Sainted

by Slade, Heather

  “I hadn’t thought of that.” I rubbed my chin. “Like what?”

  “If someone in the congregation confides in me, I will not be able to discuss whatever it is.”

  “On the plus side, you understand my dilemma.”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Would you like to hear the parts of my conversation with Decker I am able to share?”

  “If you want to tell me.”

  “Did you want to tell me about your initial conversation with Reverend Primrose when he offered you the position of curate?”

  “I couldn’t wait.”

  “A sentiment I’m familiar with.”

  She smiled again, exposing her lovely dimples. “Hurry and tell me.”

  “I’ve been offered a partnership.”

  She cocked her head. “Is that what you wanted?”

  “Several steps above what I wanted.”

  She jumped up, clapping her hands before throwing her arms around my neck. “I’m so happy for you, Saint. And it’s all on your own merit, not because you made a deal with someone in order for them to help you.”

  I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I hoped she was right and there were no caveats in their offer.

  25

  Harper

  As we drove up to Heathrow Airport, a torrent of feelings I hadn’t anticipated swept over me.

  “How are you feeling about flying today?” Saint asked on our drive from his flat to the airport the day before the wedding.

  “Not bad. As long as you let me hold your hand during takeoff.”

  “You had quite the death grip on the armrest.”

  “I promise not to break the bones in your fingers.”

  “Then, we have a deal.”

  The last time I was here, I’d felt so lost and alone, and then it got worse. I thanked God for bringing Saint into my life every time I prayed, but thinking back on all he’d done for me, when he could easily have left me to fend for myself, made me appreciate him all the more.

  Being here also reminded me how long it had been since I talked to either of my parents or Mouse. I needed to call her and my mother, at least. I still wasn’t speaking to my dad. I doubted he’d ever admit, or even realize, the bind he’d put me in when he refused to give me the money for a ticket.

  I looked over at Saint, who squeezed my hand.

  “I’m so very happy you’re with me, Harper.”

  “I feel the same.”

  “There’s something else on your mind, isn’t there?”

  I sighed. “My dad. I’m still mad at him, but do you realize that if he had given me the money to get home, I wouldn’t be here with you? It made me think that maybe I should thank him.”

  He brought my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it before turning it over and doing the same to my palm, only this time, he used his tongue. “I’m the one who should be giving him my thanks.” When he leaned over and kissed me, I shuddered.

  It had only been a couple of hours since Saint and I had made love, first in bed, then in the shower, and then back in bed again, but I already wanted more.

  He reached under my sweater, moved the cup of my bra out of his way, and teased my nipple. I groaned.

  “Not much longer until I can bury myself deep inside you,” he whispered.

  I looked up and into the rearview mirror to see if the driver, who I now knew as Miss Bardwell’s brother, was paying any attention to us. Either he was oblivious, or very good at pretending he was.

  “How long is the flight?”

  “Not long enough.”

  I cocked my head. First, he said it wouldn’t be much longer until he could be inside me again, then he said the flight wouldn’t be long enough. He wasn’t making sense.

  He pulled his hand from under my sweater and adjusted his pants. “You’ll see, my darling.”

  Rather than stop where I saw departure signs, Mr. Bardwell kept going until we came to a fenced-off area and a guardhouse. Saint rolled down the window, and the man waved us in.

  “Where are we going?”

  He brought my hand to his mouth like he had earlier, except this time, he kissed my fingertips. He pointed outside the window on my side of the car. “There.”

  I saw a much smaller plane than any I’d been on before. “Is that yours?”

  He smiled and shook his head. “It’s a perk of being the newest partner in the Invincibles. They sent it so we didn’t have to fly commercial.”

  If I thought flying first class was nice, once we were inside the corporate aircraft, the previous one reminded me of a bus. “It’s gorgeous,” I said, running my hand over the supple-leather seats that looked more like regular chairs. There were even a couple of sofas.

  “Come with me, and I’ll show you the best part.” He led me to the back of the plane and opened a door. “Go ahead.”

  I gasped when I stepped inside and saw a king-size bed. “Wow.”

  “Wow is right. This is where you and I will be shortly after takeoff.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Would that we could occupy it now, but we cannot.”

  “How long did you say the flight was?”

  “Less than three hours.”

  That was plenty of time to pick up where we’d left off this morning, and on a plane no less. I felt my face flush and lowered my gaze. “I think we’ll be able to make good use of the time, don’t you?”

  Saint groaned. “You little minx.”

  As soon as the pilot signaled we could leave our seats, Saint and I hurried to the stateroom.

  “You know what to do, my darling.”

  I already had most of my clothes off and was waiting for his next instructions.

  “On the bed, legs spread.”

  I did as he told me and waited for Saint to remove his clothes. Instead, he knelt between my legs, put his hands on my knees, and spread me open more.

  Slowly torturing me, he kissed and licked his way up my body. When he reached the top of my thigh, he blew on my pussy in that way he knew sent shivers up my spine and had me writhing in anticipation of what he’d do with his mouth.

  “You’re very wet for me, Harper.”

