Sainted

by Slade, Heather

  The question, then, wasn’t whether I wanted my job back or not. The question was how best to fulfill my promise to Adam Benjamin. Given there was a long-standing manhunt, along with an attached bounty, both backed by the Chinese government, finding Jinyan Tai Man would be no easy feat.

  However, with the help of the Invincibles’ team, I felt confident I could accomplish the mission. Whether Tai Man would want contact with his father after I did so, was something I needed to address with Dr. Benjamin before I got started.

  There was also the question of funding the mission. If it came down to it, I could provide the financial backing myself in the same way I had with locating Harper’s ex. Doing it at the same time I purchased the cottage from my uncle would put a strain on my portfolio but certainly wouldn’t deplete it.

  Harper tightened the grip she had around my waist, reminding me I hadn’t answered her question.

  “I’m considering a different approach.”

  “Something you want to talk about?”

  At any other time of my life, the answer would be a resounding no, but everything felt different with Harper. As I shared my thoughts out loud, she remained fully engaged—interested—particularly when I spoke about my vow to Adam.

  “You’re a good man, Saint.”

  Her words were ones I hadn’t heard often in my life. If ever. And I’d certainly never thought them about myself. It was easier to believe the bad stuff. Accept the negative as being ingrained in who I was. She saw the opposite in me and had since we met on the plane.

  “Do they call you Saint because you’re so nice?” she’d asked on the plane. I’d laughed. But now, knowing she believed it, made it easier for me to believe too.

  “Fancy a walk before it gets dark?” I asked.

  “I’d love it.”

  Round trip from the cottage to Cuckmere Haven and the Seven Sisters Cliffs was more than eight kilometers, so we opted for a shorter evening stroll along the Cuckmere River.

  “The gardens are breathtaking,” Harper commented as we walked past Alfriston’s historic cottages.

  “Those at Fox Run were equally beautiful at one time.”

  “Is that what you call your family’s place?”

  I nodded. “I’m sure they could be restored to their former glory without too much hard labor.”

  “I thought so myself when I first saw them. Do you enjoy gardening?”

  “Honestly, I’ve never given it much thought.” I stopped walking and took her hands in mine. “However, the pleasure I get from seeing your dimples is worth any effort it would require.”

  Cheeks pinked. Gaze dropped down. Cock hardened. Desire overwhelmed. It was an inevitable chain of events.

  I grasped the back of Harper’s neck and crushed my mouth to hers. I was momentarily worried she wouldn’t want such a public display of affection in a town where she would be an assistant vicar. But when she wrapped her arms around my neck and ground the lower half of her body against mine, any thought, other than returning to the cottage and holding her naked in my arms, vanished.

  “Can we head back now?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “I would like nothing more.”

  Fox Run Cottage was in view when Harper stopped walking. “Saint, how many bedrooms are there?”

  “Four.”

  “Will you sleep across the hall from me tonight?”

  “If that’s what you desire.”

  “I do not.”

  I cupped her cheek with my palm. “What are you saying?”

  “I want us to share a bedroom. A bed.”

  “What else, Harper?”

  “I’ve never…you know.”

  I kissed each of her dimples, removed her glasses, and kissed each eyelid. From there, the tip of her nose and, finally, her lips.

  “I want that with you, Saint. So much. Like everything else since we met, it feels right.” She stared into my eyes. “Am I wrong?”

  “Not even a little.”

  “It’s more than a physical attraction. I know it is.”

  “It is so much more, my darling Harper.”

  “Do you want…me?”

  “The fact that I am using your body to shield my body’s reaction to you should tell you everything you need to know.”

  Harper looked down and giggled. “Should I apologize?”

  “Never.” I brought my lips to hers again, not that it would help the matter of our walking the rest of the way to the cottage without drawing attention. I didn’t care. I couldn’t stop myself. Kissing her had become like a drug to me. It was an addiction I never wanted to recover from.

  17

  Harper

  There were a lot of reasons I was glad, grateful, relieved—hard to know which word fit best—that Dave had jilted me at the altar. None more than the fact I was still a virgin.

  The one good thing I could say about the man I’d been supposed to marry, but didn’t, was that he wanted to wait to have sex more than I did. Maybe it was his conscience that had stopped him each time I told him I was ready. Maybe not. Either way, we hadn’t done it. We’d only kissed.

  I liked what Saint had said when I told him he was a good kisser—no kiss of another would ever be the same as what we’d shared. It was one of the reasons I wanted him to be the first—pray, the only—man I made love with. Maybe he wouldn’t consider it significant, but I would. No matter what happened between us in the future, I knew in my heart I’d never regret Saint being my first.

  We stopped several times on the short walk to the cottage. Each kiss we shared was more passionate and unhurried than the one before it.

  Once back inside, Saint stacked wood and lit the big fireplace in the living room. He took a blanket from the back of the sofa and spread it out on the floor, then tossed a few pillows on top of it. He held out his hand and pulled me into his arms.

  A thousand butterflies fluttered in my stomach as he lowered me onto my back. “We’re going to take this slow, Harper. There is no need for us to rush.”

