by K L Clare
She has changed me.
“Will?”
By the time I wiped my watery eyes and lifted them to hers, Elle was already on her knees, between my legs. She held my face in her hands and pulled me to her soft lips.
“Were you there, behind the glass?” she half-whispered.
I pushed my fingers through her hair and cradled the back of her head in my hands. She was unharmed. She was back with me. And she was still mine. “No, baby, I—”
“It was me. I was there, Ellie,” Thomas said from the doorway. When we both turned to look at him, he backed into the foyer. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” My brother inspected our expressions for a moment and gave a slight nod. Then he walked away.
“I don’t want to do this alone anymore, Will.” She was shaking her head even as I still held it. Tears fell onto her cheeks, and I wiped them away with my thumbs. “I’ve hurt you. I wanted to lessen the pain, but I’ve caused you more.”
Her breath quickened, keeping pace with the falling tears. As was always my first instinct, I gathered her tightly in my arms and pressed the side of her face to my chest. “Listen to my heart, baby. It’s not broken. Not now, not like this.”
“B-but . . . but . . . ”
“Shhh, Elle. You have told me all that I need to know for now.”
She nodded, and I could feel the warmth of her wet cheek through my shirt. “I’ll t-tell you everything.”
“I know. We’ll talk when we’re more settled.” I stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.
If she had learned in that interrogation room who Lissie’s mother was, it could wait until we were whole again. Nothing would change over the next couple of hours. She was sheltered from the rest of the world inside my arms, and that was what we both needed right then. My angel had been trying to protect me, and I needed her to get that I understood. After all, I’d done the equivalent to her not so long ago. I had learned my lesson, and she was now doing the same.
Elle tightened her grip on my arm. “I feel his vile presence on my skin.”
“Let’s go up to the shower. I’ll wash it away, and you’ll never feel it again. I swear—never again, Elle.”
And I meant it. I would never allow her to walk alone into a situation like that one with Devon Parker again. By any means necessary, I would make certain my wife never faced another man who wanted her dead.
She lifted her head and touched my cheek. “I’m so sorry, Will. I never want to be a source of pain for you.”
I pulled her hand to my lips. “You could never be that. There is only one thing that can hurt me, Elle, and that’s losing you. That fear is the reality I’m forced to live with every day. Maybe I hold on too tightly to you. Maybe I’m a sick fuck. But at every turn, the risk of losing you punches me in the face, reminding me of its power.”
“You are stronger.”
“We are stronger.” I kissed her hand again.
She stood, leaving my lap empty and cold. The lost connection between our bodies was too much to bear. I got to my feet as well and led her upstairs to our bedroom, to the shower.
After turning on the tap, I unzipped the back of her dress, and she unbuttoned my shirt and trousers. The pieces of clothing dropped to the floor at our feet. Our eyes remained locked. I held her soul, and she cast her beautiful glow into mine, warming me, tempering me.
We stepped under the steaming water fall created by the showerheads, and I pulled her against my body, entwined my fingers in the long layers of her hair, and assaulted her sweet mouth with a ruthless, demanding kiss. My cock was hard and kicked out for her, but the moment we were in wasn’t about taking her for my own pleasure.
Having an erection was a mindless symptom of being close to her physically and needing her emotionally, and I was working hard every day to rein in my instinctive desire to plunge into her body whenever we were alone just because I could.
“Turn round,” I panted against her lips.
She turned to face the tile and tilted her head backwards, resting the top of it against my chest while she waited for me to fill my hands with shampoo and wash her hair. Elle gave all of herself to me as she always did. Every part of her body melted into my hands as I massaged soap onto her skin to cleanse away the obscure filth left behind by another man.
I held up my hands and stared at them. Devon Parker would be released from his incarceration sooner rather than later, and I would kill him. No other option existed in my mind. . . . And there was no question about how I would do it.
“Lift me so I can wash your hair now.”
Her voice rescued me from the darkness.
Once she was in my arms and her legs were locked round my waist, Elle worked shampoo into my hair and massaged my scalp. My erection pulsed between us, and she used her hips to slide herself against it, creating an erogenous friction so perfect that my entire body shuddered with the need to come.
She used my shoulders for leverage to lift herself higher so that I could enter her.
I gripped the base of my erection, but instead of guiding it into her, I slid my hand up the shaft and squeezed near the head. A groan vibrated in my throat.
Pulling on my earlobe with her teeth, she said, “Take me.”
“You were sore this morning, baby. I can wait.” I squeezed harder.
“I’m fine now. We need this. Please, Will. You’re close—come inside of me.”
She crushed her mouth over mine, because that’s what I would have done to hers to capture the cry she let out when I pulled her down onto my cock.
“Rather die than live without you,” I tried to tell her as I pumped into her body.
I came fast and hard, too quickly for her to reach her own climax, so I dropped to my knees and drew it from her with my mouth. We collapsed together onto the shower floor. The cool tile soothed our overheated bodies while the warm water challenged the relief, raining more heat down over us.