  “I always am, Saint.”

  “Do you know what I’m going to do to you?”

  I nodded.

  “Use your words, my darling.”

  “You’re going to make me come so hard that stars will swirl around me.”

  “Mmm. I like it when you talk dirty.” He thrust a finger inside me and lashed my clit with his tongue. “Let me feel you. Squeeze my finger.” He added a second digit and licked from where his fingers were up to my clit. When he fastened his mouth to it, I took off like a rocket.

  Saint continued toying with me while I rode the climax out, then moved up my body to kiss me. When I reached for him, he grabbed my wrist. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. As long as I’m with you, nothing is ever wrong.”

  “Then, why don’t you want me to touch you?”

  “I want to talk to you instead.”

  I smiled. “You’re weird, but okay, if you want to give me mindless pleasure and then have a conversation instead of letting me have my wicked way with you, that’s your choice.”

  He laughed and turned so he was on his side. “You’re absolutely adorable and a terrible tease, but what I have to say is important.”

  I sat up. “Should I get dressed?”

  “No. I want to be able to look at what’s mine.”

  I brought my legs together, but Saint pushed them apart. “Mine. Do you understand what I’m saying, Harper? You’re mine. All mine. No one else will ever see your beautiful pussy or push their tongue into your mouth, sharing your taste with you. No one will bury their face between your breasts, and no one will ever know what it feels like to have their cock buried so deep inside you, their balls ache.”

  I knew better than to move, but when Saint ran his fingertips up and down my leg, I grabbed his hand and put it on my pussy
.

  “Yes, my darling. This is mine.” He took my hand and put it on his cock. “And this is yours. All yours. No one else will wrap their hand around me or swirl their tongue around its tip. No one will suck me in so deep that I forget my own name. No one.”

  I was so turned on—again—I couldn’t stop my body from writhing. “I need you inside me, Saint. Please.”

  “Soon. I promise.”

  Unless it was in the next second, it wouldn’t be soon enough for me. I was about to do something I’d never done and start tearing Saint’s clothes from his body the way he sometimes tore mine.

  “First, close your eyes.”

  I did so gladly. Saint always did wondrous things to me when he demanded I keep them shut. Instead of his mouth on or fingers in my pussy, I felt Saint’s hand wrapped around my left wrist. He slid something cold on the third finger of my left hand.

  “Open, Harper.”

  I raised my hand and looked at the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. There was an emerald-cut diamond in the center, flanked by tapered baguette-cut diamonds.

  “Marry me, Harper.”

  I looked from the ring into his eyes, never more certain that this was the absolute right thing. Saint and I were meant to be together. Whether fate or God had intervened, I believed that with all my heart.

  “I know what you’re going to say.” He smiled, his beautiful eyes sparkling.

  “You do?”

  “You’re going to say yes. I know it. Do you want to know how I know?”

  I smiled and leaned forward, and he kissed my left dimple. “Sure.”

  “You never would have given yourself to me if you didn’t believe one day we’d be man and wife.”

  It was true. The first time Saint and I made love, I had no question about whether it was right. I knew, like he said, that one day, he’d be my husband. I trusted him unequivocally.

  “Yes, I’ll marry you, Saint.”

  He kissed me hard, refusing to let his lips leave mine as we both struggled to get him out of his clothes.

  When he was naked, he knelt between my legs. “I don’t want anything between us, Harper.”

  “I could get pregnant.”

  “It would make me the happiest man alive.”

  I reached for him and guided him to my entrance. “Please, Saint. I need you inside me.”

  “Before I am, there’s something else I need to say.”

  I smiled, beating him to the words I knew were coming. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, you little minx.”

  We spent the rest of the flight in each other’s arms, making love again and again, even during the landing. After which, Saint thanked me for keeping him distracted.

  When we got off the plane, a car was waiting near the bottom of the stairs. A man got out, but Saint opened the door for me instead. A bottle of champagne was on a table along with two glasses. He popped the cork, poured, and held up his glass after handing me mine.

  “To the future Mrs. St. Thomas, the woman who made growing up worthwhile.”

  “Where are we?” I asked as we pulled up to a gate that looked like it led into a forest. “I say that a lot, don’t I?” I giggled, and Saint kissed the tip of my nose, smiling. “The champagne is making me giggly.”

  “This is Rile’s estate. I suppose I should’ve informed you of this sooner. Rile is the nephew of the King of Spain.”

  I gasped. “Will he be at the wedding?”

  “I would be very surprised if he and the Queen were not.”

  “Wow.”

  “And speaking of queens, Rile is also related to another monarch.”

  “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  “He is second cousin to the Queen of England.”

  “Now you’re just being silly.”

  When Saint shrugged, I had a feeling he wasn’t being silly at all.

  Once beyond the gate, the drive took us through a forest of oak trees, past a grove of olive trees, and past two houses. I’d been wondering why the driver didn’t stop when the view opened to the sea. I gasped.

  “That is the Bay of Palma,” said Saint, pointing. “And that is Rile’s house.”

  I now understood why the driver hadn’t stopped at the other two houses. “We aren’t staying there, are we?”

