“Yes, I am.” He winked cheekily, his mouth capturing mine, kissing me so deeply, my back bowed up into him.
“I hated waking up to you gone,” I muttered, our breaths already speeding up.
“Got called out at three a.m. Zuri spotted poachers camping by the river, waiting for daybreak to shoot the animals coming to drink.” His lip lifted in disgust, but he quickly returned to kissing me. I relished the feel of his lips dragging down my neck, and I tipped my head back, my legs curling around him.
Lennox had found his calling here like it had been waiting for him his whole life. His extensive military training made him the best security and bodyguard around. He protected us from wild animals if they got into camp or when we went out into the reserve, but more from poachers and drug runners willing to kill if we got in their way. Since arriving, I had been shot at over a dozen times. This kicked in my PTSD, the bombing sometimes flaring up like a volcano. But talking about it with Lennox and calling it out when it happened seemed to ease the night terrors.
One time, a group tried to sneak into our camp to murder us, while others went after our animals and medicine. Lennox was having none of it.
The story of the lone white man taking on so many assailants like some superhero spread far and fast, turning him into some kind of legend. Men from far-off villages were trekking here daily to train with Lennox, wanting to become part of his army protecting the reserve and caregivers.
Not all were happy about this new group of warriors who roadblocked their way to a profit, but the team was thrilled to have Lennox and money came in from the corporations to pay for him and his men. Zuri was Lennox’s righthand man, and together with over a dozen men, Lennox’s security business was growing quickly into a thriving company. It also was nice that Zuri’s brother was a local policeman.
I couldn’t be prouder of my man.
“You get them?” I gasped as his hands tore the tank over my head, his mouth covering my breast.
“Let’s say the police station has three Christmas gifts tied up in a bow waiting for them on the steps,” he muttered over my skin, directing his mouth to the neglected breast, sucking and flicking at my nipple.
“Oh, god.” I arched into him, my finger tugging off his t-shirt, breaking our connection for a moment before we crashed back into each other with even more hunger. Our sex life only seemed to be getting more intense and passionate. And louder. But here, sex did not embarrass people like it did in uptight Great Victoria, where even showing emotion was frowned on. That place was grey and dull.
I lived in color now.
My hands tore at his trousers, yanking them down his hips. Our skin sticky and hot, our bodies moved together in sync.
“Bloody hell, Spence. I still can’t get enough of you.” He yanked down my knickers, his fingers sliding through me, pumping into me. My teeth dug into my bottom lip as I groaned. Our need for each other skipped to feral and desperate. “I apologize, Duchess…this might be quicker than I’d like. You know how I get after a night like that.”
I did, and I loved it. Hunting and fighting poachers got him all riled up and full of testosterone, which needed an outlet.
One I happily provided. “Good. Screw foreplay…I want you inside me now.”
He hissed at my directness, his hand pushing up my leg as he thrust into me, pushing my head back into the pillow with a loud gasp, his deep moan filling the space under the netting. Euphoria lit up every nerve, stealing my breath, forcing noises that could rival the animals outside.
Clutching my hands, he pinned them above my head as he rocked into me, pushing in deeper, my body matching his fevered intensity.
“More…god…Lennox. Don’t stop,” I cried out, feeling the buzz of my release coming.
“Remember, Duchess…I don’t plan to. Ever.” He growled, repeating a phrase he said to me our first time together. “Mine.”
Yes. It was. And everything else that came along with it.
He hitched my leg higher, slamming into me, hitting even deeper, one hand grabbing the headboard, using it to thrust harder. The bed creaked, shifting loudly over the wood floor, the tent shaking with our intensity.
“Fuuucck…” Lennox hissed through his teeth. Freeing one hand, he rubbed at my core, spiraling me out of my body. A boisterous cry broke from my lips as I broke apart, shattering in pieces. He bellowed over me, his hips pushing so deep I started to shake, my body overloaded with sensations as we both came crashing down to earth together, his body collapsing on mine. Our heavy breaths mixed, skin dripping with sweat, our gazes locked on each other.
“Good morning.” He grinned down, his mouth brushing mine.
A smile reached my ears. “Good. Morning.”
“Now I definitely need to take a shower before my shift.”
“I can join you.”
“No. I think we scarred Noah and Amelia last time when they caught us.” Noah was one of Lennox’s new guards from Australia, and Amelia was an American girl in her later twenties who was also doing the same thing I was. We had become really good friends.
“Like those two weren’t going in there for the same thing.”
“She says they’re only friends.”
Lennox snorted, his body sliding off mine, flopping onto his pillow. “We’ll see after the party tonight.” He arched his brow. “You know how holiday parties can get.” He stuffed an arm under his head.
“And birthday parties,” I countered. The night of the holiday party, my entire world had started to change, but the night of the King’s birthday, my life totally changed. All because of the man lying next to me. “You said to me that night to tell you to walk away, to stop…would you have if I did?”
With his free hand, he reached over, touching my face.
“Not a chance,” he rumbled. “I was already long gone when it came to you. I was just trying to give you an out.”
“I don’t want an out…ever,” I said softly.
A strange expression flittered over his face, his lips pressing together, giving way to a moment of muteness between us, fluttering a twinge of fear through my stomach.
“What?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. You got weird. Anything wrong?”
“Nope. Everything is perfect.” He shook his head, a smile widening his features, feeling a little forced.
“O-kay. I better get moving. You get some sleep.”
“Yeah.” He tossed my pillow over his eyes with a groan. “I only have a few hours before I need to head to the airport to pick up Landen.”
I hopped out of the bed with an excited chirp. Landen had decided to spend Christmas with me this year. He was bringing his “special friend,” and it sounded like things were getting really serious between them. I couldn’t wait to see him. Over the last couple of months, after losing his father to a heart attack, he had been going through some rough patches.
Grabbing my bathroom stuff, I headed to the toilet, the morning sun already beating down on me.
My family had also gone through a lot of these past two years, but I felt they had finally found peace when Uncle Fredrick died. The doctors said that stress probably killed him. How could I not think it was my fault?
Even with Lord William nullifying their loan with him, my family couldn’t keep up with the bills, and the house suddenly became a hotbed of paparazzi, curious travelers, bitter Theo fans, and hungry press looking for a tidbit. When Oliva got bullied and beat up at school, my parents decided it was enough. Fredrick and Lauren, being blackballed from society, felt they had no reason to stay. They all decided to hand over the estate to the bank and leave the country, moving to America. Nara and John stayed on the property, hired to keep it up as they opened it to the public. She kept me updated, saying the place was packed, everyone wanting to see where the infamous Spencer Sutton grew up. She’d laugh and tell them shocking stories of my life there, like how messy I left my room, or when I nicked extra cookies. I loved that woman.