“That’s the first part done,” he mumbled into her hair as the others gathered beside them.
Molly gazed up into his green eyes. Connor looked weary, yet resolute. “You did well,” she murmured. “I didn’t realize you knew those prayers.”
Connor offered her a small smile. “It had been a while,” he told her wistfully as his arms wrapped around her middle. “But suddenly I have the desire to make amends.”
His eyes seared into her, making her breath catch despite the awful conditions.
“I’m proud of you,” she whispered into the stubble at his jaw.
“Molly.” The sound of Dalton’s voice resonated over her head, and she turned from Connor’s arms to find his older brother smiling down at her.
“What is it, brother?” Connor’s tone was light, but Molly knew him well enough to know he was unimpressed at the interruption.
“I have something for your little lady,” Dalton retorted. “At her request, of course.”
Connor’s curiosity was piqued, and that sexy brow rose at his brother’s words.
Molly smiled at Dalton. “You remembered,” she exclaimed. “Thank you!”
“What’s this?” Connor pressed up against her side. “Should I be jealous of my own brother?”
Dalton was laughing as he turned from them, ducking down to the roots of the tree to collect something waiting in the darkness. “No need for jealousy, little brother,” he smirked. “It’s obvious to us all that you two are crazy about each other, but Molly asked me to bring these along with me this morning.”
His right hand rose to reveal the bunch of flowers wrapped in clear plastic, and he thrust them in Molly’s direction.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I appreciate it.”
“So, you asked him for flowers?” Connor chuckled indignantly as his gaze darted between the two of them.
“Not like that, Master,” she said, laughing in return. “I just asked Dalton to pick these up for me, but actually, they’re for Lydia.”
Connor’s expression faltered, his eyes drilling into Molly’s face again as she took the bouquet from his brother. “For Lydia?”
“Yes,” she answered him in a quiet voice. “I was thinking about what would make this ceremony more meaningful, and I decided Lydia deserved these. Something beautiful to mark her grave.”
Connor’s eyes fell over the flowers in her hands, his flashlight angling over the long stems to the breathtaking blooms of the amaryllises. “These are your favorites,” he brooded, his hands rising to grasp Molly’s small palms.
“Yes,” she breathed. “I didn’t know what she liked.”
Connor gulped, shaking his head as he stared down at Molly. “They are beautiful,” he murmured. “Just like you, and it’s a lovely thought, kitten, but think about it. We can’t leave flowers to mark her grave. We can’t leave anything which draws attention to the site. As it is, our guys are going to have to go over it with a fine-tooth comb, to make sure our little gathering can’t be traced.”
Molly blinked up at him. Dammit, he was right. What she been thinking? “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, staring down at the red petals in her palms. “I didn’t think.”
“It’s okay,” he told her, drawing her as close as he could without crushing the blooms between them. “You were just being you; thoughtful and considerate. We’ll think of some way to use them to commemorate Lydia. Thank you.”
He gazed down into her face, the sound of the falling rain around them drowning out everything except his words. “But how about next time you want flowers, you come to me, rather than Dalton?”
Molly flushed at his words. His brother had made a respectful exit from their conversation a moment before, and she was glad he wasn’t in earshot anymore. “I promise, Master,” she whispered into his face. “Next time I’ll come to you.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
He scattered the blooms on their trek back to the car, breaking the amaryllis flowers into handfuls and spreading the petals behind them. Molly smiled at the gesture, apparently satisfied, and in his heart, Connor concurred. The flowers were beautiful, just as Lydia had been, and she did deserve them. It was a heartwarming touch from Molly, another sign of the woman he had taken and twisted, and another one of the many reasons he adored her. If necessary, the guys could collect them later, but in reality, the rain and the earth would do a decent job of hiding their significance from anyone who came looking.
“What is it about the amaryllis that you love so much?” he inquired as they hurried back to the car.
She clung to him as she replied. “I’m not sure,” she admitted as they dashed through the rain. “I have just always loved them. The way they start so small, then swell and grow into something more. And then, in the end, they bloom into something wonderful. Something more beautiful than you could ever have imagined at the beginning.”
Connor squeezed her hand. Molly was so eloquent, and something about the analogy was fitting. Perhaps the amaryllis could prove to be a good metaphor for their whole story.
By the time they got back to the sedan, they were soaked through and exhausted, the dawn breaking on the horizon behind them.
“Get out of those wet clothes,” he instructed her sensually. “They forecast rain, so I brought some dry ones along for you. They’re in a bag under the seat.”
Molly flashed him an appreciative smile. “For me?”
Connor grinned. His little kitten wanted to play. “Yes, you, pet,” he purred. “Unless, you’d prefer I keep you naked again.”
Her face flushed wonderfully at the concept, and he could tell she liked the idea. “Perhaps,” she replied, biting her lower lip. “But right now, I’ll take being warm and dry, thank you, Master.”