  “No, my darling. We’ll be staying in town. There’s a gathering here tonight, though. I can’t wait for you to meet everyone.”

  26

  Saint

  For the first time in as long as I could remember—when Harper and I joined those gathered in the outside pavilion that overlooked the ocean—I felt as though I belonged. As I scanned the crowd, many made eye contact and waved. Decker abruptly left the conversation he was in the midst of and walked in our direction, his wife holding their son, beside him.

  “Harper, Saint, welcome. This is my wife, Mila. Mila, meet Harper Godfrey. And this big fella is Huck.”

  The baby crawled into Deck’s arms and buried his face in his father’s shoulder. “He’s gettin’ tired,” Decker explained, stroking the baby’s cheek.

  I thought about what Harper had said on the plane, that if we made love without protection, she might get pregnant. I’d told her it would make me the happiest man alive, and I meant it. Seeing Decker with his son not only warmed my heart, I was envious.

  “Oh my God,” I heard Mila gasp. “Decker, look!”

  They eyed Harper’s ring. “I knew it! I told Mila the next wedding we’d be celebrating was yours.”

  “Let’s, please, keep this under wraps, as they say. This is Rile and Kensington’s wedding celebration.”

  “I hear ya, Saint, but maybe you should’ve gotten Harper a ring that didn’t blind everyone who looked at it.” He lowered his voice. “I don’t even wanna know how many carats that thing is.”

  What I didn’t tell Decker—because I hadn’t yet told Harper—was that the ring she wore, the ring she’d accepted as a promise to spend her life with me, had belonged to my mother. That was its worth. No amount of money could equal what my mother meant to me.

  “Hey, uh, I don’t want to spoil the excitement of your engagement or the wedding, but I did some digging into the thing you asked about the cottage.”

  “I’m assuming it isn’t good news.”

  Decker rubbed his chin. “Depends on how you look at it.”

  “Is your intention to tease me all night, or are you going to get on with it?”

  “Hey, sweetheart, would you mind taking over for a minute? Saint and I have something we need to discuss.”

  Mila held out her hands to the baby, but instead of reaching for his mother, he reached for Harper.

  “A man after my own heart,” I said, winking at her.

  “Do you mind if I hold him?” Harper asked Mila.

  “Not even a little. We might want to sit down, though; he gets heavy quick.”

  Decker and I watched the two women walk over to a table. “Shall we do this here or elsewhere?” I asked.

  “Come with me.”

  I followed Decker down the trail to the beach. “Mila wasn’t kidding about Huck getting heavy. Holding him wears me out.” When we came to a bench, he sat. “Anyway, I didn’t find anything on the title, but that doesn’t mean I won’t. It’s a four-hundred-year-old house. God knows what the laws governing real estate were then.”

  “What did you find?”

  “It’s about your uncle, and it isn’t good, Saint.”

  “Tell me.”

  “He’s gotten himself deep in debt.”

  “How?”

  “Not that I could see his bank records or anything…”

  “Right,” I muttered, knowing full well he could.

  “It appears he’s been living beyond his means for a number of years, although there have been significant increases in his spending in the last two.”

  “He’s been jockeying for the foreign secretary position.”

  “I don’t know much about U
K politics, but I can tell you that the folks in political positions in the US certainly don’t make their living from their salary.”

  “Right.”

  “Sorry, Saint.”

  “Not planning to shoot the messenger, Decker.” I sat on the bench and looked up at the sky. “Bloody hell. When did the extravagant spending begin?”

  “Goin’ back at least thirty years. Eleven years, though, is when the amount of money coming in showed a big decrease.”

  That was when my mother died. I vaguely remembered arguments between her and my father about Nigel and Millicent. Could it have been over money? It wouldn’t be difficult for someone like Decker to find out if she’d been supporting him.

  “I have one more thing I’d like to ask you look into, if it isn’t too much trouble.”

  Decker stood and patted my shoulder. “Already done, Saint, and the answer is yes.”

  “My mother?”

  He nodded and walked back up the trail. So, she had been supporting her worthless brother.

  I’d been mulling over Decker’s news for a few minutes when Harper called out to me. “What are you doing down there?”

  “Watching the ocean. On my way back up.”

  “Let me come to you instead.” Harper reached down, took off her heels, and walked barefoot. “It is so beautiful here,” she said, sitting down on my lap rather than on the bench.

  “It is that.”

  “I take it that was bad news.”

  “At least I have some idea of the motivation behind my uncle’s behavior.”

  “Money?”

  “How did you guess?”

  “Recent experience. It makes people do stupid things. Take Dave, for example. I didn’t have that much money when we got engaged. My dad liked him and, I guess, wanted me to marry him, so he offered to pay for a lot of the wedding. Not all of it, but more than half. Dave said his parents had offered to cover the rest. It wasn’t extravagant by any means. My way of thinking, we were two kids right out of college; why waste a bunch of money on a wedding? And yet, he ran up what became ‘our’ credit cards and emptied our bank account.”

  “You’ve been trying to figure out why he did it.”