Page 110 of Unwritten Rules

A bang of thunder draws us from our cocoon, and a flash of lightning illuminates the lake outside as though it’s the middle of the afternoon, not the late hours of the evening.

“You should have known, Hellcat.”

His arms tighten around me, and my stomach dips when he speaks again.

“You should have told me, baby.”

“I—I’m so sorry.” I drop my head onto his shoulder, unable and unwilling to look at him. Fearful of the judgement his gaze would undoubtedly hold.

He palms the back of my neck, gently forcing me to look up. When I meet his eyes, I’m shocked to see them glistening with unshed tears.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, baby. It’s my fault.” His voice is choked, and a tear tracks down his cheek, disappearing into his facial hair. “If I’d not been such a fucking idiot back in Devon, if I’d been honest with you and myself, then he would never have been able to take advantage of your frame of mind.”

“You don’t think I’m disgusting? After what I did…”

My eyes fill with tears, a single one spilling over my lashes and streaking down my cheek.

His embrace tightens. “Never. Ever. You are perfect.”

He leans forward and pecks my cheek, my heart swelling when I realise he’s kissed away my tear.

“I’m an idiot for trying to stop this from happening.” His eyes darken as he continues. “And Jameson’s an idiot if he thinks he’ll get away with what he did.”

A shiver goes up my spine at the tone in Nate’s voice, but he doesn’t give me a minute to question it. Instead, he brings our mouths together and kisses me long and slow until my bones turn to jelly in his arms.

He chuckles when he deposits me atop the blankets, directly by the fire, and whilst he potters in the direction of the kitchen, I pull my hair from its messy, more down than up style that I’d left in from earlier.

When he returns, having replaced the towel with some underwear, he’s carrying a tray with food and drink. I watch him, knowing my adoration is showing plainly on my face, while finger-combing the long strands beside the fire in an attempt to dry my locks.

He places the tray on the floor nearby and then sinks onto the blankets at my back, tugging me back against his chest so I’m safely ensconced between his long legs stretched out on either side of my body.

Once I’m settled firmly against him, I tilt my head and look up to find his brow is deeply creased, his eyes sorrowful.

“What’s the matter?”

Nate heaves a heavy sigh before he speaks, and my body stiffens at his words.

“We need to talk to your brother in the morning, Mila.”

I drop my eyes from his and face the lake where another flash of lightning has lit up the night.

“No.”

“Hellcat, we need—”

“I said no, Nathaniel. Let that be the end of it. Don’t ruin this moment.”

I look back at him, and he opens his mouth to debate his point, but I beat him to it.

“Nathaniel Hawthorne, for a smart man, you really are quite silly. Don’t you see? Once we tell my brother, there’ll be a mountain of entirely unnecessary drama.”

He grimaces and tips his head in acknowledgement of the facts. Henry will undoubtedly have a shit fit when we tell him.

“Let’s take a couple of days to be just us without the world knowing. Just a handful of moments before everyone weighs in with their worthless two cents. Can you give me this, please?”

His lip twitches before he drops a chaste peck on my upturned mouth.

Resting his forehead on mine, he rubs our noses together as he gazes into my eyes, looking straight into my very soul.