“We just need to take some precautions.”
There’s no reason to freak her out or piss her off more than she already is with the news that my father is targeting her because of me. Or that her father is the one who put that target squarely on her back. While I can’t stand my father, I believe she still has some love for hers, so I don’t want to shatter whatever image she has of him.
“If you want this to work between us, Florian, start telling me the truth. Am. I. In. Danger?”
I sigh deeply, carrying with it a mixture of frustration and resignation. She’s right. If I want this to really work between us, I can’t keep this from her.
“One of my warehouses was hit tonight. Two of the men involved said it was a distraction. You were the target.”
“What?” she shouts, her voice echoing through the room. “But we don’t even know each other. How do they know about me?”
I don’t want to tell her, but she has every right to know the truth. Whether her father knew what would happen, he’s the one who had to have leaked my plans of marrying his daughter to Olan.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she looks up at me, her long lashes framing her eyes. She’s beautiful. Her dancer’s body, the way her hair cascades down her back in tight coils, and even the angry glare she’s giving me add to the natural beauty she possesses.
I pull her back into my embrace, feeling the warmth of her body against mine. I brace myself for her resistance, but to my surprise, she eases into my arms. I don’t believe she even knows she’s doing it.
“Marrying you is a big step for me. So, my enemies know you’re important to me.”
“How am I important to you?” she asks with her brows furrowed. “We haven’t known each other long enough for that to be true.”
“You already know how important you are to me, and you in my arms like this is the only place you want to be, too. Eventually, you’ll admit it to me and to yourself.”
It’s the only place I want her to be.
I tighten my embrace around her waist because I know she’s not going to pull away from me. I’m enjoying her body being close to mine.
She stays silent for a moment, her breaths shallow and deliberate, like she’s trying to make sense of the chaos unfolding around us. She’s trying to make sense of why she can’t pull awayfrom me and how she can be having this kind of reaction to me even when we don’t know each other.
“It’s always going to be like this, isn’t it?” she asks, barely above a whisper. “Am I always going to be in danger?”
I lift her chin so I can look into her beautiful eyes. There’s no point in lying to her. She’ll know because now, her life is going to change. “No one will ever get near you, Arabelle. I promise. I’ll die before I let anyone harm you.”
“Don’t say things like that when you don’t even know me, Florian. I don’t want or expect you to die for me. I just want to know what’s going on.”
“I’ve known you a long time, Arabelle. You just didn’t know me.”
Before she can utter another word, I press my lips against hers, silencing any further questions or concerns. I’m not sure if she’s truly prepared to hear the entirety of my confession. Not yet anyway.
She doesn’t need to know that I’ve watched her while she slept. She doesn’t need to know I’ve watched her come. All she needs to know is that I’m hers, and she’s mine.
16
Arabelle
I’m floating.
As warmth floods my entire system, my body feels weightless, like it’s freely moving through the air. This kiss is unlike any I’ve ever experienced, leaving me breathless and craving more. I’ve never been kissed so passionately to where it feels like nothing else in the world matters, including the danger he’s put me in. This is the exact feeling I was looking for when Dale kissed me. The kind of kiss that has your toes curling in your shoes and butterflies erupting in your stomach.
Arousal surges through me as I rise onto my tiptoes, my fingers entwined in his smooth, silky hair, yearning to bring him closer.
The heat of desire consumes me, its flames licking at my skin with an insatiable intensity I’ve never experienced before. It’s like the world has stopped around me, and I’m doused in nothing but an intense craving for this man. A man I know nothing about.
I moan into his mouth, desperately trying to deepen our kiss, but he maintains complete control.
Oh my god. What the hell am I doing?
He just confessed that I’m a target for his enemies, and all I can think about is how soft his lips feel against mine. How magnificent his hand feels squeezing my throat, his cock brushing against me.
