Page 107 of Brutal Vows

When I send him a hard stare, he smiles.

“Pleaseget in.”

“Woof.” I step into the water, wincing because it’s hot, but the sting fades quickly, and I sink down with a grateful sigh, closing my eyes.

Quinn murmurs, “Scoot up, sweetheart.”

I bend forward. He lowers himself into the tub behind me, causing the water to rise dangerously high. He settles himself in, stretching his legs out on either side of me, then wraps his arms around me and pulls me back against the solid wall of his chest.

He rests his chin on top of my head and gives me a squeeze.

We’re silent for a while, just sitting together in the hot water, until he says in a thoughtful tone, “What if we get you a house?”

I wait for him to explain. When he doesn’t, I say, “For what, my collection of crowns made of human femurs?”

“I don’t think we could find a place so big. No, I meant foryou.”

“For me to do what?”

“To live in.”

Frowning, I twist my neck and stare up at him.

He swipes a thumb under my eye. It comes away black with smudged mascara. He dips his fingers in the water and repeats it on the other side, cleaning off what must be an unsightly mess on my face made from the tears mingling with makeup.

Very gently, he says, “You said you’d never lived alone. That you went straight from your father’s house to… his.”

His eyes flash with hatred when he says “his,” but he quickly goes on.

“What would you think about getting a place of your own?”

“I don’t think I’m understanding the question.”

“Just because we’re married doesn’t mean I’ll force you to live with me.”

I stare at him in open-mouthed surprise.

“Don’t pull such a puss. I’m not that much of a caveman. Now turn around and let me fondle you while you think of clever insults.”

He grasps my jaw in his hand and faces my head forward. Then he sweeps all my hair off to one side and kisses my neck as he reaches around and cups my breast in his huge hand.

“Not live with you?” I say faintly. “Were you planning on doing that with Lili, too?”

He snorts. “Christ, no. I doubt the wee lass even knows how to feed herself. Seems like she’d require round-the-clock care, like a puppy.”

I’m about to argue with him, but recall the times she nearly burned the house down attempting to cook, and think better of it.

“You, on the other hand.” He chuckles again, now cupping both my breasts in his hands and pulling gently on my nipples. “Can take care of yourself.”

“But… you don’t want to live with me?”

He pauses his caressing to say in a husky voice, “Aye. I do. But more than that, I don’t want you to be miserable.”

I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of that offer. Stunned and overwhelmed, and not altogether believing, because how on earth would something like that even work?

“Quinn… I… I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to know. Just think about it.”