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He’d wanted to fight me, wanting me to rest at the first place we saw, but once I explained my aversion to it, his jaw clenched, and he nodded once, not speaking again as he kept driving. But he held my hand the entire time, his grip firm as if he didn’t want to let me go.
So here we were, in a hotel so fancy I felt out of place. Hell, the bathrooms had plush, expensive-feeling robes and little bottles of shampoo and conditioner with French-sounding names I couldn't pronounce.
I thought back to when we got to the hotel and made our way out of the car, noticing Cian grabbing a large black duffel that looked heavy. I hadn’t missed the metal-on-metal clanking sound that had come from the inside of that bag and knew instantly it was weapons. Maybe it should have terrified me, but it didn’t. In fact, it made me feel safe, knowing Cian had the means to take care of us in the only way we could with the people who wanted to hurt and maim.
I was wrapped in a plush white robe as I sat in the center of a massive bed. I’d taken a shower not long ago, and my hair was damp and curling at the ends, the scent of lavender and vanilla in my nose further calming me.
Cian had gotten a first-aid kit and insisted on tending to my wounds, and although I had a messed up ankle, and my headwound would take time to heal, the rest was pretty superficial. I was sore and achy, but nothing was broken. I knew I’d be really sore over the next few days, but despite all of that, I had a euphoric feeling. Cian and I were alive, and right now we were safe. I could breathe.
“Open for me,” he said in his gruff voice that shouldn’t have turned me on after the night we’d had, but I found my body softening, becoming wet between my thighs, my nipples puckering underneath the plush robe.
I opened my mouth and took the piece of fruit he offered between his fingers. Our gazes held as I took that small red piece of strawberry from him, my lips gently brushing against his thumb and forefinger. I didn’t miss how his jaw tensed, or how his eyes subtly flashed with his desire, his nostrils flaring as if he could pick up the scent of my arousal. But he didn’t say anything about it, didn’t act on it.
And once again, despite the night we’d had and intimacy being the last thing that should’ve been on my mind, all I could think about was being with Cian. I couldn’t think of anything more freeing, nothing that would make me feel more alive, than being with the man who was irrevocably mine… the man I loved.
When he went to offer me another piece of fruit, I gently curled my fingers around his thick wrist, smiling as I shook my head. “I’m full. You took care of me completely.” I could see the way his face softened as I said those words and knew that to him, seeing me comfortable and well taken care of by his hand was a pleasure in itself. He was proud about that.
He set the tray that room service had brought over on the bedside table and moved fully back so he was resting against the headboard. And then he opened his arms, urging me without saying a word to come to him.
I eagerly moved across the bed and settled against his side, my hand on the hard, rolling plains of his abdomen, my head resting on a pectoral muscle. He enveloped me with his big, strong arms and buried his nose in my hair. I heard him inhale deeply, and closed my eyes, awareness and something deep and satisfying, warm and loving filling me.
We stayed like that for long moments, the silence a heavy, comfortable balm surrounding me. I felt drowsiness start to claim me, that cloak of sleep taking me away. I fought it, blinking rapidly because I didn’t want this moment to end, where I was wrapped in Cian’s arms and where nothing could touch us.
“I want tae take ye back tae Scotland.” His low but deeply accented voice roused me, and I blinked a few times, adjusting myself so I could tilt my head back and look into his face.
There was a softness in his eyes, and the small smile he gave me, the one that gently curved the corner of his mouth, had my heart fluttering. How could it be possible to feel something so strong for someone so soon after meeting them? I felt like I’d asked myself that so many times since Cian had come into my life.
How did I get so lucky to have a man like him by my side?
“I want tae take ye back there tae ensure yer safety.” The way he looked at me and the tone of his voice told me there was more he had to say. “And then I’m going tae come back here and help Odhran find his mate… just like he came here tae help me find ye.”
I was already shaking my head before he even finished. “We just found each other, reunited. I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want you to leave me.” He cupped my face, and it took everything in me not to close my eyes and just absorb the feeling of him holding me.
“Mo ghràidh, I don’t want tae leave ye. That’s the last thing I want.” His voice was firm, adamant.
I could tell how much he wanted me to trust and understand—to believe those words. I knew how much he needed me to.
“But it’s no’ safe for ye here, and I will no’ put yer life in jeopardy.” He rested his head back on the wall, his eyes focusing on something straight ahead. “No’ having ye by my side, even if I kno’ ye’re safe, even if I kno’ I’m coming back tae ye, it’s like somebody ripping out my heart.” He looked over at me, his head moving slowly. “Dramatic, I kno’, but the truth nonetheless.”
“I’m not leaving your side. I’ll stay here with you. I’ll help you.” The smile he gave me was soft, respectful, as if he was proud I was willing to step up. But I could also see the disapproval on his face, the denial that he would not allow me to do that. “Please,” I whispered. “I don’t want to be left alone. I don't want that for you either. I don’t want to be without you.”
Once again I was struck with the monumental feeling of how true and right those words felt.“I'm not leaving you,” I said again, harder, firmer this time. “You’re mine as I’m yours, so this is my fight too.” I rose slightly and rolled my shoulders back. “I’ll stand by your side to take down the people who are hurting what is now a part of my life.” I stared deeply, sincerely into his eyes, hoping he felt my words. “Odhran protected me with his life, and I’ll fight for him too.”
Cian reached out and smoothed a finger along my cheek, his smile warm and… proud.
“God, how did I survive without ye?”
My heart jumped in my chest. “You’ll never have to know what that’s like again, because you’re mine, and I’m yours.”
“Forever.”
I nodded at the fierce words that came from him, and whispered, “Forever.”
“Ye’ll never be without me. Never.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, his mouth firm but soft.
I could tell the kiss was to seal that promise and not to start something more heated. That was clear by the tightness in his body as he attempted to control himself and pull away.
But didn’t he know I needed him right now?
