Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“Mum’s paying for her own ticket, as expected, but I told her we would pay for Finn.”
I snapped my lips shut, realizing I said ‘we’ again.
Slowly, Lorcan’s mouth pulled into the shadow of a smile, almost a smirk, but a bit softer. “We?”
“It’s your money, so you, of course.”
“But you said ‘we’.”
I had, and I wasn’t sure why my mind seemed so ready to accept my bond with Lorcan again. When I was sent back to Dublin, I thought—rather hoped—I could return to my old life and repress all memories from New York and my time with Lorcan. Obviously, that didn’t happen.
I shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but for a man like Lorcan, small slips of the tongue weren’t nothing. In his business, he had to pay attention to every small detail to read his opponent. And my need for him after the attack had probably been a pretty good indicator of my emotional state when it came to him too.
I suppressed a yawn, but I could barely keep my eyes open. It had been a long and emotionally draining forty-eight hours.
“Go to bed,” Lorcan ordered. I reached for my bowl. “Just get ready for bed. I’ll handle it.”
I smiled slightly. “You mean throw it in the sink for me to put in the dishwasher tomorrow morning?”
He cocked an eyebrow and motioned at his countertops. “Do you see any dirty dishes? I kept this apartment clean for a decade before you.”
“Then why didn’t you while I was here?”
He chuckled. “I guess I wanted to see your domestic side, and it was nice to be taken care of for a change.”
His words held honesty even if they were spoken with little emotion.
“You mean you liked to be serviced.”
Lorcan reacted exactly as expected. “Oh, I enjoy being serviced by you in all kinds of ways.”
The look in his eyes caused a shiver to pass over my back at, but I wasn’t sure if I could, if I should allow physical closeness now. I quickly rose to my feet. “I’m getting ready for bed now.”
Lorcan didn’t say anything, but I could feel his gaze follow me all the way to the bedroom. Once settled, I realized it was our bedroom. I could have gone to the guest bedroom. Wouldn’t that have made more sense?
It didn’t matter now. Lorcan probably would have told me to move my ass to our bedroom anyway, but that I’d gone there without prompting probably gave him the same sign as my careless use of the word “we”. I grabbed a nightgown from my suitcase and went into the bathroom. Lorcan hadn’t thrown away my toothbrush or my makeup remover. I felt strangely touched by this. I was definitely done for tonight.
The moment I stretched out in the bed, and the scent of the familiar detergent and Lorcan hit my nose, my eyes slid shut and I drifted off.
I jerked upright with a choked scream, my hands going to my throat.
A warm hand touched my cheek.
“You’re safe,” a deep voice rumbled, familiar and yet unfamiliar in its comforting tone.
A dim light turned on, and Lorcan’s face took shape before me. He looked as if I’d ripped him from sleep. I swallowed. “I had a nightmare.”
Lorcan brushed away a few strands sticking to my sweaty forehead. “About your sister?”
I nodded. “I think so, but I was in her position. I was on a boat and a man started beating me. I tried to fight him, and then he shoved me into the water.” I massaged my throat. “I couldn’t breathe and I panicked. There was blood everywhere in the water.” I shuddered, imagining that this might very well be close to what Imogen had experienced in her last waking moments.
Lorcan came even closer. As always, his scent had a visceral effect on me—not just sexual but also making me feel protected. “Trust me, nothing of the sort will ever happen to you. You are my wife. I’ll protect you. After what happened in Dublin, more than ever. Nobody is ever going to hurt you again.”
“Unless you ever find me with another man on a boat,” I said in an attempt at a joke.
He chuckled, but something dark filled his eyes. “I’d throw him in the ocean first. But I have a feeling you’re not someone who would ever cheat. You’re a clear-cut person like me.”
It was true. I never understood why people didn’t just end things if they couldn’t be faithful. And even when I was back in Dublin, despite our marriage ending, I never thought about other men. I had a feeling now maybe it wasn’t over after all.
“I never even thought about anyone but you while in Dublin. Strange, right?”
Possessiveness filled Lorcan’s eyes as he grabbed my neck. He didn’t pull me in for a kiss but I could see that he wanted to. “Not at all. I haven’t given any other woman a second glance since you stumbled into my life.”