by K L Clare
His energy commanded my gaze to his. Those blue eyes were burning. “How long will you make me wait to marry you?”
I loved him insanely, and in truth, giving him the vows he desired wasn’t a concession. There would never be anyone but him. There was no reason to torment him.
“I need time to find the gown.”
“What?” A smile dangled from one corner of his open mouth.
“You heard me. The gown—that’s your waiting period. Then I’ll marry you.”
His smile grew as he shook his head. “Fucking handful,” he muttered. “What about all the other wedding things women do?”
“I don’t care about any of that.”
My mind functioned in an atypical, abstract manner. It wouldn’t accept the intricate responsibilities of wedding planning. I wasn’t opposed to weddings, nor did I dislike them. I just didn’t want to plan one.
He delved into my eyes.
“I’m serious. The gown is all I need, though it won’t be easy to find.” Nothing other than the vision that played in my mind would do.
“You’re an artist, baby. Draw what you want to wear. Choose a design house in London, and we’ll have it handmade.” He didn’t know I’d already done that—put my vision on paper.
“You can’t just force someone to make my wedding gown.”
“I could but I won’t have to. Designers will fight for the opportunity. Think about it, Countess.” He winked.
I narrowed my eyes. It would take time to get used to the English aristocracy and its never-ending love affair with titles. “You can’t see it before the wedding. Not even the sketch.”
“I won’t peek. Mother will be more than happy to handle the rest. How big?”
“Whatever you want. But . . .”
His smile faded. “There’s a but?”
“Yes. This is the second time you’ve left me. If you ever leave me again, for more than a few days to work in London, I will leave you. I swear, Will. You won’t leave me a third time.” He hadn’t left me, and my heart knew that, but the reasons for him going made no difference. I wouldn’t be separated from him again, not unless we made the decision together.
He exhaled and shrugged. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Just like that?
“Yes, I accept your condition. In fact, I made you that promise a few days ago. I have some conditions of my own—since we’ve gone there.”
“Are you mocking me?”
“I’m quite serious.”
He was worth billions. Some of his wealth was inherited, but he’d worked hard to earn most of it through his firm. Of course he’d protect his assets. “I’ll sign it, Will.”
“I’m not referring to a prenuptial agreement.”
“Oh. Well, what are your conditions?”
“My time in London is necessary. We’ll get another house there so you can go with me.”
“Agreed.” That wasn’t a condition, it was fantastic. “What else?”
“Not so fast. Rules. You’ll not be permitted to leave on your own for shopping or anything else. Not until I’m sure our enemy is completely eradicated. Probably not even then. You’ll accept the protection of my men at all times when I’m not with you. And there will be domestic employees.”
I expected the protection detail but rolled my eyes at the thought of another live-in housekeeper. “One qualification. In London—and at Eastridge—no housemaids in our bedroom in the morning and no more segregated breakfasts. I understand the value of tradition, but that one is too much.”
“Agreed,” he said.
“What else?”
“The bishop of Chichester will marry us. I won’t risk having the Crown or the government or even the Church disqualify our marriage the next time they’re angry with me.”
It was fitting since the bishop’s diocese covered the same counties as Will’s earldom. I nodded. It made no difference to me who married us. “And?”
“You take my name. And I name our children.”
“What?” I chuckled.
“Traditional names. No made-up names or twisted spelling deviations.”
I swallowed another chuckle. “I accept your conditions. I have one more to add.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“I get to be on top.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Once a month?”
“No.”
“Hmm. A few times a year?”
His forehead puckered with disapproval as he proffered his compromise. “Once a year—on your birthday.”
I rolled from his lap onto the sand and giggled. “Condition withdrawn. We’ll allow it to happen organically.”
It wasn’t something I needed, and he knew it. His desire for dominance in bed wasn’t a problem for me. In fact, once I understood his need to possess me, it turned me on. I knew his heart and what drove him, and I loved him beyond sanity. Submitting to him hadn’t taken away my independence. It had changed me, yes—it had set me free.
A spark of sunlight bounced around in his determined eyes as he claimed his position above me. “When you can overpower me, you can take the top.” He demonstrated his power as he restrained my hands above my head and pushed his way into my mouth, taking all that was his with another of his smooth, passionate kisses.
“I have.”
“You cheated.” He smirked. “How well did that work out for you, baby?”
We both smiled, remembering the time we spent in that little floral-papered guest room.
The muscles in his face tightened then, and his back stiffened. “The hell you live with is unbearable. I’ll find a way—”
“Parker said you and Ethan hurt his family.”
His mouth fell open and his head jerked back. “What?”
I didn’t say anything else. He needed a minute to grasp what he’d heard.
He turned his face from mine and cursed. “I didn’t recognize him, but the name . . .”
I thought of the confession he’d made early on that his lucrative business deals often had consequences for others. Those deals sometimes ruined lives. It was something I’d told him I could live with, and I would.