He nodded, grabbing for the small duffel bag of clothes and chucking it in her direction. Laughing, she dodged the missile, but her fingers had already moved to her blouse, unfastening the buttons there as the car pulled away. Something about the look of watching Molly strip was enthralling. Of course, he had seen her naked literally dozens of times before, and her body was practically flawless, but still, it was more than that. The act reminded him of the time when he’d first taken her, and held her at the house. Once she was conscious, the first thing he’d had her do was to strip, and on that day, she’d also been wearing a sexy little blouse. The parallel between the two events was compelling, and it made him hard, showing him how far they had come in just under a year.
“So, Master?” Her tone was soft and alluring, and his gaze washed over the curve of her breasts as she whipped the sodden clothing from her chest. “Can I ask you a question?”
He was amazed at how brazen Molly was these days. She seemed completely unaware of the driver up in the front seat, or possibly, she just didn’t care anymore.
“My kitten always has so many questions,” he mused out loud, and then, turning to offer her a reassuring smile as he also stripped out of his sodden shirt, he continued. “Go on, pet. Ask away.”
“What is this penance you’ll be taking part in?” Molly’s voice was hesitant. Clearly, she knew what a sensitive subject it was likely to be for Connor. She always had been smart.
Connor squeezed his eyes closed momentarily, his gaze shifting to the tinted window. He’d known this moment was coming ever since he’d devised the scheme with Malone. Molly was wise to him, and she missed nothing. After the ritual in the woods when she’d actually heard Malone talking about the price he’d have to pay, she was bound to want to know more. But just for once, Connor knew he would have to keep it to himself. He would have to protect her.
“It’s just something Malone and I came up with,” he told her, shifting his gaze back to the half-naked woman on the seat beside him as he reached for a dry shirt.
By now, she had pulled the snug blue hoodie he’d bought over her breasts, but her legs were bared to the sleek, black interior.
“Something religious?” she asked, pulling the ends of her gray yoga pants ov
er her toes.
One again, he smiled at the innocence of the query. His kitten may have a dark and twisted mind, creating all those devilish storylines for her books, but really, she knew nothing of the real world. Nothing of his world, and of the world he had now forced her into.
“No,” he sighed, pulling the dry shirt over his head. “Not really, although there are some biblical similarities, I suppose.”
An eye for an eye, the little voice in his mind mused, although even that’s not true, is it, Connor. Lydia paid with her life, but you—you’re not going to, are you?
Molly frowned. “It’s not dangerous, is it, Master?”
“Come on now, kitten,” he cooed, aware of his cock swelling at the look of her pert little arse in those pants. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
She was scowling at him as he reached across the backseat. He pulled her across the leather and drew her onto his lap. Connor maneuvered her body until she was sat astride him, gazing down into his no doubt hungry eyes.
“But, I do worry, Master,” she murmured. “What we have is real, but it’s precarious. I’ve given up everything for you. My life, my country, my friends and family; all of it! I can’t lose you, too.”
She was trembling as she spoke, and instinctively, he pulled her even closer against his body.
“You won’t,” he told her, solemnly. “I’m well aware of everything you have sacrificed to be here with me. All I’m saying is that it’s time I made some sacrifices, too.”
Molly shook her head, her eyes welling with tears. “No,” she gasped. “That’s what I mean. You shouldn’t have to give up anything else. You’ve already been to jail, and I…”
He pressed his fingers into her lips, effectively silencing her words. “Hush,” he soothed her. “We both know I haven’t paid my debt to society, kitten. I spent a couple of months in prison, and then I was broken out by my friends. It was hardly brave, and it certainly wasn’t special.”
She blinked down at him, kissing the end of the finger which silenced her. “Then what?” she whispered. “If not jail-time, then what can you do?”
Connor’s body straightened in response to her words. “I can suffer,” he told her flatly. “Just like you did, kitten. Just like she did. I’m no masochist, pet, but for once, it’s time I received the pain, rather than inflicted it.”
Molly’s eyes widened like saucers. “Master,” she warned in a breathy tone. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
Connor laughed at that, her caution as humorous as it was touching. “It’s too late,” he told her dryly. “The decision has already been made.”
He removed his finger, shifting his hand across the side of her cheek and along to her sexy nape. Molly shivered under his touch, nuzzling her head against his skin.
“Please,” she implored him. “Tell me what you’re planning. I don’t want this to be the end.”
Connor smiled. He did so love the way she begged. He always had done. “This isn’t the end, kitten,” he assured her. “But for the first time in my life, I know I have to pay the price for what I’ve done.” He paused, watching her responses carefully. “And I’m ready to pay. I want to.”
A single tear made its way down her flawless complexion. “I understand,” she murmured.
He wanted to chortle at that. Understanding was the last thing her expression revealed, but still, perhaps she was just struggling to try.
“But I’m scared,” Molly told him in a tiny voice. “I don’t know what this means, Master.”
He nodded. “I know,” he replied, drawing her face ever closer toward him. “And I’m afraid that’s just the way it has to be for the time being. I can’t say any more. I’m sorry. I gave Malone my word.”
Molly’s expression crumpled at his words, and the tears began to fall hard and fast.
“You have to trust me, kitten,” he whispered, now just inches from her face. “And I know you have absolutely no reason to do so, but I’m asking you—I’m begging you—please, trust me now.”
