Now, I looked at her with new eyes, seeing the same woman I looked at every day somehow look different. Did I want to go back to the camp without her? No. But I would never be selfish and ask her to stay with me. She was stuck to me like glue. A lot of people said shit they didn’t mean, made promises they couldn’t keep, said they would be there, knowing they wouldn’t show up, but not Raven.
She was different.
When she said something, she meant it.
It was easy for Melanie to go back to Fender because he gave her pretty things, gave her a life she could only dream of. It was easy to look the other way and ignore his crimes against humanity. But Raven voluntarily joined me in hell, walked away from her freedom to remain a prisoner with me.
Because it was real.
We were real.
We drove into the countryside and approached the iron gate between two tall trees with a brick wall that surrounded the property.
I rolled down the window and entered my code in the keypad.
The doors slowly swung inward.
I drove through and saw the gate close behind me in my rearview mirror. There was a large pond in front of the lawn of my home, filled with floating lily pads and fallen flowers. I drove down the path toward the two-story French estate and then pulled up to the front of the house.
She looked out the window and admired the two statues in front of the pillars, the traditional French architecture, the history of a place that had been around for centuries. “It’s beautiful…”
It wasn’t as large as Fender’s, but it was still too big for one person. I bought it for seclusion when I needed a break from the city. Sometimes tourism was so rampant in the summer that I needed a place to retreat until they returned to wherever the fuck they came from.
We got out of the car and walked to the front door.
My butler greeted us with two glasses of wine, along with the perfect pairing of cheese. “Great to have you back, sir.”
I took the glass off the tray and took a drink. “Thank you, Ramon. How have things been?” I spoke English so Raven could understand us.
“The house has been doing well. The stables—”
“I meant with you.”
“Oh.” He chuckled and placed his hand over his chest. “I’ve been doing quite well. Thank you for asking.” He turned to Raven. “Lovely to meet you, mademoiselle. Please let me know if you need anything.” He headed toward the doors. “I’ll take care of the luggage.”
Raven finished chewing her cheese as she watched him go. “He’s nice. He just lives here all the time?”
“Yes.” We moved forward and entered the large kitchen and sitting room. The back window showed the acres of land and the horses grazing in the pasture. “With an estate this size, it requires constant upkeep.”
When she noticed the horses, she moved to the window and placed her hand against the pane. “Oh my god, I think I see her…”
I turned my gaze and watched her press her nose to the glass, watched her look at the horse that had carried her to the safety of my chateau. She had a connection with many things, whether it was humans or animals, because her heart was pure.
She turned to me. “Can we go say hi?”
When did I ever tell her no? “Sure.”
We opened the gate to the pasture and walked across the grass to where the horses stood. Most of them were spread out and grazing, eating the fresh grass below their hooves. I kept horses as a hobby even though I rarely rode.
Raven walked out in front of me and cupped her hands around her mouth to shout across the field. “Rose!” She waved her arms in the air to get her attention. “Girl, it’s me.”
I didn’t expect the horse to recognize her since their interaction had been so short. But I watched Rose lift her head and turn our way, looking at the two people who had entered her world. Her ears twitched a little bit, and she flicked her tail. Then she turned our way and came toward us.
Raven looked at me, bursting with emotion. “I think she recognizes me.” She faced forward again. “Rose, I’m so happy to see you!”
Rose started to run, crossing the grass and coming close to Raven. She released a loud neigh as she approached. Then she dropped her neck so her nose could rub up against Raven’s face.
I almost couldn’t believe it.
Raven wrapped her arms around the horse and hugged her, chuckling but also crying in her emotional state. “You remember me…” She rubbed her behind the ears and moved her hand down the bridge of the horse’s nose before she placed a kiss there. “You look so good. Have you been eating a lot of oats?” She laughed, like it was an inside joke between the two of them. “I wish I could bring you inside to sleep with me, but we both know how mad Magnus will get.” She moved into the horse’s chest and wrapped her arms around her neck, standing underneath her while rubbing her hands over her muscular shoulders. “Girl, I missed you…” She stood there with Rose, hugging her horse like she’d been the one to take care of her for years. There was a bond so strong that the horse could still recognize her even after months of no contact.
I’d never seen anything like it.
I watched their tender exchange and felt like I was in the presence of something truly special. It wasn’t the relationship. It wasn’t the horse.
It was Raven.
She was the special one.
After dinner, we took a walk outside across the estate, moving down the path between the flowers and bushes until we came back around and stopped at the pool.
“This thing is huge.” She stood at the edge and looked down at the water. “Is this an Olympic-size pool?”
I shrugged.
“Do you wanna go for a swim?” She kicked off her sandal and stuck her toe inside to feel the temperature. “It feels really nice.”
“You don’t have a suit.” It was something I hadn’t mentioned to Miranda. I didn’t know we would take a trip up here, and even if I had, I hadn’t expected her to want to take a late-night swim.
“So?” She unzipped the back of her dress and let it come loose. “Don’t the French like nude beaches?” She wiggled out of her dress until she was in just her strapless bra and thong.
“Ramon is probably in the kitchen right now…”
She dropped the rest of her clothing until she was in the nude. “He brings me wine and cheese…he can look all he wants.” She jumped into the pool and disappeared under the water.
My gaze moved up to the windows to see if Ramon was looking.
He was.
Ashamed that he’d been caught, he quickly looked away.
I chuckled then looked down at the water again.
Her head broke the surface, her wet hair sticking to the back of her neck. She moved her hands to her face and wiped the water from her eyes. “Come on, get in.” She lay back on the surface of the water then stuck her legs into the air so her head and torso were submerged in the water. When she came back up for air, she wiped her face again.
With my hands in my pockets, I just stared at her. “I’m not gonna walk up two flights of stairs to grab my suit.”
“Then don’t.” She smiled at me before doing a flip in the water.