“I’m sorry, Elle. Christ, I’ve created more enemies, made it worse for you—yet another fuckup on my part. I swear it’ll be the first thing I look into when we get back. I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”
“I know.” There was nothing for him to make up to me, nothing to be fixed. But I knew Will, and in order for him to find peace, I had to allow him to believe otherwise.
I couldn’t bring myself to ask about Parker’s sister. I couldn’t stomach the idea that he might have had something with another woman. Stupid as the damned jealousy was, I would never ask that question.
“They all knew Isobel wasn’t my . . .” I gulped for air, the words stuck in my throat.
Will nodded. “Lewis confirmed it the night I found you with Parker, just before we took him and Charles Green out. This hurts you, I know, but it also makes Lissie safe. She doesn’t carry your blood.”
I pulled an image of Lissie’s innocent face into my head. He was right. It hurt—another piece of my heart was wrecked—but this truth was a blessing for our little girl.
“My brother knew and he kept it from me. Ethan lied to me.” The pain in his eyes stung my heart, riled it.
“I’m sorry. I know how you loved him.”
“I can’t hate the lies we’ve been told, Elle, because they bind us. I will never feel regret for anything that binds me to you.”
Will maintained our intense connection. Through our eyes, he measured my suffering and drew it inward, as he’d done in those dark days when we’d first arrived in England.
But this time, I did the same, combining his pain with mine. I touched his cheek. “No regrets,” I said. “I’ve never been happier, Will. The way you love me, the way I love you—that’s what makes this hell we share tolerable.”
He obscured his face in my neck and then nodded and kissed my
butterfly. “You’re amazing.” His breath tickled my skin as he spoke. “We won’t get a proper honeymoon, not right away, but when I’m certain it’s safe, we’ll go to Paris, Madrid, Rome. Whatever you desire, it’ll be yours. I swear I’ll do whatever it takes to give you the life you deserve.”
We hoped the death of the Order’s leader, Jack Lewis, would preclude any remaining lone-wolf supporters from rising against us. Will planned to make sure all relevant parties received a detailed recount of Lewis’s demise. We would seek an understanding with the Queen, forgiving the Crown and asking for the same favor in return.
“You know I’m not much good at travel, anyway.”
“I can get you to those cities without leaving the ground, baby.”
We laughed against each other’s lips.
“Let’s go inside. You should rest, Will, before we fly home.”
“There’s only one thing I need before we get on that plane.” He rocked his hips and tried to hide his pained grimace in a kiss.
I wedged my fingers between our lips. “You’re the strongest man I know. Your strength is overwhelming, and it solidifies mine. It protects me in every way. But I want to be needed. Let me take care of you, just as you take care of me.”
He kissed my fingers before moving them. “Don’t you see? I draw that strength from you. My drive, my determination, everything that is me . . . is you. You’re everything that hurts, everything that gives me pleasure. My desperation for you is an addiction, and it exceeds what words can express. I love you, Elle.”
The way he loved me was inconceivable. Even more beyond reason was that I understood. Because I loved him the same. I had battled hard for him in the beginning, and he had taken lives for me in the end. Our bond was primal, beyond explanation. Neither of us would survive it.
“Until your last breath?”
He smiled from those gorgeous, steely eyes. “Yes, until my last breath.” Then he pulled me to my feet and treated me to another of his cocky winks. “Come inside. I’ll show you.”
As we walked up the rocky hill path, high tide swept in and sent the egret squawking away from his hunt at the water’s edge. A breeze pushed at our backs and played in my hair.
We didn’t make it inside. Instead, we made love on the double-wide chaise lounge where he had first pressed his lips to mine. Will ignored the pain that the gunshot wounds caused. There was no line between dominance and submission. Every touch, every thrust, every tender whisper avowing me his angel was deliberate and meaningful. It was an exquisite, soul-filling, unconditional love.
“We’ll keep this property for now,” he said as he drifted to sleep.
I stared at his handsome face as I had a few months before and listened to the thunder and crash of waves as they reached the shore and rolled back out with the current to rebuild. He was doing nothing more than breathing, though it seemed as if he were anchoring the earth to its place in the universe and me to mine on earth.
Will was my place.
The sea became curt, a brisk gust of air flinging the blanket to expose my bare legs.
“Catch you on the other side—at home,” I whispered back.
* * *
Don’t miss Vows That Bind Us, the USA TODAY Best Seller featuring expanded, never-before-released scenes from Will and Ellie’s three-day wedding event. Get it now!
Acknowledgments
To the many beautiful, brave souls who took a chance on this novel, who read those ugly first drafts and reinforced my confidence with generous feedback, who provided encouragement, guidance, and big-hearted endorsements—you forever have my gratitude.
Thank you, Liz Kracht, for showing me how to gracefully push the boundaries as we developed the premise of this story.
