Will I see my family again? She didn’t vocalize that final question, but Ethan heard it none the less.
“Yes, eventually,” he replied, trying to answer all of her queries in one fell swoop. “In time.”
“And what about the murders?”
Her green eyes flashed with emotion as she asked the question, and he wondered how long she had been dwelling on it. Ethan hadn’t read it in her thoughts, but it could have been there, waiting for the right moment. A moment like this one.
“What about them?”
“What do we do about them?”
Ethan inhaled. “We don’t do anything,” he told her. “We get away—put some space between us and the crime scenes and concentrate on each other for a while. I don’t want to do those things when we’re happy. That’s what you do to me, Lily.”
He eyed her intently as he made the admission. “That’s how you’ve changed me.”
Lily swallowed at his words, those wonderful green eyes sparkling. “I-I didn’t know,” she murmured. “But that makes me so happy, Ethan.”
He reached for her face, stroking his thumb along the hot flesh of her cheekbone. “Me, too.”
“Do you want to marry me?”
His brow rose at that. His little Lily appeared to have lost all her inhibitions in the last few days. “Do you want that?”
Ethan rarely asked what Lily wanted anymore, but on the question of marriage, he felt he had to. He had barely given any thought to the concept before he met Lily, assuming he would end his days alone. But now everything was different. Lily was in his life, and she changed every aspect, and all of a sudden, the idea of the commitment didn’t scare him anymore.
“Marriage?”
“Hmmm.” He watched her responses carefully as she replied, trying to ignore the way her chest jutted out thanks to the duct tape at her wrists.
“Maybe. At some point,” she admitted. “But I always thought that would be years away. My mother has been badgering to find a nice local boy and get married, but I never wanted to before.”
Until now.
“Until now?” asked Ethan, articulating the thought that had just popped into her head.
Lily bit her lip. He could see confessing the truth was troubling and he guessed he could understand. It wasn’t everyday she fell for a mass murderer, who dragged her away from the life she knew, and then discussed the idea of marriage with her.
This was a brave new world for them both.
“Right,” she whispered.
“I get it,” he told her, lowering his tone as his face neared hers. “I feel the same way, Lily.”
“You do?”
“You know I do.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know,” she mumbled. “You were pretty pissed off with me earlier.”
He laughed. “And you told me that you hated me last night,” he reminded her. “While you begged me to fuck you harder, as I recall?”
Lily’s face flamed at that. “Yeah, about that—”
His lips descended at that moment, smothering her words as Ethan claimed her. Lily groaned into his mouth. She was clearly still horny, and the knowledge made his cock swell.
“Just wait until I get you somewhere safe,” he growled into her ear as he broke the kiss.
“Oh, God, sir,” she purred. “This is a nightmare. Please—I can’t take much more.”
She pushed her breasts out toward him, grazing her hardened nipples against his chest. Ethan chortled at her brazen display.
“Keep being my good girl, and I swear I will reward you, little one.”
Chapter Twenty
Lily
They drove on for what seemed like hours, her wrists and ankles bound the whole time. Ethan kept his promise and stopped soon after their impromptu chat in the back seat, purchasing enough snacks and drinks to feed them for the next week. He then proceeded to feed chips to Lily, one at a time, after refusing to release her, and then they were back on the road, the signs for the north of England flashing past her at a heady rate.
“We’ll stop soon,” he told her as they passed a sign for Northumberland. “I know of a good little bed and breakfast in these parts.”
Lily’s heart skipped. “That sounds good,” she replied earnestly.
She was desperate to stretch her legs at this point. Hell, just being able to separate them would be good.
“I bet,” he told her with a chuckle as he eyed her from the driver’s seat. “I’ll pull over and cut you free soon, but there will be some conditions.”
She gulped at that. Conditions? Ethan’s conditions couldn’t be good.
“Nothing too onerous,” he clarified as though he was answering her unspoken question. “Just a few assurances from you, and agreement to my terms.”
“What terms, sir?”
Her belly furled as the question slipped from her lips, but Lily had to know.
“Your submission for a start,” he began. “And that means obeying me, Lily, or facing the consequences.”
His intense blue stare caught her eyes, and her heart began to pound in her chest as she thought about what those incredible, torrid consequences might be.
“And no running,” he reiterated as he went on. “I think we’ve reached an understanding on this journey, but you don’t exactly have a great track record in that department, little one, so…”
Ethan paused, pulling in a deep breath.
“So?” she croaked.
“So, I’ll keep you tied to the bed for the time being,” he told her. “Until I can trust you again.”
Lily’s heart was thundering so hard now that she felt sure Ethan must be able to hear its rhythm from the front seat. “Wait. What?”
“You heard me,” he growled. “And watch your manners, young lady.”
“But, tied to the bed, sir?” Lily could barely catch her breath at the idea. On the one hand, it sounded magnificent and she could feel the moisture pooling between her legs at the mere thought, but the other hand, Lily knew better. She’d spent the best part of the day bound and it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Her muscles were aching, and it was impossible to ever get comfortable. “All the time?”
