Page 63 of Sinfully His

I should’ve done just that. I should have abandoned her there and just let her suffer with her ankle and freeze to death in that cold maze.

Sucking in a deep calming breath, I tried to let go of some of my rage and hold on to the fact that Rose was in my arms, safe. She was shivering, but she would be warm soon enough.

All I had to do was to carry her inside, check her ankle, make sure she didn’t actually break it, and then she and I would have a very long conversation about her actions.

Starting with her running off and ending with the collection of soft-core porn she had painted of me.

Though, I kind of enjoyed knowing that my little angel thought about me just as much as I had been thinking about her. It also proved that my plans were coming together. I needed her to at the very least have a crush on me, but it was clear to see that she was close to full-on obsession.

Maybe, when all this was over, I would carry through on my threat to keep her chained to my bed, just waiting for me day in and day out.

There was some appeal to that.

“Angel,” I said much more calmly, trying not to scare her too badly… yet. “Which of the rooms are you using?”

“I’m not telling you,” she bit back.

“Fine,” I said. “Make this harder on yourself. I’ll find it myself.”

I carried her down the hallway that held all the bedrooms and started kicking in closed doors.

Breaking the locks or denting more than a few of them. When I found the room that had clearly been occupied, the bed made with fresh sheets and her hairbrush sitting on the dresser, I knew I had the right one.

“Put me down,” she screeched.

“Gladly,” I said as I threw her on the bed.

She let out a yell of anger as I followed her onto the bed, reaching under her sweaterdress to grab the top of her tights and yank them down her legs.

“What are you doing?” she screamed.

“Calm down,” I demanded. “I’m just checking your ankle to make sure you didn’t break it.”

“How did you even find me? Why are you here? Why won’t you just leave me alone?”

Her questions came out one right after the other, while she crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her chin like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

“If you want me to answer those questions, I suggest you ask them nicely.” I gently touched her ankle. She winced as I picked it up and started slowly rotating it. As I moved her foot, I could tell it was tender, but nothing seemed broken. She merely twisted it. She was lucky, running in the dark on the grass on a mountainside in those heels—she could have done permanent damage.

Rose huffed as she tried to pull her foot out of my grasp before I was done. I tightened my hold on her leg and continued to run my fingers along the contours of her ankle. Partly double-checking for fractures, but mostly just loving the way her skin erupted into tiny little bumps under my touch.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

I looked up at her, raising my eyebrow and then focusing back on her ankle.

“Fine. How did you find me, Father?”

That hadn’t been what I meant when I said ask nicely, but it was close enough.

“Luc. I was having an enlightening conversation with my father when my brute of a brother burst into my rooms and punched me in the face. Apparently, your sister is under the impression that I have been corrupting you.”

“Well, haven’t you been?” she said. I had to fight back a smile. She had no idea.

“Wine makes you mouthy.”

“So does being stalked.”

“Don’t be dramatic. I didn’t stalk you. I came up here to check on you since you left in a hurry and haven’t been responding to any of my messages. Do you know how worried I’ve been? I wanted to make sure you weren’t hiding any fresh bruises or cuts delivered by your mother.” The lie slipped easily from my mouth, and it took a moment for me to realize that I actually wasn’t lying at all. I really came up here not to punish her, but to make sure she was okay.

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