She gulped at his words, nodding as a low sob escaped her throat. “I do,” she murmured. “I do trust you, Connor. I admit I didn’t used to, but since I’ve been back, I know how hard you’ve been trying to bury the monster.”
Connor’s fingers moved in her hair, the digits caressing the dark, wet strands as his lips hovered just below her mouth. “There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a while now. I know I’ve mentioned it before when we’ve fucked, but…” His tone was soft and velvety. Frankly, he barely even recognized the sound of it. “But, I want to tell you again.”
“What is it?” she asked, her eyes widening at his sudden change of tact.
Connor’s mouth grazed her lips, and he breathed in the amazing scent of Molly Clary. His cock reacted on reflex, growing even harder in his pants between both their bodies. Slowly, as though time had somehow been suspended, he inched in the direction of her waiting lips, crashing into them with all the passion he’d been saving for just this moment. The kiss was ferocious and intense, robbing him of everything: time, sense and all awareness. They parted, but for a long moment, Connor was dazed by the sensation, overwrought by the whole experience.
“What, Master?” she goaded him. “What do you want to tell me?”
He smiled up at the bewildered face of the woman he had come to worship. “Isn’t it fucking obvious, kitten?” He laughed. “I love you, and I mean I really love you. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone, or anything. You complete me.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
It was well after breakfast by the time the sedan had fought its way through the central London traffic, and Molly was dozing against Connor’s body when the vehicle finally halted. Rousing from his chest, she realized she had collapsed on top of him, her knees still splayed either side of his lap.
“We’re home,” he whispered into the top of her hair.
Home.
Molly’s eyes flickered open at the word, or perhaps it was just the luscious sound of his voice which stirred her. Either way, she lifted her chest and gazed down at the man who had quite literally become the center of her entire world. Home used to be Pennsylvania, the state she had lived in and loved a long time, but the reality was now she had no real home. If home was where her heart was, then it very definitely resided with Connor.
“I’m sorry I fell asleep, Master,” she conceded, flushing a little when she recalled what they had been discussing before slumber overtook her.
Connor had told her he loved her. He’d actually said the words out loud, and this time they hadn’t been involved in some carnal clinch. It wasn’t like Connor to share his feelings at any time. He most often opened up to her after sex, when they lay entwined, their bodies connected in their own intimate embrace. He rarely ever spoke about sentiment at other times, and after the intensity of the woods, it had been the last thing she’d expected.
His dark chuckle filled the large back seat, making her pussy clench out of instinct. “It’s okay,” he murmured after a moment of silence. “I know you were exhausted. But, in truth, I had hoped for a warmer response to such an open declaration of love.”
She blanched as guilt pinballed around her body. “I’m so sorry,” she gasped. “I didn’t mean to offend you, I was just…” Molly paused, trying to collect her thoughts.
“Surprised?” he proffered, one dark brow arching as he completed her sentence.
Yes, her mind answered, because she had been. For so long, Molly had contemplated her feelings for him. She’d obsessed about each stirring emotion, weighing up whether she could live with him, or whether she could live without him. Having considered both outcomes at great length, she had, of course, concluded the obvious. There was no way she could do without him, because she did love him, and she would do anything to stay by his side. Anything. Even give up a part of who she was.
In all that time, she had never once considered the extent to which he loved her. He had murmured words of affect
ion when they’d fucked, going so far as to even tell her that he loved her, but somehow that was different. It was easy to say things in the heat of the moment, but to mean them in the cold, morning light was something else entirely. Deep down, Molly had always trusted her instincts and the visceral connection between them. She believed in what she knew in her heart; Connor did have feelings for her, but hearing them whispered out loud earlier had been truly captivating.
“No,” she told him gently.
“No?” he repeated, pushing himself forward and catching her off guard.
His face was like thunder, but Molly had a feeling he was only joking. Nonetheless, his sudden movement, knocked her off balance, and with a small yelp, Molly lurched sideways, nearly toppling off his lap altogether. Connor steadied her waist between his large hands.
“I had hoped that was how you felt. You’d told me already once or twice,” she admitted. “But it was still amazing to hear it from those lips again. And even in front of the driver?”
She raised a small hand to his chin, trailing an invisible line around his broad lips, as if to reinforce the point.
“I’m pleased you thought so,” he told her as that green stare speared her once again. “I meant every word, and I don’t say so lightly.”
“I know,” she mumbled, aware of her heart threatening to burst out of her chest with excited adrenaline. “I hope I didn’t upset you?”
Molly’s question hung in the air, and his only response was his hard, unrelenting gaze. “Not upset,” he muttered. “Just a little perturbed. It’s not every day I declare my feelings for someone, and I had hoped for a level of… reciprocation?”
She squirmed uncomfortably on his lap. Oh shit, she’d really pissed him off this time, and just as things seemed to have been working out between them for the first time. Molly was genuinely remorseful, too. She had loved hearing those words from his lips, and she’d never intended to fall asleep. It’s just, somehow, the weight of exhaustion had overtaken her. All of those late nights and early mornings, and the safety and heat of being close to his body; it had all become too much, and before she’d known it, Molly had been deep in slumber.
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