The woman has managed to do literally the impossible – escape my music for ten years solid. The enormity of what she’s telling me hits me like a truck.
She didn’t simply happen to escape it. She must have deliberately avoided it. Which reminds me, I still have something for her, and whether she needs it or not, it’s only right. I’m sidetracked once again by the bigger bombshell she just dropped.
‘Is that why we have to listen to that dull jazz on repeat all through the castle? For fear of hearing anything that might remind you of me? Did you seriously hate me that much?’
She gently shakes her head, her emerald eyes slant towards mine. ‘It wasn’t because I hated you.’ She bites her lower lip. ‘It was because I loved you. And the hurt was unbearable.’
Crushing her into my chest, I repeatedly kiss her head, her face, anywhere I can reach. ‘Sweetheart, I am so fucking sorry. But if you’d have listened, you would have known. “The Mark You Made” is entirely about you. You should listen to it, then you’ll never doubt me again.’
She takes a drink from her glass before placing it on the adjacent side table. Floating towards the middle of the hot tub to face me, she grabs both my hands, pulling me into the middle with her. ‘Sing it to me.’
‘What, now?’ For some reason I’m oddly shy. I’ve sung this song a million times before, yet this is different. It’s about her. And it bears my soul.
‘No time like the present.’ She winks.
‘Hmm.’ I’m stalling for time. ‘The one person in this world who has actively avoided my music, now wants a front row seat. You know people normally pay a lot of money for tickets to my concerts. What do you think it’s worth for private show of your own?’
Her palm pushes my chest. ‘Cat got your tongue? Don’t go getting all shy on me now, Ryan-Rockstar-Cooper.’
At least we’ve finally lost the runaway bit.
‘I’m not shy, I just think you need to work for it.’ My lips curl into a grin as my hands find her bum under the water, pulling her towards me.
‘Is that right? If anyone has to work for anything round here, I think it’s you.’
‘I’ll do you a deal. Come to Vegas with me in a couple of weeks and I’ll sing that song just for you.’ Gripping a thigh in each hand, my fingers blaze a trail upwards and her head rolls back as she sighs.
‘No deal.’
I slide my hands back towards her knees and a disappointed sigh clouds the air between us.
‘Please. I’d love you to come.’ My eyes silently plead with her.
She rolls them straight back at me and shimmies herself onto my quads and wriggles suggestively. ‘I’d love to come.’
From the lust-filled look in her dilating pupils, I gather she’s no longer talking about Vegas, but I’m not ready to give up yet.
‘Then make a deal with me. Come to Vegas, I’ll sing for you, and the rest…’ I purposefully glide my hands upwards again, this time allowing my fingers to find her sensitive spots.
‘I want to come.’ Her eyes glaze over as a gasp slips from those deliciously full lips. I pause what I’m doing, anticipating there’s a “but” coming.
‘But what about the castle? And the upcoming ball? What about Victoria?’ She sighs again.
‘She’s almost eighteen.’ I continue teasing her, driving her closer to the edge.
‘Almost.’
My fingers slide into her, desperate to feel her release on me. ‘Think about it.’ My mouth silences hers, before she remembers her initial request.
I want her in Vegas with me. Not just because three nights without her feels like the worst kind of torture, but because I want to show the world my woman. And show my woman, she is my world.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
SASHA
9thDecember
The press are still wild with speculation surrounding Ryan’s mysterious brunette, though they haven’t caught sight of either of us since. Primarily because we’ve been hiding out in places where our limbs can be permanently entangled.
