He wouldn’t deny that his lips quirked into an ‘aw-shucks’ kind of smile.“Well, all that aside…”
“Things like love aside, huh?”she teased, and he laughed.
“Yeah, important things like that,” he mocked.“But I just never wanted you two to get too close.I know mamma always makes comments to me about you, so the last thing I needed was her spilling that kind of shit onto you, too.”
She frowned.“I could have handled it.”
“I’m sure you could.I just wasn’t sure if I could.”
She pondered that a second, then ran her fingers down his shoulder, along his arm, and grabbed his hand.“I meant it, you know?It’s time for a visit.When everything is cleared up, and I refuse to believe it won’t be soon because I’ll go insane if we have to maintain this level of security, then we’ll go down to see her.I’m already going to Canada to visit with Marc’s family, and then on to Holland for Trip’s.Why shouldn’t your family be along the way?”
“Because my mother isn’t going to be as accepting of you having four men?”
She patted his chest.“What Cindy doesn’t know doesn’t hurt her.And anyway, I’ll just tell her that I’m visiting her because otherwise I know you won’t leave my side.Such dedication merits reward.”Her smile was teasing, and he had to taste it.
She sighed into the kiss, sighed into him, her body goingbonelessagainst him until Ryan called out, “El?Where are you?We need to go over tonight’s schedule.”
This time, her sigh was loaded with regret.She let her lips drift over his in one last caress, then whispered, “I’d best go.Come with me?”
He nodded, reached for the hand she placed on his chest, and cupped his fingers about hers.Together, they wandered out of his room and found Ryan heading from hers.
When he saw them, he cocked a brow.“Sorry, did I disturb something?”
As always, it astonished him to realize there was no jealousy in his voice.Though Shawn was coming to terms with this new relationship he found himself in, and that was an understatement — he was tied to these four people in ways few humans would ever realize were possible, which meant the term relationship explained nothing — he did have trouble accepting they had rights to her as well.
Marc had offered to switch rooms, and he’d agreed, but in the end, had decided against it.Not only because it would have been a pain in the ass to move everything from one side of the house to the other for a totally petty reason, but also because he needed to get used to this unusual situation.He needed to be okay with El being with her other mates.
Fairness, for want of a better word, didn’t really come into it.
El hadn’t asked for this.Neither had he.It could be said it wasn’t fair on him that he had to grow accustomed to a situation he was totally uncomfortable with, totally unprepared for.But it wasn’t a sacrifice she was asking of him.He asked it of himself.
He wanted her.Needed her in his life.Even a pittance would be better than the relationship they’d had before when he’d been nothing more than a bodyguard to her.He’d meant it when he’d said he couldn’t have handled hearing more from his mother about her—nudges and winks were one thing, but Cindy would have gotten into the swing of things swiftly had El and she been able to chat freely.
But the truth was, though her attention was split four ways, he had much more than a pittance.Not a single day had passed since El had claimed him as hers that she hadn’t made him feel loved.
They never really spoke the words, never outright said ‘I love you’.Just as she hadn’t moments before—“I’ve loved you for nearly all the time I’ve known you,” she’d said.But in his mind, that wasn’t the same.
Far as he was aware, she hadn’t uttered those three words to anyone else either.But he understood that this wasn’t about love to her.Love to El was a different beast.She viewed it differently thanks to her family.Loyalty, caring, affection, tenderness, being willing to show one’s vulnerabilities, these were all things that weren’t present in her relationships with her family.And equally, they were traits that were vital to her now.
While that saddened him, he realized he had this unique foresight into her character where the others didn’t.
Though it made him feel petty, he was glad he’d had all these years with her.Those years were a gift, and he hadn’t been aware of it.But he was now.He wasn’t learning her like Ryan, Trip, or Marc.He knew her.Sure, she was changing.But not enough to become a completely different person.
The presence of the two cats inside her soul was making her more aggressive and more dominant, but the truth was, she needed that.For so long, she’d rolled over when her family had demanded it of her.And he’d hated that.She’d deserved so much more than to be her family’s lapdog, and though he’d always respected her grandfather, a part of him had loathed the other man for his mistreatment of his granddaughter.
These new aspects of her personality were coming at a great time.
When she married Ryan in a human ceremony, she would unlock other aspects of the trust fund.The rules her grandfather had set in place, meant there were milestones in her life where she would gain more power over the fund, and more power over her family as a result.The last thing Shawn wanted was for her to be manipulated or to be verbally and emotionally abused by the Forsythe-Drews when that happened.
And up until now, that had been very likely.El, where they were concerned, was like putty.No matter how many times they talked smack about her, treated her poorly, or were generally rude and ignorant towards her, she’d never managed to stand up for herself.
He was, he admitted to himself, looking forward to seeing her at a family dinner.She hadn’t been to the family home for a while, not for dinner, at any rate.Though his position as guard meant he wouldn’t be able to watch the action live, he could sit in the kitchen and hear from the rest of the staff.That in itself was always entertaining.
The family was not popular with its help.
Didn’t seem to be popular with anyone, really.They weren’t a likeable bunch, and their money was the only reason people tended to listen to them.So far as he’d always figured, at any rate.
El coughed out of breath when Ryan grumbled, “You have to recite the lines to me, El.Every time I try to catch you, you slip away.”