Once Elle caught her breath, she got up on all fours and hovered over my sated body. Her eyes traced the large tattoo on my forearm that flaunted her name. Then, dragging her fingertips over it, she said with that beautiful fucking smile of hers, “Come on, savage. Get up. It’s dinnertime—your wife is starving. And I suppose we have some matters to discuss.”
21
She was dead. That’s what Devon Parker had told my wife. Lissie’s mother, his sister, had more than likely died somewhere on the streets from a drug overdose. He and his mother hadn’t seen her in almost eight years, since she had given birth, and he claimed his sister was using both cocaine and opioids at that time.
Elle and I hadn’t bothered to dress in anything other than pajamas after we left the shower, and we had asked Mrs. Bates to set our dinner in the drawing room, where we could talk privately away from the others in the house. Elle insisted we never spoil our bedroom by allowing in matters outside of our relationship. It was a general rule for her, and I was 100 percent on board with it. We needed our bedrooms to be private sanctuaries, an escape from the rest of the world, whether it be the grand apartment suite at Eastridge or the master bedroom suite at Kensington.
“Her name was Sarah Parker,” Elle said as she pushed sticky toffee pudding round on her dessert plate. “Did you know her, Will?”
“I don’t recall meeting any of the Parkers.” I looked at the photo Elle placed on the table over my copy of the same. We had agreed to share everything—no more secrets or lies. “I wish I could say the same for Ethan, but clearly he did know Simon and Sarah. You said Devon identified him?”
“Yes. He named Ethan in the photo.”
“We know what this photo means now, Elle. They were tying up Lissie’s . . . adoption.” I shook my head, and a pained feeling knifed at my gut. Ethan had done the same as our father had done with Isobel. “He could have raised her. Christ, I thought I knew my brother better than that. Why would he give her up?”
She put her hand on my thigh and rubbed there to soothe me. “Will, what if Sarah
is alive?” Her tone shifted. “I will not lose our daughter to another woman. She belongs with us.”
“I’ll never let that happen. You’ve been the only constant in her life, and she belongs with you.” I leaned in to kiss her lips, and at the same time, I was unable to hold back the smile pulling at mine. “Fierce mama.”
The secret smile she shared only between the two of us lit up her face. “I have to be. Lissie is stubborn and energetic and brilliant, like you, and I’m sure our future children will be the same. Trouble will follow them simply because of who they are. And I must protect them.”
For the third time that day, my wife healed another piece of me, eased yet another fear. She had no idea what those words meant to me. Our children would never live with the burden that I carried because Elle would shield them. She’d defend them, and she would save them from me should I become my father.
“Someday you’ll tell me more about your childhood?”
Can’t fool her. She damn near reads my mind.
I nodded. “You want to know more about my father, baby, I know. We have more pressing matters to manage right now, so let’s shelve that tale for another time. All right?”
“All right. Another time, then.”
“The investigator keeping an eye on the men Martin identified as potential subscribers to the Order can also locate Sarah Parker, dead or alive. I have no doubt about his skill. He’ll dig this up, but you must promise to leave it to him, Elle. We made a deal. We work together.”
“I won’t break our deal. I promise. And thank you, Will, for putting the task into capable hands. I need to know Lissie is safe.” She kissed my cheek.
“Me too. I’ll get him on it first thing tomorrow morning. Let me ring Ben right away and get him up to speed, tell him to increase security measures at Eastridge and at the school.” I stood and tapped Ben’s name into my phone.
There was no way to be certain that Devon Parker did not have the means to communicate with others outside of his jail cell. We did not know if he had connections or if he was alone now that Simon was dead. And because Elle had ripped open old wounds, he would come for her, and I had to assume he would look for Lissie as well.
“I’ll get Thomas,” I added, heading for the kitchen, where he was having dinner with Mrs. Bates and the security team.
Elle was scrolling through her email when I returned to the drawing room just a few minutes later with Thomas and Joe Taylor. She pulled a throw over her bare legs and tossed her mobile phone onto the sofa. Her eyes were filled with concern when they met mine. Anxiety was pounding on her, and she was unaware that her breathing had become erratic.
I pulled in a heavy breath through my nose, making sure my chest visibly expanded with the effort, and she did the same. We exhaled together, and she nodded to let me know she understood.
Taylor and I remained near the doorway while Thomas went to her. My brother had asked for a minute to apologize before we got on with the discussion and planning. He moved a plush ottoman in front of Elle and sat on it facing her, his back to me.
“I’m sorry,” I heard him say. His shoulders were slumped, his head held low. “I lied to you. I’ve been tailing you for weeks, hacking into your messages, invading your privacy. I regret not being upfront, and—”
“I forgive you, Thomas. You were protecting your brother, same as I was.”
“No, Ellie. I was protecting you.” He took my wife’s hand. “I give you my word that I will not violate your privacy again.”
Elle nodded and touched his arm with her other hand.
“You know, sometimes you forget that I’m your sworn defender as well. I yield to my brother because I respect him and for the sake of your attachment to him, but there will never be a time when I’m not actively shielding you. And your children.”
