by Milly Taiden
“I do, but I think the idea is stopping you from seeing me in a good light.”
Oh, he looked damn good in this light. It was herself she was worried about. “Then let’s be real here,” she said, letting her desire for him guide her. “You want me to see you in a good light after you said you’d kill my father if I don’t stay here?”
“You’re not a prisoner. You’re free to stay or leave, but you’re right, your father traded your life for his, so he will stay alive as long as you remain.”
She sighed. “If we take the baby thing off the table, what do you want?”
“I want you, Harper.” He said the words in a whisper at the same time he took hold of her arms. “I want you to spend time with me. To see me and not the scars.”
She frowned. Scars were the last thing she saw when she looked at him, but it clearly bothered him. “That’s it? You want a one-night stand?”
“No. Never. What I want could never happen in just one night, but I’ll take that as a start.”
She gulped. “I don’t know…”
He raised a hand to her face, cupping her jaw. The slight touch sent tiny electric pricks down her spine. “Don’t think, love,” he whispered softly, his head coming closer to hers. “Just feel.”
She found herself reeled in by his golden gaze. Her heart thudded hard in her chest. Then his lips were softly brushing hers. A sigh escaped her. The feel of his lips was heaven. She gave a whispery moan and he groaned. The innocent kiss turned hot, dark, and dangerous.
He grabbed her waist and pressed her against his hard body. Her fingers gripped the T-shirt, bringing him even closer. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing, his arm under her legs and the other around her back.
Their lips stayed locked, his tongue thrusting in and out of her mouth, rubbing over hers and driving her slowly insane.
She pulled back from the kiss, brushed her lips over his growing beard and licked circles over the thudding heartbeat in his throat.
“Fuck, Harper,” he groaned, his voice so rough, it was hard to understand him. “You’re making me crazy. I want you. Look at me, beautiful.”
She glanced into those sexy golden eyes that kept her mesmerized. “I haven’t been with anyone in a long time.” She licked her bottom lip. “I don’t know why you want me, but I’m not worldly. I’m boring. I don’t have much experience with that.”
He lowered his face to hers, taking her lips in another scorching kiss. “I don’t want you to be someone else. I want you exactly as you are.”
Her heart melted at those words. Exactly as she was? Could it be? Was he the man who wouldn’t try to change how she wore her hair or the fact she loved to read instead of doing crazy things like most girls her age?
She wasn’t a party animal. She’d learned to be responsible from an early age, so she was more comfortable amongst older people.
He slowly lowered her to the floor, still holding her close to him. “I won’t push you, but I want you to spend time with me.”
She glanced away, trying to put an emotional distance between them. “You need me to have your baby.”
“I would die a happy man if it means spending the time I have left with you.”
“I need to think,” she said, turning away from him.
“Come,” he said and took her hand. “I know a shortcut back to your room.”
9
Harper had just walked into her room when she heard voices in the hallway. She immediately opened the door and saw Mrs. Patty coming out of the room next to hers and Sarai and Delilah coming from opposite directions to meet at the center of the aisle in front of her room. Mrs. Patty gave her a surprised look when she saw her. Delilah was flustered and sweaty, as if she’d been running.
“Hi,” she said to Sarai and Delilah. “Going to bed?”
“Yes. You should, too. You look tired,” Sarai told her with a smile. “Mrs. Patty, I’d love some tea if you can get it to my room, please.”
“Sure thing, dear. Can I get you anything, Ms. Burns?” She peeked into Harper’s room as if she expected to see Sebastian coming out of it. She wasn’t that much of a ho.
Harper glanced at Delilah, noticing the evil glare she gave her. “No. I’m okay. That walk with Sebastian through the gardens was perfect.”
Why did she do that? She wasn’t a petty person, but Delilah got on her last nerve with her evil looks and continuous flirting with Sebastian.
After they left, she went back into her room. There, she sat in a big comfy chair and stared at the fireplace. She turned the air conditioning full blast in the bedroom. Once she did that, she didn’t feel like it was such a crazy idea to turn on the fire. She sat there and watched it for a while.
Her cell phone was on her bed when Sebastian walked her to her room. After the kiss outside, he’d kept his hands to himself. He had a lot more self-control than she did.
Had her phone not been there, she would have a great reason to think of herself as a prisoner. Now, she could technically ask for help. She saw the missed calls from Meghan. Then the text messages where Meg said she'd been called by Sebastian and had been reassured Harper was fine. Now her questions were all about what she was doing with Sebastian and was she getting her freak on.
There wasn’t a single call or text from Christian. Nothing. No apology and nothing to explain what he’d done or why. She dialed his number but it went straight to voicemail. After a scathing message, she hung up feeling more wound up.
Sebastian reminded her of a wild animal. If she left, she didn’t doubt for a second he’d find Christian and tear him limb from limb. She still didn’t know what Christian had done, but the fact was, it was bad. It had to be for Christian to trade her.
She got up to go to bed and a strange noise stopped her in her tracks. It was a strange rattling. It was coming from her bed. She quickly rushed back, having a very bad feeling about what the rattling was and pressed the button on the wall that called security.