  Whatever words I might have answered with were stuck in my throat as he trailed his fingers down the side of my face to my neck, where he’d moved my collar out of his way.

  “I’m going to undress you now, my darling. Can you keep still while I do?”

  I nodded. It was literally all I was capable of doing while he painstakingly unfastened the buttons of my blouse.

  “We have all the time in the world,” Saint murmured when I moaned.

  I arched my back, wishing that instead of running his fingers down my sternum, he would touch my breasts that swelled to the point where my bra was snug.

  “I told you to be still.”

  Before I could respond, Saint pulled the cup out of his way and gently bit the nipple of my right breast. I gasped in shock.

  “Shh, now.” He soothed the sting with his tongue. “Will you do as I say, or do you want to face more punishment, my darling?”

  “I’ll do as you say,” I cried out when his hand cupped my pussy like it had the first time he brought me to an orgasm. “Anything you say.”

  “That’s my good girl. Now where was I?” He made his way back up to my neck, nibbling on the taut muscles.

  I nearly wept when his hand snaked around my back and he released the clasp of my bra. Once they were free of their confines, Saint lavished each of my heaving breasts with his tongue, lips, and fingers. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, willing myself not to move.

  When Saint grasped my wrist and moved my hand, I opened them. “The rule is, your hands must remain on your breasts. You can squeeze them, use your fingertips to play with your nipples, or circle the areola.” He demonstrated each before lifting my left hand and placing it on the opposite breast. “Remember, Harper, your hands must remain where I put them.”

  I kept my hands still while Saint kissed a ring around my belly button and unfastened my pants. I gasped when I felt him reach inside my panties and cup my pussy the way he had b
efore, but this time skin to skin.

  “If you play with your nipples, I’ll do the same here.” When his finger touched the hard nub of my clitoris, I felt as though my body would levitate from the floor. I raised my head when he took his hand away.

  “You know what to do, Harper.”

  I pinched both nipples between my fingers, and when I did, Saint put his fingers back on that magical place between my legs.

  “Oh, my darling, you are so very wet for me.”

  When I groaned and squeezed my breasts together, I felt Saint lick my fingers and suck both nipples into his mouth. At the same time, he thrust one finger inside me, then two.

  “I can’t,” I moaned. “Please. I have to move.”

  “Go ahead, Harper, take all the pleasure you want from my fingers.”

  I gyrated my hips and arched my back. The next sensation I felt was Saint’s tongue, this time swirling around my clit. “That’s it,” I heard him coax. “Give it all to me.” He licked and sucked as I cried out and writhed.

  At some point, Saint carried me into the bedroom and finished undressing me. My eyes drifted closed.

  “Harper,” I heard him whisper. “Keep your eyes on me.”

  He unfastened his shirt, exposing the hard outline of his abs. He shrugged it from his shoulders, removed his belt, and lowered his trousers.

  In awe, I watched as he strode toward me and stopped at the side of the bed. When I sat up, he spread my legs and stood between them.

  “Can I touch you?”

  “Do you remember what I did to you?”

  I nodded and stared up into his eyes. “I do.”

  “Use your mouth, Harper. Your hands too. Do whatever you think will feel good.”

  I held him with both hands and swirled my tongue around the tip of his penis. Based on his groans and the way his fingers threaded in my hair, I knew I must be doing something right. Every so often, he’d hold me still and move his hips where he wanted my mouth to be.

  He eased away, releasing my hands and mouth, and pushed me on the bed. With his hands on my waist, he moved me so my back rested on the pillows and positioned himself between my legs. He took a breast in each hand and massaged them.

  “What we are about to do will hurt, Harper, but not for long. I promise.”

  18

  Saint

  “I trust you. Completely.”

  The power of her words surged through me; I felt their importance somewhere deep in my soul. Since I met her, I’d innately known I wanted to be the kind of man Harper would say those words to. She trusted that even though what I was about to do would bring her pain, I would also ease it, and then make her forget it entirely. Her cries would only be of pleasure.

  With her beautiful wide eyes, she watched as I sheathed myself with a condom, spread her legs, and swirled her clit with the tip of my cock like I had with my fingers. Her wet heat beckoned me, and I could no longer resist.

  I slowly eased inside her, my movements slight, as her eyes stayed riveted to mine.

  “More,” she begged, but nothing would make me rush this. I wanted to savor the feeling of being the first man to join my body with hers.

  Harper gasped and gripped my arms as I went deeper. When she stilled, I did the same, waiting until I felt the gentle movement of her hips, her body’s way of telling me she was ready for more. Her fingernails dug into my skin, and I brought my mouth to hers, thrusting my tongue between her lips in the same way my cock thrust into her pussy.

  “Harper,” I groaned. I held her hips with both hands, buried my head in her neck, and found our perfect rhythm.

  When I felt her clench, I raised my head. I had to see her face, look into her eyes, not miss a single moment of Harper climaxing for the first time with me inside her. I could feel it building, but couldn’t wait. I reached between our bodies, and before I could do more than touch her clit with the tip of my finger, she cried out, gasping for air, her body bucking against mine as I continued to thrust deeper and deeper.