Ethan’s dark laughter filled up the car. “Not all the time,” he confirmed. “I was thinking about night time. Just so you can’t get away, little flower.”
Lily gasped. Something about the way he made that sound was exceptionally hot.
“Do you concur?”
Her lips parted at his query and she squirmed in her place. “Do I have a choice, sir?”
“Not really,” he admitted with a chuckle. “But I’d like to think you can understand my reasons. And that, with time, our trust can be rebuilt.”
Lily exhaled, hardly able to believe that she was even considering agreeing to this, but yet she was. She wanted free of the duct tape for sure, but it was more than that. She wanted the equilibrium back with Ethan. She wanted more of those excited butterflies again, and less of dread that seemed permanently pitted in her stomach. And maybe, if she could submit, she could earn his trust and possibly even go home again? It had to be worth a try.
And you’ll enjoy it, remarked the wry voice in Lily’s head. There’s no point being coy. You know it, and so does he…
“I hope so, too, sir,” she ceded after a moment. “I’d like to get back to the way we made each other feel before you dropped a bombshell, but I’m not naive enough to think that’s going to be easy.”
“Not since you tried to kill me, no.”
She shook her head at him. Was he ever going to let up about that? Hadn’t she already been punished? “I was thinking more about the bombshell, actually. I still can’t quite process your confession.”
Ethan’s fist tightened at the steering wheel, and instinctively, Lily’s heart picked up its pace again.
“I can’t imagine how it sounds to someone else.” Ethan’s voice was strained as he spoke. “I’ve been rationalizing it in my head for so long—too
long—it’s all just become normal.”
“It’s not normal,” Lily assured him. “Sir.”
He glanced out of the window for a moment. “And yet you still love me?”
“Yes.” She sounded resolute. “Those things—those despicable things—all happened before you met me, and I believe what you said, sir. I believe that us being together has made a difference. I want that. I want to be that difference for you.”
From her place on the back seat, Lily saw his jaw clench. “You are that difference.”
Lily’s heart swelled at his words. “Right,” she murmured. “And I believe in that, Ethan.”
Ethan
His throat dried as Lily made the admission from the back seat. A part of him loved what she was telling him—he needed to hear it—and he clung to it with everything he had, but another part of him knew there was a snag in the plan. A problem with Lily’s beliefs, and her name was Jody. His little flower still knew nothing about the fate of her friend, but one day she would. Even driving over three hundred miles wasn’t going to be enough to shield her from the news forever. And once she found out, Ethan had a feeling it could be the greatest test of their affection yet. His stomach knotted as the reality presented itself, but then Ethan did what he did best—he ignored the warning signs—and went on running right through them.
“So, was that a yes?” he asked, tilting his head to cast an eye over the gorgeous, bound brunette in the back. “Do you agree to my terms?”
Lily squirmed against his leather, the gesture making his cock harden on reflex. “Yes, sir,” she murmured. “But, please, can you cut me free now? My arms are so sore in this position.”
He eyed her plaintive little expression in his mirror. She did have a point. He’d need to free her limbs to help her circulation, and anyway, he couldn’t very well turn up at the bed and breakfast with a bound woman slung over his shoulder.
“I suppose,” he concluded, checking the road as he pulled over to a stand-still. “You have been a pretty good girl today.”
An attractive blush rose to her cheeks at his compliment, and Ethan smiled as he clocked it in the mirror. She was too fucking adorable. Opening his door, he strode to the trunk, and retrieved his kitchen scissors. Scissors were a useful tool to have in any car, and they were going to have Lily out of her fix in a matter of moments. He joined her on the back seat, flashing her wide green eyes with an errant grin.
“Feet up here,” he told her, patting his lap to make his intentions clear.
She swung her tiny feet into position, practically panting as he took the scissors to the duct tape at her ankles. It took a few moments to ease the blades into place, but soon enough Lily’s feet were freed. Ethan hadn’t bound her too tightly, after all. There was no need with her wrists bound, too.
She tensed as he pulled the tape from her tights, but sighed as her legs became mobile again.
“Turn around, beautiful,” he commanded, brushing her feet back to the floor, and slowly, with one lingering glance, his little Lily complied.
Ethan’s shaft throbbed in anticipation at that one simple gesture of submission and he shook his head as he shifted closer to the place she was sitting.
“Lean forward,” he instructed, but he grabbed her wrists anyway, raising them higher so he could take a look at the tape.
“Oww.” She winced. “That hurts, sir.”
Ethan’s gaze flickered north to her face for a moment, but his attention was back at her wrists in a moment. “Hold still,” he told her. “You’ll be free in a moment.”
Of course, free was a relative concept when you belonged to Ethan Reilly, but Lily understood that well enough at this point.
With a few cuts, her wrists were freed, and he placed the scissors down as he massaged the tired muscles of her shoulders.
“Better?”
Just having his hands on her body again made him heady. Ethan couldn’t wait to get her to bed.
“So much better, sir,” she breathed.
“Good, then jump into the front, and you can remove the rest of the tape before we arrive.”