“Ms. Burns, how may we help you?”
“There’s something in my bed,” she told the man, and opened the bedroom door, ready to make a run for it.
“We’ll send someone up to check it out.”
She stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her, moving to the other side of the wall in case whatever it was tried to slide under the door. She had a sick feeling she knew exactly what the rattling was. A snake. Though rattlesnakes weren’t common in the area, one could be easily bought from a snake farm. Those were very normal to find all over the state.
The guy she’d met earlier that morning, Kellen, came running down the hallway, a deep frown on his face. “What’s wrong?”
She glanced at her door and then back at him. “I heard rattling. Like a snake. In the bed.”
He nodded. She saw the doubt in his eyes, but thankfully, he didn’t call her a liar. Instead, he called someone else and asked them to bring something she hadn’t quite understood.
A second guy showed up with some weird hand grabby tool and a mesh bag. Both men went into her bedroom, shutting the door behind them. After a few minutes, they came out with the mesh bag shaking and one of the guys left, leaving Kellen behind.
“It was a snake, right?”
He nodded. “It’s a good thing you didn’t pull the covers. It was big. I don’t know how it got in there. We don’t really see rattlesnakes in the castle.”
She frowned. “Um, could someone have put it there?”
“Why?” He sounded so surprised, she had to laugh.
She rolled her eyes. “To kill me. That’s usually why you put snakes in people’s beds. Though, I gotta say, I think whoever did it is lacking creativity.”
He grinned and shook his head. “I think we’ll have you sleep in another room tonight, just in case. I want to make sure there are no other threats in the room.”
She nodded. “Lead the way.”
He took her down the hall to the first floor. She swore they were nearing Sebastian’s library, but didn’t say
anything. Then they made a turn and Kellen opened a door for her. A woman was in there putting fresh linens on the bed and two men were checking the room. They both nodded at Kellen.
“Everything is good in here. You should be fine to sleep.”
She thanked him and watched the men go. Then she laughed. The guys had treated her like she was a family member and they needed to protect her. It was nice and a little daunting. Would that be her life if she and Sebastian had a relationship?
Whoa! Down, girl. The guy wants you to have his kids and give him a booty call and you’re already marrying him? Not cool.
She decided to go to bed. It was safer.
10
Sebastian knew the only way to get Harper to open up to the idea of being with him was to let her spend time with him. He had little knowledge on what women liked, though. He called Sarai into his office to ask her about ideas of where to take Harper.
There was a knock at his office door and Sarai followed after. She grinned and shut the door behind her.
“Hey, Seb. What’s going on?”
“I need to get her to relax around me. Got any ideas?”
Sarai frowned. “I guess you might want to take her on a date.”
“A what?”
She grinned. “A date. Like humans. You know, dinner, a movie, making out? A date.”
His brows rose. “Is making out always part of a date?”
She laughed harder. “Not always. Depends on how comfortable she looks. Why not do something based on her likes?” She sat across from him and grabbed a note pad and pen from his desk. “What kind of things does she like?”
He leaned back in his seat. “You assume I know.”
She gave him a tired look. “Of course, you know. This is your mate. You’ve had years of studying her. You probably know if she snores when she sleeps.”
“You’re right. And no, she doesn’t.”
Sarai shook her head, a grin on her lips. “Get on with it, Casanova. What are her hobbies?”
“Reading. She hates crowds. Spends her free time gardening, though she doesn’t have much luck with it.” He grinned, thinking back to the class he’d made one of his guards take to keep track of her.
He hadn’t always been monitoring her like that. But once he found out she’d been sexually active while he was traveling, he started paying more attention. “She’s taken some cooking classes and dancing lessons. One of her favorite things is to travel.”
Sarai’s eyes widened, a smile lighting up her features. “Oh! I have an idea. You know your house in the beach in Grand Turk? Take her there!”
He frowned. “I guess I could.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t guess. If she likes traveling, that’s one of the most beautiful places to go to. The view is out of this world. She’s sure to fall in love with you.”
He’d take it. Anything to get Harper to see him as more than some monster that threatened to kill her father. Even if Christian deserved his wrath, she wouldn’t understand.
“You’re right. I’ll arrange for the jet to take us tomorrow morning. We’ll be gone for a few days. Enough to get her to relax around me.”
She nodded, putting the notebook back on his desk. “Good, because I need her back here soon so she can help me plan the gala.”
Once Sarai left his office, he called Kellen to help plan his getaway. His friend showed up with a serious scowl.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sarai said you’re going away?” Kellen asked.
His brows rose. “You two seem to be connected at the hip.”
Kellen blushed under his golden skin tone. “I think it’s a great idea.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Your mate found a rattler in her room tonight.” Kellen gave him a direct look. “I don’t know how it got there, but I want to figure it out.”
“We have the best security cameras. How could someone put a snake in her room?” He growled the words, anger surfacing at the image of his Harper being injured in any way.