  “Ride it out, my darling,” I told her when her eyes pleaded with me. “You can take more, Harper.” I squeezed her hardened nub between two fingers, sucked her nipple into my mouth, and increased my pace. The moment I knew Harper had climaxed again, I let myself join her.

  As I lay with my head resting on her beating heart, Harper trailed her fingertips down my arm and across my back.

  “That was…”

  I raised my head to look at her.

  “Otherworldly. We danced among the moon and stars. It was as though they swirled around us. There were fireworks too. Shooting off like the grand finale on the Fourth of July.”

  I shifted my body so I could reach her lips and kissed her. Never in my life could I have dreamed there would be such a beautiful description of lovemaking. Nor one more perfect.

  Harper and I spent all night learning each other’s bodies. I marveled at her sensual awareness and thanked the stars that swirled around us whenever we brought our bodies to the height of pleasure, that I had been the only one to experience being with such a unique and special woman.

  When I asked whether she’d like to spend the next day visiting Sussex, she begged that we spend the day together, alone at the cottage. A request I was more than happy to oblige.

  “I’ve been thinking about your friend Dr. Benjamin,” she began as we sat at the table in the kitchen, eating the baked eggplant with spinach and chickpeas and Thai green curry I’d had delivered from the tavern. Little by little, Harper was getting more adventurous with the food she was willing to try. “We never finished that conversation.”

  “I suppose I’ll figure it out eventually.” I brought her fingers to my lips and kissed their tips.

  She put her elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand. “Or we could talk about it now.”

  I smiled. “There are things I’d rather do than talk.”

  “We can do those after.”

  “Very well, Miss Godfrey. I’m anxious to hear what you have to say on the matter, given your relentlessness.” I thought I caught a glimpse of an eye roll.

  “If I said I would eventually figure out what I planned to do with the next few months of my life, I doubt your response would be that much different than mine.”

  “Touché.”

  “Anyway, if you were to try to find the doctor’s son, how would you get started?”

  “I suppose first I would need to have a sit-down with Adam to see how much he actually knows about Jinyan’s possible whereabouts.”

  “After that?” When she put a forkful of food into her mouth, I recognized it as the same ploy she’d utilized on the plane in order to get me to talk and not turn the conversation around to her. Minx that she was.

  “Once I feel confident the mission is viable, the next step would be to assemble a team.”

  Harper nodded and took another bite.

  When I didn’t say anything else, she rested her fork on the edge of her plate. “Where is your friend now?”

  “Meaning Dr. Benjamin?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not entirely certain, but if I had to venture a guess, I’d say he’s likely in London.”

  “A visit with him could correspond with one to London Seminary.”

  I grinned and shook my head. “Perhaps I should ring him, then.”

  “Perhaps you should.”

  The enthusiasm Adam displayed when I inquired about meeting made me feel worse about putting him off as long as I had. Initially, he’d suggested tomorrow. However, I wasn’t willing to give up the time I had alone at Fox Run with Harper so soon.

  We settled on early next week, which would give me time to finalize the paperwork for the cottage’s purchase, as well as arrange for Harper’s visit to the University of Sussex.

  “Do you need to meet with the vicar today?” I asked after ending my call.

  “No, not until I make a decision about which seminary I’d like to attend.” She worried her bottom lip.

>   “What else?”

  “I’ve been thinking about Dave’s call.”

  “Come,” I said, holding out my hand.

  She motioned to our unfinished meal. “I need to clean up.”

  “We’ll get to that. We aren’t going far.” While Harper must’ve assumed I was whisking her back to the bedroom—which I gladly would as soon as I could—I led her only as far as the living room.

  Once we were seated, I pulled her into my arms. “Tell me what you’re worried about.”

  She let out a deep breath. “While you were on the phone, I checked my balances. There is more money in the account than was there before, and I saw Dave’s name had been removed from it. The same with my credit cards. They’re paid in full and only in my name.”

  Nothing she’d said was news to me. “Do you have a question?”

  “Some of that money is his.”

  I shook my head. “Consider it compensation for your inconvenience.”

  “I don’t feel right about that.”

  “Very well. Tell me what you’d like done, and I’ll ensure it happens.”

  “I want all but five thousand dollars returned to him.”

  “Is that the amount you had in savings?”

  “I had more, but I should help with the costs associated with the wedding being canceled.”

  While I understood Harper’s position, I disagreed that she should help pay for a wedding the doofus called off. Before I could say so. She spoke again.

  “I also think I should give him money for my flight to London.”

  These decisions weren’t mine to make, but the amount she was considering giving back to him, made me angry. I wanted to refuse to help her with any part of refunding Dave, but could I deny this woman anything? I doubted it. Perhaps her parents or the friend with the rodent nickname could convince her she didn’t owe the dimwit one iota of reimbursement for costs he’d incurred himself. Not to mention, he’d left her penniless and stranded in a foreign country. I meant what I’d said about compensation for her inconvenience. I shuddered to think what may have happened to her if I hadn’t gotten on that plane.