“Same goes for me,” John said from behind. I’d heard the front door and Mrs. Bates carrying on about something, but it hadn’t occurred to me that John had already been looped in and would rush home.
“You received your birthday present,” I said while keeping my eyes on the tense exchange between Thomas and Elle.
John cuffed me on the shoulder to grab my attention, paused for a moment, then hugged me with a wide grin on his face. “The car is great. Thanks, man. Is the art template here for the ink? I’m ready for it.”
“Is that right?” I pulled his forehead to my mouth in a coarse action and kissed it before fully releasing him. “It’s on the desk in the library.”
John hurried over to Elle, then bumped Thomas from the ottoman as he embraced her and claimed the seat for himself. “Are you sick? You look quite pale.”
Elle pulled her legs beneath her and smiled. “I’m sick of not seeing your handsome face around here more.”
He grinned. “It takes about twenty-five minutes more to get here from Loughborough than from Hastings. It’ll be easier now with the car. Thom says there could be more trouble. Do you remember our training?”
“I do, though I could use some practice while you’re in town. And there will be no trouble as long as this family stays united.”
“She’s right. This family is strong, and it must stay that way.” I sat next to Elle on the sofa, tucked her under my arm, and winked at John. “No more training unless it’s with me, Elle.”
She moved her gaze up to mine. “What? Will, but you—”
“I’ve changed my mind. I can teach you quite a lot more. You handled yourself well in Connecticut when you were in trouble, but it wasn’t enough. You were too close. He would have killed you.” I turned to John. “I want more time with you as well. Thomas and I have more to teach you before you’ll be allowed to take your fight outside of the gym.”
He had good technique, and he was fast, but he wasn’t mentally prepared to fight with us when it came down to it. Emotional discipline was as important as physical expertise. What was more, he had to be prepared to end another man’s life should he find himself in that particular situation.
Christ, I never wanted that for him. I’d given him a choice, and he had made the decision to be the last Hastings to fulfill the commitment of our family’s rite. As much as I wanted to take that liberty away from him, I couldn’t do it without breaking his spirit.
John squinted. “You don’t have to feel guilty, brother. I chose the shield. And I swore to do as you say. I meant every word I said to you last week.”
Elle jumped in. “Wait—you saw John last week?”
“Yeah. I took the helicopter up to the university for a visit. I didn’t want to bother you with it, Elle. Jessica was here, and you weren’t feeling well. With all the goings-on during our previous weekend at home, John and I never had the chance to talk privately about his path forward.”
Her expression softened. “I love that you did.”
The look on her face was one that I craved. Her eyes were shining with admiration and affection. In most instances, that look was the result of one of my selfish acts masked as a good deed. That wasn’t to say my wife could be taken for an easy mark. Elle could see the wolf in sheep’s clothing and understood my pretentious nature. She often called upon it to motivate me when there was something she wanted.
But in this instance, neither one of us got what we wanted. My trip to Loughborough pleased my younger brother but did nothing to change his mind.
John chose to become more like me.
In response to Elle’s approval of my effort, and despite my own disappointment, the muscles in my face twitched until I allowed one corner of my mouth to lift.
“Let’s get on with it,” I said loudly after subduing the smirk. “I want to know that everyone in this room is on the same page before anyone leaves this house tonight.”
22
Elle leaned over the iron and wood railing to soak in the view of the Royal Albert Hall from the gallery on the next evening. The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s violin concerto floated through the air from the round. She had requested lavender lighting,
and it created a breathtaking venue for our first charity gala, organized to raise funds for the Hastings Group Foundation Children’s Trust.
She was breathtaking.
Her stunning floor-length gown was an exclusive, made for her by one of London’s prominent designers, she’d said. It was light aqua—no doubt her stylist insisted on the color based on the venue lighting and Elle’s eyes—and the neckline plunged deep between her breasts. My wife wore that cut well because she had a narrow chest with flawless, natural breasts. Her cleavage was slight yet sexy all the same. It was more than enough to make a man wonder what was beneath the dress while reminding him that the sophisticated woman he was eyeing was out of his league.
The lace on Elle’s shoulders fluttered when air moved about her. I supposed the pieces of delicate fabric were sleeves, but there wasn’t much to them. The crystal beading at her waist was finished in a similar shade as the fabric and was certainly meant to blend into the overall image, but for me, it was a beacon that led my gaze round her hips to the voluptuous arse that I loved to watch . . . touch . . . kiss.
Rather than restricting her long locks with an updo, she left her beach-scented hair flowing, the blond, curled tips dangling close to that fine backside.
“This is just fabulous.” Elle turned from the balcony, and her bright eyes began to search along the curved wall to examine the works of art to be auctioned. “I can’t believe the board members were able to get support from so many prolific and renowned artists. I’m not going to lie—I’m totally fangirling at the moment.”
I pointed out her modern interpretation of Victoria and Albert. “Yours looks amazing. You know that, right?”
“I’m nervous about the exposure, but I’m confident in this piece. This is the first time I’ve had a problem parting with my own work. It makes me uneasy to think it may soon belong to someone who doesn’t get them. That is, if anyone bids on mine.”