AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nina
It’s been days with Simon and while it’s been amazing getting lost in the sheets with him, I need to get home. I’ve already missed the Christmas festival and the tree-lighting ceremony. I’ve had Fern, Fawn, and Merry text me wanting to know where I’ve been— nosy little old women.
Plus, Zach, the other worker at Pride Sanctuary can’t take care of all the lions by himself.
Being with Simon has been a dream come true. I love being able to get to know the man he is today. He still holds so many characteristics as he did as a teenager.
I swing my legs over the edge of the bed to get up.
“Where are you going?” he grumbles, rubbing his hand down my back.
“The real world awaits,” I say, standing and taking a step away from him. I need to distance myself. I’ve been heartbroken by him before; I’ll be able to live through it again. It will be hard, but I’ll survive. “I need to get home and back to the sanctuary.”
“Stay here,” he adds as he sits up. The blanket falls to his waist, showing all that damn muscle again. Even with the ache in my body from all the amazing sex we have had, I still want more. “Be with me here.”
I turn my head over my shoulder and give him a smile. “I can’t do that, Simon. As wonderful as that would be, I love Mistletoe Creek. I love the lions. Why don’t you come home? Come back with me.”
His eyes drift from mine and I know the answer before he even has time to open his mouth.
I shake my head. “I don’t know why you’re afraid to come home.”
“Because I’ve been a ghost. They don’t need me there. I don’t deserve to be there after what I did to my dad.”
“Simon.” I turn to face him, taking his hand. “That was an accident. You can’t blame yourself forever. It wasn’t your fault at all. It was a terrible thing. We could say if you were home, he wouldn’t have gotten in that accident, or maybe he would have anyway. You have to stop beating yourself up about it. People need you. I need you, your mom, the sanctuary. You are so missed, and I know your dad would want more for you than living a life alone.”
He lets out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know, but the town is fine without me—“
My frustration with him explodes. I wrap the sheet around my body and stand. “We aren’t fine without you. Stop convincing yourself of that! The sanctuary is hanging on by a thread, Simon. Don’t you care at all? We are running out of basic life necessities we need for the cats. The surrounding land has been bought by your maddening uncle! He is slowly creeping in so he can make an apartment complex called Sunlight Apartments. He is closing in and at this point, it’s only a matter of time before—“
”—What the hell do you mean he has the land surrounding the sanctuary?“ He rolls out of bed, not bothering to cover himself.
“He’s been wanting to buy the land and he’s been trying to push us out. It’s working. With money running low—“
”—Fuck him. I hate him. There’s no way I’ll let my father’s legacy go. He came to see me the other day—“
”—He was here? What did he want?”
“He wanted to show me my father’s will. He offered a few million for the sanctuary and I wasn’t going to give it to him, but there is a stipulation in the will I’ve never seen before. It says I have until the ten year anniversary of my father’s death to accept the inheritance or everything defaults to my uncle.”
I rear back, looking at Simon as if I don’t even know him. “You knew. You knew he wanted the sanctuary and yet you were going to do nothing? You were going to let it default, weren’t you? For what? For guilt? Ruin so many lives just so you can feel better about yourself?”
He doesn’t button his jeans before running around the bed, holding my arms to keep me in place. “I won’t lie to you, I thought about it. I thought about finally letting it all go, hoping that maybe I’d feel better about myself, but then he brought you into it, and I wasn’t going to allow it. I was going to go home, claim the inheritance, then give it all to you and my mom.”
“Me? But I don’t want any of it without you,” I admit, more tears gathering in my eyes. “I stayed at the sanctuary for as long as I did hoping you’d come back. I waited for you to walk through the sanctuary doors every day.”
He wraps his arms around me, kissing the top of my head. “I’m going to because I can’t be away from you again.” He leans back, brushing the hair from my face, and I can’t help but smile at him.
“Really? You’ll come back? For how long?”
“With you? Forever, Sweet Girl.”
I wrap my arms around his neck, squealing with excitement. “Oh, everyone will be so happy to see you! Fawn, Fern, and Merry for sure. Oh, there is the gingerbread house contest and the masquerade ball we can go to. The lions will be so happy to see you.” I speak fast, too excited for my own good.
He grins in return but rocks his hips against me, his hard cock digging into my stomach. How he can still get hard is impressive. That fucking hand wraps around my throat just as he tilts his head. “Do you think I’m going to let you out of bed long enough to do any of those things?”
“What if I want to do those things?”
Another growl vibrates his chest. “I guess I could manage but when those events are done, you’re mine, Sweet Girl.”
