So that was what they did.
And they had each other for those late nights when there was nothing to do but curl around each other and hold on tight until the nightmares passed.
“The nightmares are the price of admission,” Zair said one night, holding Nora tight in his strong arms as she fought the terrible images of another dark day’s work away.
“Then they’re worth paying,” Nora had replied fiercely. She’d meant that.
After all, her nightmares were secondhand. She wasn’t Harlow, who humbled Nora every day with her strength and her commitment to not being a victim, not ever again. Harlow, who was starting law school and moving forward, determined to focus on what she had ahead of her instead of what she’d left behind.
If Harlow could do it, far away in California where there was all that sun to drown out what darkness remained, than Nora could do no less.
But this was a wedding, she reminded herself today as she made her way down the aisle. Not a wake. There were no nightmares allowed on a perfect summer afternoon in New York City, high above the tussle of the streets in the elegant rooftop garden of the Black Book Hotel.
Today was about love. Real love. True love.
Love that had not and would not change its course no matter what roadblocks had been thrown up in its wake. No matter the bleakness of the ashes, a phoenix still rose. The phoenix was the point, not the ashes left behind. And a wedding was a celebration of that glorious flight. Nora was sure of it.
Addison’s older brother Austin was marrying his Katy at last, and all of his old college roommates had gathered to help him celebrate. They were all standing up with him at the elegant little altar the hotel had created out of a riot of summer greens and bright blossoms arrayed around a delicate arch, each one of the old friends more handsome than the next.
Austin looked happier than Nora could remember ever seeing him in his elegant suit, a white boutonniere in his lapel. Next to him stood her own brother, Hunter, whose habitual smirk was much softer than it had been a year ago, and something a lot more like sweet when it landed on Zoe in the assembled crowd. Gorgeous Alex Diaz stood next to Hunter, his hands clasped before him as he spoke to Zair, who stood at the end of the line of groomsmen and as far as Nora was concerned, took over the whole of the proud New York skyline.
She expected not everyone would agree with that assessment. But that didn’t make her wrong.
“Nora!”
She jerked her gaze away from Zair and grinned at Addison, who motioned for her to sit down in the empty seat beside her. Nora slid into place, smoothed the skirt of her dress down over her lap and leaned into her friend for a quick hug.
“I love weddings,” Nora said, smiling at Addison and beyond her, at Addison’s man, Logan Black. The unsmiling owner of this hotel who, Nora thought, had come a long way in the past year. He was rumored to actually crack a smile at things that weren’t Addison these days. Sometimes. He nodded at Nora, which was the equivalent of someone else’s full-body embrace. She grinned back.
“Is that why you and Zair were late?” Addison asked now, making no attempt to disguise that sly tone in her voice.
“We had a small wardrobe malfunction,” Nora said primly, which was not entirely untrue, depending on how one defined that “malfunction.”
Her friend laughed. “Is that what we’re calling it these days?”
“I am deeply shocked, Addison, that you would make such base and vulgar insinuations here in these elegant surroundings.” Nora sniffed, though she couldn’t entirely bite back her grin. “You’re supposed to be the perfect little socialite, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Addison said piously. “Absolutely perfect in every way.”
Beside her, Logan let out a low laugh—which was, Nora thought in no little amazement, a kind of wedding gift all its own.
The music began and they all stood. And then Katy Michaels walked down the aisle toward Austin on her younger brother’s arm, her face so bright and so happy it almost hurt to look at her.
Almost.
“When are you planning to make an honest man of me?” Zair had growled at her not long ago, a few floors down in this very same hotel. He’d held her wrists above her head in one hand as he’d slowly, slowly driven her out of her mind with each low, sweet thrust deep inside her.
“When you ask me to marry you,” she’d managed to say, her head thrown back and her hips rising to meet his, to welcome him, to drown in him again and again. It only grew, this fire between them. It only burned brighter.
“I’ve asked you a thousand times.”
“You’ve ordered me to marry you.” She’d sucked in a breath when he’d slowed, his pace turning something like torturous. Sweet, hot, and torturous. She made her voice low and faintly accented, like his. “‘You are mine, Nora.’ ‘Say you’re mine, Nora.’ ‘You will marry me, Nora.’”
Zair pulled back slightly and considered her, those dark green eyes taking in her flushed face, her body splayed out beneath his. “All of those things are true,” he’d said.
“Not if you don’t ask,” she’d thrown back at him. “You can’t boss me into matrimony, Zair.”
And he’d decided that was an excellent time for an object lesson in what he could boss her into doing, and so what if they were almost late to this wedding?
Not that she’d minded it, Nora thought, as Austin and Katy joined hands beneath their garden arch. Not that she ever did.
The ceremony was lovely and poignant. Nora thought everyone present could feel the ghost of Katy’s lost sister Sarah in a good way, as if the bright blue sky above them were Sarah’s version of a blessing. She saw the way the couples found each other in the crowd, as if they couldn’t help but feel closer in the presence of so much hope and promise. Alex Diaz looked out and smiled at Chelsea Maxwell in a manner Nora could only describe as sexy. Next to Chelsea stood her sister, Louise Jensen, Harlow’s old student adviser, and her darkly fascinating companion Jaiven Rodriguez, holding on tight to each other. Jaiven looked devastatingly handsome but a little uncomfortable in a tux, Nora thought, which made her smile. The older couple Nora had met the night before at the rehearsal dinner, Travis and Sydney, snuggled up against each other in the next row, and then Austin and Katy kissed and just like that, were husband and wife.
