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Dad’s face turns redder and redder as his hands clench into fists and he snarls, gritting his teeth as he glares at me. I wait for his anger, for his foul repulsive words and when they don’t come I brace myself for violence. He’s never hit me, not the way he lashed out at Tally, but I’ve also never seen him look as furious as he does now.
One of the other directors clears his throat and I remember there’s other people in the room, it’s not just me and my dad, and no matter how much he might want to, he can’t attack me in a room full of his former colleagues and my family.
“Fucking cunt,” he hisses at me, then he turns, barging past Greg and out of the conference room.
“Our father, ladies and gentlemen,” Tally says quietly from my side.
Sitting back down I lift my chin and glance to Carson, then back to the people in front of us. “Gentlemen it’s been a pleasure meeting you, I’m sorry about that little scene, but we appreciate your support and we look forward to working with you in the future.”
Wats stands up and the rest of us follow suit, moving from behind the desks for the first time and stepping out to shake hands with the directors of the company we now own.
* * *
“Did you see his face?” Tally asks, for the fifth time since we said goodbye to the last of the Archibald Inc staff and left the hotel.
“We saw, little ghost, we recorded it too, just like you wanted,” Arlo tells her, ruffling her hair as he pulls her to him and presses a kiss to the side of her neck.
“How do you feel?” Carson asks me quietly, as the others laugh and joke about my father’s reaction to losing his job.
“Honestly, a little numb,” I say, turning around to look at him, eagerly moving into his embrace when he opens his arms for me.
“It’s not over yet, this was all just part one,” he laughs darkly.
“Would it be weird if I got a screenshot of that look on his face and blew it up and put it on the wall?” Tally asks loudly.
A soft chuckle falls from my lips and I close my eyes and smile, just listening to the sounds of the others around me. “Maybe a little weird,” I say, not moving from my position all snuggled against Carson’s crisp white shirt. “How bout we get it framed and send it to him for Christmas?”
Carson’s chest vibrates with rumbling laughter, his arms gripping me a little tighter. “Evil,” he whispers against my head.
“You love it.”
“Yes I do,” he agrees, prying me from his chest to roughly kiss me.
“Get a room,” Olly jeers.
“We have one,” Carson replies, pulling back as he flips his middle finger up playfully in Olly’s direction. “And on that note, I think I’m gonna take my fiancé home, this power suit is turning me the fuck on,” he laughs.
“We’ll swing by and pick you guys up at seven,” Arlo says.
“I wish we were gonna be there to see their face’s,” Wats pout. “Please, Crueligan, let us come watch you guys obliterate your parents.”
“If it were up to me, I’d let you come,” I tell him.
“No, it’s just the four of us tonight,” Arlo snaps. “It’s time to go and see good ole Mom and Dad,” he laughs.
Carson holds out his hand, and I place my palm against his, loving the warmth and comfort just this one innocuous touch from him can elicit. Lifting our joined hands into the air he motions for me to twirl and I giggle, twirling beneath his arm as he walks us toward the exit doors.
“Come on my queen, let’s go back to the castle and chill out for a few hours before we have to face the evil beasts,” he says playfully.
“Yes, my king, take me home,” I laugh, stopping and pushing up onto my tiptoes to claim his lips with mine. So many times he reminds me that I’m his, but for once I can’t help telling the world that he’s just as much mine.
Instead of taking control of the kiss, he lets me take charge, mirroring my actions and letting me kiss him however I want. Starting off slow I move my lips against his, tasting his skin before I part his mouth with my tongue. Sweet heat fills me as I deepen our connection, caressing his tongue with my own, losing myself to the way it feels to be in his arms, to be pressed so close together that I can feel the way his heart is beating against my chest. My eyes are closed, but it wouldn’t matter because in his arms nothing and no one else exists. It feels like a lifetime ago that I thought love was just a feeling other people got, one that I’d never be burdened with. My life was planned out, each step orchestrated and considered before any action was taken.
Sex, marriage, touch, kissing, I was taught that it was all just a tool, a means to an end, but my mom was wrong, so truly wrong. If I hadn’t woken up to how wrong me and my parents were, I could have been forced into a loveless marriage with a man who saw me as nothing more than a very expensive meal ticket.
Carson groans and all thoughts evaporate from my mind, blowing away into the ether where all bad dreams end up. Heat courses across my back as his arms band a little tighter around my waist, forcing my body so close not even a hairs breath separates us. His tongue becomes a little more demanding, stroking and teasing me, taunting me to up the ante or allow him to take over.
I could fight him for dominance, but why, he doesn’t want me to cower, he wants me to allow him to help me fly. Carson Windsor saved me. He rescued me from my life, my demons, my own self loathing, he is everything, and after today he’ll be the only thing that matters.