Lily glanced back at him for a moment, those green eyes flashing as she smiled. “I can’t wait to get you to bed, too, sir.”
Ethan captured her mouth in an instant at that, his cock tenting in his pants as his tongue snaked between her lips. No matter what happened between them, he didn’t think he would ever get used to the way Lily could read his thoughts, too. But on this occasion, he reckoned he could forgive her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lily
It was almost dark by the time they pulled into the small drive of the bed and breakfast. Ethan seemed to know where he was going, and Lily didn’t ask how, or why. She was exhausted. Tired from being bound most of the day; weary with the weight of the things she had discovered, and disconcertingly, still thrumming with sexual need. He parked the car, switching off the engine before he reached into his denim pocket.
“I have something for you.”
Lily turned toward his face, her gaze following the movement of his hand as he opened the large palm in front of her. Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw what he held there.
“Ethan!”
His fingers grasped the small object in a heartbeat, and his free hand reached for her nape, tugging her gently in his direction. “Just because you’re free of my binds, do not forget your place, little one.”
Ethan’s words sent a chill right down her spine, and Lily lifted her gaze to find the fire flashing in his eyes. “Or the deal you agreed to earlier.”
“I’m sorry,” she breathed. “Sir, I just…”
The words died in her throat, but her eyes were back on his hand again. On the ring she knew it concealed.
“It’s not what you think,” he murmured. “I wouldn’t do it like this, Lily.”
Her heart hammered in her chest. If it wasn’t a proposal, then what was it?
He smiled. “It’s our way inside without raising questions,” he answered. “This is a decent establishment, little one. They wouldn’t abide a non-married couple sharing a bed together, and we are definitely going to be sharing a bed.”
“Oh.”
She sounded disappointed, for God’s sake.
“Lily.” Ethan’s voice had softened. “It’s not as callous as it sounds.”
He stretched out those long fingers, revealing the small golden ring to Lily’s eyes. “This was my mother’s wedding ring. It’s one of the few parts of her I still have.”
Lily’s chest tightened. “Then, I can’t take it, sir,” she told him in a panicky voice. “It wouldn’t be right.”
Ethan shook his head at her. “It’s entirely right,” he corrected her. “You’re borrowing it for the purposes of our stay, but you can view it as a loan. When the time is right, you’ll have your own.”
She gulped at that, suddenly at the brink of emotion.
“Show me your ring finger,” he whispered into her ear.
With a deep breath, Lily’s hand rose. It was shaking as she held it out for him, but for some reason, she was unable to stop its fidgety movement.
“You’re nervous.”
It was more of a statement than a question, but Lily nodded nonetheless. “You make me nervous. Sir.”
Ethan laughed at that. “You are such a paradox,” he said with a dark chuckle. “I didn’t sense this much tension in you when you took my belt, and now, look at you. I present you with one little ring and you’re quivering!”
Lily bit her lip again. She wasn’t sure Ethan’s assertion about his belt was correct. She recalled being absolutely terrified of the thing, but still, it was unsettling how apprehensive she seemed.
“Don’t be,” he soothed, and Lily watched, mesmerized as he slid the small gold band over her ring finger.
For a moment she was certain that the thing wouldn’t fit her. It looked so dainty, and Lily had always hated her chubby little fingers, yet he slid it over her knuckle effor
tlessly, his caress lingering long after the ring was in place. For a moment, they both just sat there and stared at the thing.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered. Because it was. Singly the most beautiful piece of jewelry she’d ever worn.
“Then it suits you,” he replied in a wistful tone. “And anyway, I like to think my mother would have approved of you, Lily.”
He paused. “What is your surname, by the way?”
The laugh that left her lips broke through the discernible tension in the car. How could they have been through so much already and he not even know her full name?
“Simpson,” she said with a smile. “It’s Lily Simpson.”
Ethan returned her grin. “Good to meet you Lily Simpson,” he purred. “I’m Ethan Reilly, and for the next two or so days at least, you’ll be a Reilly, too.”
She nodded as he slid back into his seat, but her heart was still hammering its own excited beat inside her chest as he exited the vehicle and collected a small bag of possessions from the trunk.
Ethan
Ethan had stayed here for a while after the trial, when he just needed to get away from the newspapers and the headache of it all, but as he took Lily’s hand and wandered toward the entrance, he began to wonder if he should have phoned ahead. What if they had no space for them tonight? He had no plan B.
Making his way into the wood paneled doorway, he gestured for Lily to go ahead to the front desk. An older woman with glasses that had almost slid from her nose lifted her chin to see their approach.
“Can I help you, sir?” she asked, addressing Ethan directly.
“I hope so,” he replied, fixing her with one of his pre-prepared smiles. “My wife and I would like to stay with you for a couple of nights. Do you have availability?”
The woman smiled, but her gaze lingered over the state of Lily’s attire. “We do, sir, but only in our suite, I’m afraid. Will that be a problem?”
From the corner of his eye, Ethan saw Lily turn to him, her gaze wide.
“That’s perfect,” he assured her. “I have the cash for the first two nights now.”
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