I give him a pouty look. “You’ve been wanting to do that for years.”
He groans. “You have no idea.”
He sighs and drags his hand down my back, then through my hair again. “Christ, I needed that more than I thought I did,” he says. “Thank you.”
“Am I well-marked now?” I ask, pushing myself up to give him a quizzical look.
“Aye, love,” he says with a grin. He brushes my hair off my shoulders and kisses the hickey he left there, then runs his fingertip over a bite mark. “They’ll see these marks.” He runs his hand over to where he came on me. Though he’s washed me off, it’s almost as if I can still feel where he branded me. “And I’ll know these marks are here.”
I nod. “Aye.” I whisper.
We lay like that on the loveseat for a very long time, until the sun dips low on the horizon. My phone buzzes on a nearby table, but I don’t move. I think I might even fall asleep for a bit. I’m so safe like this, so content, when he rouses me with a smile. “Let’s get ready to go.”
“I don’t have clean clothes, though. Can I go back to the dorm?” I ask him.
“No dorm, love, no,” he says. “But I’ve had clothes brought here.”
I really hope it wasn’t my brother that brought them, but I don’t say anything to him.
He wants me to trust him. So, I’ll do just that.
I get up and walk across the room to my phone while he goes to the door to fetch something. I sit on the edge of the bed to read my texts. Four messages from Aisling, two from Sheena, one from Megan. I sigh and read quickly through them.
Sheena just wants to see if I’m okay, Aisling wants to know if I have plans tonight and ARE YOU OKAY?? IS HE BEING GOOD TO YOU? HE BETTER BE TREATING YOU WELL OR HE WILL ANSWER TO ME.
Megan has sent me loads of questions.
Oh my God I heard your guard was killed.
And that Lachlan took the PRIVATE JET to come find you. He might’ve been all aloof and WHATEVER before, but girl, that man has just STAKED HIS CLAIM.
I giggle to myself. If she had any idea.
“What’s so funny over there?” Lachlan asks with mock sternness. He stands in the doorway, the hotel door fastened and bolted behind him, and I let myself stare at him. He’s got a towel around his neck and another around his waist. His scruffy beard and endless hazel eyes, the ink that skates down his neck, over his shoulders, down his arms. Everything about him exudes confidence and power.
“Oh, nothing,” I tease. “Nothing at all.”
“Tisn’t nothing, and you know it,” he says. “What are you all smug about?”
I burst out laughing as he reaches the bed.
“Megan said you’ve staked your claim.”
“Bloody well have,” he says soberly.
“I was just… well, I was just thinking that she doesn’t even know the half of it, does she?”
He reaches me, pushes me down onto the bed, and cups my jaw. “No,” he says. “And unless you want that whipping I mentioned, you won’t tell her, either.”
“Well that’s not fair,” I say with a pout. “Really?”
“Really.”
I swallow hard and open my mouth to protest, then close it again. What’s the fun of finally getting to be with the man of your dreams if you can’t dish about it with your friends?
“Stop that pouting,” he says, his finger on my lips. “And behave yourself. We have to get ready.”
“You are sometimes negative fun,” I say when he releases me, and I stick my tongue out to his broad back.
He looks over his shoulder at me and quirks a brow that makes my heart flutter in my chest.
“Do you want to test me, Fiona?”
I shake my head. My body still thrums with the heat of my climax, the memory of how he orchestrated that still fresh in my mind. “Nope.”
He rolls up the towel around his neck into a rope, turns, then snaps it across my arse. “Then go get ready.”
“Ow! Can I… should I shower?” I ask him.
He holds my gaze, then shakes his head. “Absolutely not.”
It feels naughty—wicked, even, what we did today. But at the same time, I’m not surprised. This is Lachlan. The brooding, powerful force of nature that’s all mine.
All mine.
I look at the clothes in the bag he hands me and feel my brows rise.
“Where did you get these?” I ask him.
“Went on a bit of a shopping spree between your climax and mine,” he says, quirking a brow at me. I flush all the way to my ears.
“No, seriously.”
“Hired someone. Tiernan has connections here, and he put me in touch.”
“Okay, I’m super glad you said it was a connection of his, because honest to God…” I shake my head. “I can’t imagine my brother picking out these.”
I hold up a lacy pair of knickers for him to see and grimace.
“Believe me,” he says, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t want your brother having anything to do with these clothes either.”
I choose a fitted red sheath dress, but he shakes his head and vetoes it. “Too bold,” he says. “It will call attention to you, and that’s the last thing I want to do.” He sighs and takes out a black gown. “Though I have to admit, there’s no fucking way I can really hide a lass like you.”
“Why?” I ask curiously.
He looks at me in surprise. “You’re way too beautiful. Every eye in there will be on you tonight, no matter if I dressed you in a burka or a paper sack.”
I bite my lip. “That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“It’s the truth,” he says without reserve. I smile to myself. He hands me a gown and gives me a playful smack to the arse. “Now get dressed.”
I pull on the gown and watch as it slinks down over my body. I’ve wondered about the workings of the Clan, and tonight, I’ll get to see firsthand. He’s taking me with him to keep me safe, though.
What will that mean?
Will we get any closer to finding out who came after us? Who harmed my guard?
I look at myself in the mirror and nod with approval.
“Christ,” he curses from the bathroom door.
I turn to look at him, surprised at the sudden harsh tone of his voice.
“What?”
He’s wearing trousers and a t-shirt, his muscles stretched tight against his chest, his tattoos visible and stark against the white fabric. Even though I can’t help but let my eyes rove over his body, and I definitely can’t stop the sudden heat that floods me, when I catch his eyes, I stop breathing.
I thought that I knew every facet of Lachlan, from his serious, brooding side, to his sometimes boyish humor, but this—this is something I’ve not seen before. When I look into the depths of his eyes focused on me now, for perhaps the first time ever… I know why he’s as high-ranking in the Clan as he is. The flinty look of his gaze promises retribution and punishment to anyone who’ll stand in our way. He’ll stop at nothing—literally nothing, I understand now— when he sets his eyes on a purpose. And right now, that focus is me.
Though I’m not truly afraid, my heartbeat accelerates, and I take an involuntary step backward. My back slams against the porcelain sink.