you like that.’
‘It’s okay.’ She shrugs, her skin moving under my touch, and I swear I feel her shiver before she pulls her arm away from my touch. I like that she does. It’s just one tiny rebellion. ‘She really likes Matt. I don’t want to get in her way.’
‘Come and get some rest. I’m not going to do anything to you without your consent.’
I smile as her eyes widen and I guide her to the bed, trying to subtly adjust my joggers before she notices just how my body is responding to touching hers. And if I’m responding like this to touching her arm, what would it be like if— I let her go. I’m so very, very tempted. And she’s interested, I can tell, but as she looks up at me, her eyes wide and guileless, I’m reminded once again of how young she is.
Even with her consent, I shouldn’t touch her. She has no idea about the world my sister has introduced her to, and I plan to keep it that way. What the fuck was Rose thinking inviting her here tonight? She’s not one of us, not one of the Kinfolk.
‘But I can’t?—’
‘Don’t argue,’ I say. ‘You won’t win.’
‘What will your girlfriend think if I stay here? And where are you going to sleep?’
‘She will understand, and I’m not going to sleep. I have work to do.’ I resist the urge to brush my fingers through the hair on her temple. ‘But I will make sure no one else bothers you. I have a responsibility to make sure you’re safe as long as you’re under my roof. I run several prominent bars in town and have a reputation to uphold. The newspapers would have a field day reporting that I allowed a young woman to leave my home at this hour, drunk, only for her to be accosted on the way home. Besides’—I aim for a rueful grin, hoping that will win her over—‘Rose would never forgive me.’
‘What would the newspapers say about you keeping me a prisoner in your bedroom instead?’ Her hand covers her mouth as soon as she finishes speaking, but I grin at her, pleased to see the spark I sense within her starting to burn.
‘Not a prisoner. A guest.’
I smile at her and she relaxes. I know fine well I could just order Aiden to drive her home but I’m not going to, and while my body has decided it wants her, regardless of all the reasons why it is a fucking terrible idea, I’m not going to pass up the chance to get to know this woman who intrigues me so much a little better.
‘You can change in the en suite,’ I say, with a smile.
I sit down on the other side of the bed and pick up my tablet, opening it to tonight’s reports from Elliots and The Three Graces.
When she thinks my attention is on my work, she opens her bag, then scurries past me with her pyjamas. The information on my tablet is meaningless since all I can think about is her undressing on the other side of the en suite door. Vittoria and I have been together for so long that I’ve forgotten what the thrill of lust really feels like. My girlfriend might match me with her power and dark fantasies, but I can’t deny the fact my attraction to her has never been as strong as it is for the young woman currently in my house.
The delicate satin camisole and shorts she’s wearing leave little to the imagination and from the look on her face, she’s wishing she had brought something more demure with her tonight. The thin fabric stretches across her breasts, her cleavage visible and her puckered nipples pebbling into hard points. I’ve barely said three sentences to her and I’m already imagining all the ways to bring her pleasure. I run my tongue across my lips, barely able to control my want as I feel myself harden. Thank fuck I thought to put loose joggers on, although they’ll do little to disguise my full girth and length. Niamh’s legs are pale and slender and if I don’t push each and every thought of having them wound around my waist while I fuck her until she can’t remember her own name out of my head, then I’m going to do exactly that. Right here, right now.
She crosses back to her bag and this time I get a view of her toned buttocks, barely covered by her shorts. I watch her in the mirror, imagining bending her over the chest of drawers, watching as I slide my thigh between hers to part her legs, spreading her in front of me to fuck. How I could bend down and plunge my tongue inside her wet pussy as she begs me for more?—
‘Why are you doing this?’ she asks again, jolting me from my thoughts.
