Page 24

CHAPTER 23

AMELIA

Tristan breathes heavily, humming loudly. “We’re almost back to the house, we better prepare to get presentable.”

Somehow I forgot there were other people with us. Like he normally does, Tristan got my attention focused completely on him. Which I needed. Seeing Callum tonight wasn’t part of my plan, and if Tristan had let me, I would have thought about it for the rest of the evening.

It’s one of the bad habits I have. Letting one thing ruin my entire day. Possibly days. Thank God Tris didn’t let me do it this time. As much as I make him smile, he does the same for me. Maybe even more.

The limo comes to a stop as I’m trying to push my hair back up into its clip. Tristan is doing his best to button my dress, making sure no one besides him gets an eye full.

“Tristan.” I giggle, my body heating up, probably covered with a blush the likes of which none of them have ever seen. “I can’t believe we did this here.”

“Never done it before.” He wipes at his lips. “You’re a bad influence, Lia.”

Somehow I don’t believe that.

We’re more likely a bad influence on each other.

As I exit, I don’t meet Parker’s eyes. It’s not that I’m totally embarrassed about what happened. I’m also shy about sharing how I like to behave with Tristan. He makes me feel like a lovesick teenager, and it’s just not something I’m used to. I’m ninety percent positive both of the men in the front seat knew exactly what we were doing.

“Thank you, Parker.” Tristan relieves him as we enter our home. “Your presence isn’t required for the rest of the evening.”

Parker nods, bows slightly and then takes off for his room.

“You basically just told him we were going to go screw,” I groan as I lean my head against Tristan’s chest.

“Screw?” He snorts. “My queen, royalty doesn’t use the word screw.” He laughs. “Besides. Trust me, he knows what we did in the back seat. His job is to be discreet, and I have no doubt he is.”

I squeal when Tristan picks me up, carrying me up the stairs toward our room. “You’re so strong.” I grab hold of his shoulders.

“Go ahead, tell me more things that’ll blow up my ego.”

Giving him a saucy grin, I lean in to his ear, grabbing the lobe between my teeth. I let it go, and then say in my sexiest voice. “I’d love to blow up more than your ego.”

He growls, deep in his throat, it’s the one I love. It travels all over my body, down my arms and up my chest. Outside the door, he allows my feet to touch the ground. With a smirk, he looks down at me, pressing me up against the hardness of the wood.

“What?” The smirk is something I’ve never seen before.

Tilting his head to the side, he moves in slightly. “You’re beautiful, Lia.”

The heat spreads across my cheeks, I can feel it warming them, making the skin go red. “Thank you.”

“No.” He shakes his head, taking a breath. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

His hands slap against my ears, boxing me in. I don’t want to run though; I want to melt into him.

“For being here,” he whispers. “I know you’ve been groomed for this since you were a teenager, but we both know you could have said no. It would have caused issues, but you could have refused.”

“You could have said no too,” I remind him.

The implication hangs between us. We didn’t want to say no, we both wanted to see where this goes between us. Leaning forward, he presses his lips against mine before pushing off the door.

“C’mon.” He grins.

My hand goes into his as we slink into our room.

This is our haven, has been, and I assume it always will be. Here we can be who we really are. There are no expectations other than our own. He pulls me into the bathroom, where the lights are low and romantic. We don’t speak with our voices. Our eyes do the talking as they meet at different intervals.

My gaze follows his as he reaches into the shower, cranking up the main jet, along with the ones running down the sides. Once he tests the temperature, making sure it’s to his liking. A slow smile spreads across his face as he approaches me. My eyes meet his and I see it.

The passion. The desire. The love.

It’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner.

And I had absolutely no idea I’d get it with an arranged marriage.

TRISTAN

She’s gorgeous as she bites her lip when I approach. There’s something about the way she becomes coy, almost shy when I let her see exactly how much I want her. Slowly I take first her clothes off and then mine. Still, neither one of us speaks.

I can’t help it now, though. “I didn’t expect you,” I whisper, hoping not to disturb the almost dream-like quality of this room.

“Expect me?” she questions, her eyes running up and down my body.

“There were so many things I expected when I knew I hadn’t picked a wife. I thought I’d get someone who didn’t want to be my friend. Someone who wouldn’t enjoy pleasures of the flesh,” I smirk, following the edge of her collarbone with the tip of my finger.

I run it down completely until our palms meet, our fingers clasping.

“I enjoy the pleasures of your flesh.” She smirks right back at me.

Pulling her into the shower, I run my hands through her hair. The dark locks flow like a river across her shoulders and down her back. I take great pleasure in the way she lets me wash them. The liberties she lets me take as she tilts her head this way and that so I can get all the shampoo out.

“There are so many women who could have been picked for me, Lia. I have to think you were picked for a reason. No matter the things my father has done wrong, this is the one thing he did right.”

I’m half-scared to say the words to her. It gives her power over me, a power no one has ever had. It’s my greatest fear, handing my heart to someone who can crush it. Having already had it crushed once before has made me skittish. So I’ve held on tight, doing my best not to put myself into a situation where I’d have to answer the question— why won’t you give me yourself, Tristan?

The fact of the matter is, I’m not even sure I’ve ever had control of myself to give it to someone else.

But Lia? She’s given me the confidence and security I didn’t know I needed. I may not have known I needed it, but fuck do I feel it. In the way she is with me. The way her eyes look at me, the smile she gives only me, and the way my whole chest gets warm when she finds me in a crowd.

I’ve never had a relationship with any woman the way I have with her. There’s never been trust, or this depth of emotion she makes me feel. Crushing her body to mine, I kiss her neck, letting my lips do the talking, instead of promising things I might not be able to deliver on in the future. I’ve done that a lot. Promised shit I knew I’d never be able to deliver on.

But she’s made me better, made me want to be better. Not only for her, but for myself too.

“Are you okay? You got real quiet there for a second.” She’s worried, I can see it plain as day in her face.

“Just enjoying my time with you. The last few days have been some of the most stressful in my life, and all I want to do is be with you. Drown myself in you, and feel you all around me.”

“Use me.” She leans up, nipping her teeth at my ear. “I want to be the person to help you handle your stresses. I’m not here just for the good stuff, Tris. I’m here for everything. The good, the bad, or the ugly. That’s what marriage and a relationship are about.”

Leaning down, I frame her face with my hands, kissing her softly. I long to give her all my feelings in this connection of our bodies. Hopefully they can say what my words aren’t. What I can’t bring myself to say just yet. It’s the prayer I pray as I turn her around so that she’s back under the spray.

The heat from the water causes a haze of steam between us, giving a touch of a fantasy to us. Her hands move along my body, grasping me around my waist, pulling me to her. She steps up on her tiptoes, kissing me brazenly, thrusting her tongue into my mouth, owning it.

I groan deep in my throat because it’s not often she takes what’s hers, and there is no doubt I’m hers. She owns me in a way no one else has owned me in a long time.

My hands palm her ass, carrying her from the shower to our bed.

Lying her down, I feast, look at what she’s offering, before I spread her legs and push myself home.

As I enter her, our eyes meet, and I swear I see the rest of my life.