Happily-ever-after looked good on them, Nora thought, grinning widely, as they turned and faced the crowd.
It felt good all around.
Later, Zair held her in his arms as they danced beneath what seemed like a thousand lanterns, with all of Manhattan laid out at their feet.
“I love you,” he said, directly into her ear.
Nora gazed up at him. She forgot about the wedded bliss of the married couple, glowing there in the center of the garden. She forgot about everything but this man. Her man. And that darkly beautiful face of his that was her whole world.
“I love you, too,” she said.
Nora understood then. That phoenix was hope. And hope was everything.
It was what had saved her, what had saved all of them, from the dark taint of evil men who couldn’t matter anymore. Not here. Not now.
Not ever again. Not as long as they had each other.
Zair led her over to a secluded part of the rooftop garden, away from the bright and cheerful party, and held her gaze as he sank down on one knee.
Nora felt tears spill over and track down her cheeks, and yet she was about as far away from sad as she’d ever been.
“Nora Grant,” Zair said in that dark, perfect voice of his. “Will you marry me?”
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small box and when he opened it, there was an emerald ring the precise color of his green eyes, surrounded by a glittering exultation of diamonds, and none of it as gorgeous as that look on his face as he gazed up at her.
“I will,” she whispered, moving closer to him and sliding her hands over the elegant lines of his face. His proud, brave, beautiful face. “Of course I will.
All you had to do was ask.”
Zair grinned. And when she kissed him then, it was all hope. All love. And it tipped them straight on into forever.
*
Caitlin Crews
CAITLIN CREWS discovered her first romance novel at the age of twelve. It involved swashbuckling pirates, grand adventures, a heroine with rustling skirts and a mind of her own, and a seriously mouthwatering and masterful hero. The book (the title of which remains lost in the mists of time) made a serious impression. Caitlin was immediately smitten with romances and romance heroes, to the detriment of her middle school social life. And so began her lifelong love affair with romance novels, many of which she insists on keeping near her at all times.
Caitlin has made her home in places as far-flung as York, England, and Atlanta, Georgia. She was raised near New York City, and fell in love with London on her first visit when she was a teenager. She has backpacked in Zimbabwe, been on safari in Botswana and visited tiny villages in Namibia. She has, while visiting the place in question, declared her intention to live in Prague, Dublin, Paris, Athens, Nice, the Greek Islands, Rome, Venice and/or any of the Hawaiian islands. Writing about exotic places seems like the next best thing to moving there.
She currently lives in California with her animator/comic book artist husband and their menagerie of ridiculous animals.
‘The sparks that fly between these two characters are totally amazing, from the moment they first meet they just bounce off each other’
—Goodreads, Heather Duff on
Scandalize Me
Book Two in
The Fifth Avenue Trilogy
‘From the first page to the brilliantly defining end, Crews’ gothic tale refines the priceless harrowed-to-healed love story.’
—RT Book Reviews on
His for Revenge
‘Crews fills her poignant, non-stop drama-thon romance with acerbic humor and heart-rending dialogue and sets it in lavishness on soothing Aegean shores.’
—RT Book Reviews on
His for a Price
‘Crews’ intensely emotional, immensely dramatic, tastefully carnal page-turner tops the brand standard. Her uncompromising, imperious desert hero and tenacious, no-holds-barred heroine are awesomely genuine.’
—RT Book Reviews on
Undone by the Sultan’s Touch
The Forbidden Series
Billionaires who can look, but shouldn’t touch!
For Logan Black, Jaiven Rodriguez and royal Zair al Ruyi, New York is spread out before them like the Garden of Eden…and no one knows the sweet taste of forbidden fruit better than America’s most ruthless billionaires!
Jaded, cynical, with a darkness that threatens to consume them whole, they think they’ve seen it all. But temptation has something new in store for each of them…
Three women united in one goal—to find their missing friend—are about to cross the paths of these ultimate bad boys. And it won’t be long before they are enslaved to an impossible desire.
If you missed Books One and Two in the thrilling Forbidden Series, download them now!
The Billionaire’s Intern
by Maisey Yates
When Addison finds herself working for Logan Black—the notorious billionaire who literally came back from the dead—she thinks it’s a safe haven from the shocking scandal surrounding her family. Little did she know that she’s about to get very personal with her billionaire boss!
The trilogy continues with:
The Billionaire’s Fantasy
by Kate Hewitt
When Louise Jensen spent one wicked night with billionaire bad boy Jaiven Rodriguez, she thought it would be enough. But now that Jaiven has had a taste of his greatest fantasy, he wants more! Louise is about to be taken on a sensual journey by this billionaire bad boy!
And the trilogy concludes with:
The Billionaire’s Innocent
by Caitlin Crews
When Nora Grant decided she wanted to make something of her life, she didn’t realize it would lead straight to billionaire prince Zair al Ruyi. Beneath his polished royalty, Zair has warrior’s blood running through his veins, and he’s found his next conquest! No matter how innocent Nora is, she can’t resist the touch of this royal billionaire.
All available from www.Harlequin.com
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ISBN: 9781460390108
The Billionaire’s Innocent
Copyright © 2015 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Caitlin Crews for her contribution to The Forbidden Series.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks are indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
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The Billionaire's Innocent: Zair al Ruyi (Forbidden Book 3) Page 21
