Page 77 of Pride

“Promise you’ll take care of them,” I whispered back, and he sighed as he closed his eyes for a beat, and the flicker of a solemn smile graced his beautiful lips.

“I’ll guard them with my life.”

He leaned forward again to kiss me, slowly. A true kiss that showed he meant what he said, then he pulled away to look down at me.

“It’s getting late. We should head home.”

I wasn’t going to disagree.

I glanced at the blanket with the food wrappers and glasses, and he read my mind as he said, “Don’t worry about all this. I have staff on-call, ready to come and pack it all away and leave the park tidy. Come on.”

He held my hand, threading his fingers through mine as he led me back through the park.

“It must be nice to have people at your beck and call,” I mused as we strolled in the moonlight.

“It’s nicer to have someone by my side,” he replied and as he glanced to the side, at me, the last brick in my wall crumbled away.

When we got to the car, he kissed me gently before opening my door. Then he got in the car and smiled across at me as the engine roared to life.

We drove home listening to his playlist as we both grinned to ourselves and made small talk. And when we pulled up outside the manor, I didn’t wait for him to open my door, I got out and went to him, holding his hand as he led me up the steps to the front door.

Once inside, he kept hold of my hand as we walked up the staircase and down the corridor to my room.

Or were we heading to his room?

I really didn’t care at this point. I just wanted to be with him.

When we got to my door, he stopped and took my face in his hands.

“Tonight has been... amazing,” he said, leaning forward to kiss me. It was a slow and sexy kiss, his tongue stroking mine as he tasted me.

But then he pulled away.

“Goodnight, Emma.”

He kissed my forehead, then let go of me and took a step back.

My racing, hopeful heart gave a painful twist as he turned and walked away.

He wasn’t going to take this further.

Did I need to speak up?

To be the one to say, ‘Stop, Alex, I want this’.

Maybe I was, but when I opened my mouth, I couldn’t bring myself to utter a sound. I watched him walk to his door, open it, and disappear inside, and the words I wanted to say stayed in my heart and went unspoken.

CHAPTER THIRTY

ALEX

It took every ounce of restraint I had to walk away from her. I didn’t want to, and I knew from the look in her eyes she didn’t want me to.

So why was I hurting us both and walking away?

Because I wanted to make sure she was ready. Not tipsy on champagne, but fully with me, in the moment. Able to give me her full consent, knowing she wouldn’t regret it in the morning. But damn, it was hard to leave her looking so needy and sexy.

Once I’d reached my bedroom suite, I went straight to my bathroom and turned on the shower. Then I stripped my clothes off, throwing them into my laundry basket until I was standing there completely naked. I stepped into the shower and put my head under the hot water, letting it cascade over me as I closed my eyes.