“I never said someone put it there, but that is what comes to mind.” He walked over to the whiskey decanter on the table by the window facing the gardens. After he served himself a drink, he turned to Sebastian. “Taking her away would give me time to review tapes and ask questions.”
“Good. We’ll leave in the morning.”
Kellen drank his whiskey in a single gulp and then sighed. “What a day.” He put the glass down and pulled his cell out of his pocket. “There appears to be a storm not far from the island, but reports show it’s not near enough to make any kind of impact on your time there. Things should be fine.”
Tomorrow, he’d take Harper to the beach and show her that spending time with him wasn’t such a bad thing. Hopefully. He really wanted her to want to be with him, even if he knew he wouldn’t let her go if she tried to get away. Never. She was his.
11
Harper glanced at Sarai, wondering if maybe her lack of caffeine had her hallucinating. “I’m going where?”
“To the beach with Sebastian. We just need to pack your bag and get you out of here. The jet’s waiting on you two.”
She frowned, glanced down at her PJs and then back at Sarai. “You do realize I’m still half-asleep, right?”
Sarai giggled. Way too happy and awake for this ungodly hour. “You shower. I have Mrs. Patty bringing you breakfast so we can get you packed up quickly.”
“Thank you, she seems nice.”
Sarai nodded. “We usually don’t hire many humans, but she was recommended by the previous cook. She’s not been here long, but she’s doing great so far.” Sarai raised her brows at Harper. “What are you waiting for? Get a move on!”
“Are you coming, too?” she asked, dragging herself to the bathroom.
“No. I’m staying here with Delilah. But the minute you return, you must help me plan the ball. It’s next week.”
She stopped at the bathroom entrance and turned to look at her new friend. Sarai might have strange ideas when it came to Harper and Sebastian, but she had a good heart. Harper could tell.
As for that ball, there was no way had she just told her she had a week to plan a ball. That was impossible. “Sarai, you realize it’s unheard of to plan a large ball in a few days, right?”
Sarai put a two-piece swimsuit on the bed and glanced at Harper. “You’ll soon learn nothing’s impossible where Seb is concerned.”
She thought about that as she got ready. Sarai was right. Look at her. Harper was staying in a castle, ready to have the man’s baby just because he’d told her to. Well, that and because she had an insane attraction to him and she couldn’t figure out what was going on with her body and emotions.
If she was honest, she’d admit to herself that she could leave and say fuck it to Christian, but it wasn’t about Christian anymore. She wanted to get to know Sebastian better. She secretly liked that he was so determined to have her. And the fact he wanted a child with her of all people? That should be alarming, but instead, made her heart melt.
How many nights had she spent wondering when it would be her chance to find a man worthwhile who would give her the family she yearned for? Too many. Now, here was Sebastian, offering her everything if she’d just stay with him. Stay and create a family.
Things weren’t looking as bad as they had when she first showed up. He was attentive, hot as hell, and kissed like he wanted to consume her. That and the fire he started inside her had to mean there was more between them than a business exchange of her for Christian’s life. It had to.
Harper fell half in love with Sebastian when he greeted her at the front door with motion sickness pills and a bottle of water. She wanted to hug him for thinking of her comfort. So far, the man was no monster. She needed to find out what her father had done and make things right. Sebastian didn’t deserve any of Christian’s shady dealings.
The jet was unreal. It had a bedroom, dining area, and the most amazing leather seats she’d ever placed
her ass on. If that chair could talk, it would tell her to take it out to dinner before rubbing her ass all over it like she did.
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Any sickness?”
She shook her head and grinned. “No. Thank you. Seriously. Getting me those pills made sure I would have a good flight.”
He leaned forward and took her hand in his. “Whatever you need, just tell me.”
She had just gotten comfortable when the flight attendant told them lunch was served. Why did she decide to wear shorts and a tank top on such an expensive plane? At least he had worn cargo shorts and a T-shirt or she would have really felt out of place.
They sat in the dining area. There was a basket of warm rolls and butter. She went right for it. When she glanced up, Sebastian was grinning at her.
“Hi, I’m Harper, and I’m addicted to bread.”
He chuckled and grab a roll himself. “Bread is life. Anyone who doesn’t love it shouldn’t be trusted.”
She laughed at his joke and couldn’t believe this was the same guy from the previous day. He was like a different person. Relaxed. Smiling. If possible, even sexier with his shield down. His features were not tight or strained. He appeared to be another man. She liked both versions of him. What the hell did that make her? A ho. It made her a ho.
“So, this is a jet, huh?” she said, glancing around and smiling at the flight attendant who brought her a plate of grilled chicken and vegetables. “I’m sure you don’t have to worry about nightmares of people putting their stinky feet on your arm rest.”
He opened his eyes wide. “People do that?”
She nodded, taking a bite out of her food and swallowing before replying. “Oh, yes. One time, I sat next to some kid who thought himself a DJ and for three hours, I got to listen to his very loud headphones.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
She shrugged. “I did. Repeatedly. He would lower the volume and then raise it all over again. It was a full flight. I was exhausted. Let me tell you, I learned to spring for my own good set of headphones to listen to relaxing music.”