Julie Kenner, I’m blessed to have somehow earned your thoughtful support. Your passion for this industry is unrivaled, and you give back far more than you could ever owe.
To Jennifer Longenberger, who never complains about my nonstop talk of this story and provides me with sound advice, you are a wonderful friend and I am so thankful for you.
Special thanks and all my love to my parents and my two brilliant children: the four of you allow me to live inside my head and patiently wait for me while I travel between my two worlds.
HER LOVELY LIES
Book Two
Beautiful White Lies Duet
K.L. Clare
About Her Lovely Lies
Will Hastings and Ellie James return in Her Lovely Lies with the conclusion of the riveting, dark love story that began in Lies That Bind Us.
She is the flesh-and-blood savior who lights up my soul.
Loving her is all that I am. She’s grace and beauty, the source of my addiction. I watch her every move, consume each breath she takes. I won’t survive without her touch. She’s in my bed when I close my eyes and there when I wake.
But my angel has been lying to me.
Ellie has privately been investigating unresolved questions left behind by her sister and my brother. She should know better, as there’s no space between us, no room for secrets. I allow the deception while she searches for answers. Only because I’m always right behind her, following, eliminating the threats that continue to shadow us.
But when she unearths the last of our families’ lies, her final discovery—a life-altering revelation that will forever change us—will drive me to my knees.
For my sister, who introduced me to my first brotherhood.
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
Edgar Allan Poe
1
Will, Eight Months Earlier
We watched her. We were too close. The rear studio entrance of the Stonington Fine Art Gallery was wide open, and I could not walk away.
The paintbrush in her hand swept over the canvas in a delicate rhythm, and the faint scent of lavender drifted into the alleyway. She was breathtaking as she sat before the easel and whispered the refrain of an old love song, the words floating from lush lips that I was desperate to taste.
Ellie James didn’t know it yet, but she was mine. I would take her home with me when the time was right. I would claim every beautiful piece of her. And I would destroy anyone who stood in my way.
Sweat beaded on my forehead and ran down the sides of my face. While England’s climate was generally humid, the late July heat in Connecticut was more so.
“You disregarded my advice and came for her anyway. You refuse to consider that you could be in love with the idea of her, not with the woman herself. Yet you’ve hesitated for weeks, brother. It’s time to come home,” Ethan said.
“Screw you and your psychoanalytic bullshit, Ethan,” I said, bending to scratch the head of a thin retriever mix who had planted himself at my feet. “I’ll approach when I believe she’s ready. Why are you here? You had no role in that meeting yesterday. It was nothing more than a formality for me to counsel the transition team on the contract points of the New York acquisition.”
“We’re partners, remember? I’m flying back to London tomorrow night, anyway.”
I jerked my head in a quick, slight movement to loosen a joint in my neck, then straightened and locked my stare onto Ellie again. Ethan and I had never shared meetings—we had shared a fondness for dividing and conquering—so something else was going on. “Do you have plans to see her sister before you leave?”
“It’s quiet enough, and we can see they’re safe, so there’s no need. Our being here is creating unwanted notice, and I know you don’t want that for her, Will. We can shut it down now if we all get on the plane tomorrow evening.”
Ellie abruptly spun on her metal stool and stared in my direction as if she sensed my presence. I extended my arm and forced Ethan out of her line of vision but remained where she could see me. I wanted her to see me. I wanted her to feel me. Someone called out to her from the front of the gallery, and she startled, looking away before making eye contact with me.
“Christ, you know it’s too late for that.
Someone has been out there making noise for weeks. I don’t know yet if it’s meant to be a threat, but whatever it is or is not, I will end it.”
“There’s no proof of the Order’s reformation. Our intel has always been reliable.” Ethan palmed my shoulder. “God help whoever is troubling you,” he added.
Ethan was careless when it came to our training. Our father never beat it into his character as he had with me. He’d understood early that my brother would always value a financial bottom line more than the pact that tied our family to Ellie’s. Money drove Ethan and clouded his thoughts, influencing every decision he made, so our father had placed the burden of his legacy on my shoulders.
A few years after our father’s death, Ethan and I earned millions through our private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts and expansion capital. It wasn’t long before those millions became billions, but the money served only one real purpose for me. My financial influence provided an advantage in the war to keep Ellie and her sister safe.
History always repeated itself. Another extremist would incite the conflict once again. Ethan lived in denial, but I had planned for the day when assassins would regroup and come for them.
“You should leave tonight,” I told Ethan. “Go back to the firm and source more US projects for me while I’m here. I’ll keep Ben on standby so I can move quickly by helicopter between here and Manhattan. John will stay with me as well.”
“You know, I think I’ll do that. Time is money, and I’m not making anything by spending my time round here.” Ethan took out his phone and searched his contacts. “Make your move soon and get home,” he ordered over his shoulder as he walked away, the stray following close on his heels.