Page 134 of I Was Always Yours (RCA: Royal Crown Academy)

I grip the back of her neck and tilt her head back, slamming my mouth down on hers.

“Good morning,” I tell her, my voice gravelly.

“Good morning,” she replies, self-consciously. She stands and pulls me to the side, whispering, “I told you no PDA.”

My hand closes around her waist, pulling her against me.

“Stop disappearing from my bed in the mornings and I’ll consider it.” I say.

On the third day, I’m awoken by her mouth on my cock as she goes down on me.

Ever since she let me kiss her, I’ve become even more insatiable and insanely territorial. I have a hard time letting her out of my sight, whether it be during the day or at night, and I find that my eyes constantly track her wherever she goes. She triggers protective instincts that I didn’t even know I had in me.

Which is why when she’s ripped out of my arms as I’m kissing her four days into my stay, my instinct is to kill first and ask questions later. Especially when I find a stranger holding her by her upper arm and against his side, making it clear he’s keeping her away from me.

He’s attractive and tall. Taller than me, about six five I’d guess, and bigger, his muscles rippling beneath his dress shirt.

But I’ve never lost a fight to someone bigger than me and I’m not about to start now, especially not when he has his hands on Six.

“Who are you?” He asks, his blue eyes piercing me.

“Take your hands off her before I show you exactly who I am.” I growl, taking three menacing steps towards him when Six looks up into the face of her abductor.

“Uncle Rome!” She exclaims, jumping into his arms and wrapping hers around his neck. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

Her use of the word “uncle” is the only thing that keeps me from going absolutely postal at the way she throws herself at him.

“Hello, poppet,” he says, smiling affectionately down at her. The lethal glint is back in his eyes when he looks over her shoulder at me. “Does your dad know this bloke is trying to defile you under his roof?”

I go to reach her but she wiggles out of his arms and into mine, immediately calming the monster that’s been in maim and destroy mode since the moment she was ripped from me.

I fear I actually purr contentedly out loud when she intertwines her fingers with mine after my arm drapes over her shoulder.

“This is Phoenix,” she says and I see Rome’s eyes flash with recognition. “And Dad’s the one who set up this arranged marriage so he can’t get upset. But maybe don’t tell him about this. No need to raise his blood pressure unnecessarily.” She adds quickly, rethinking her previous bravado.

“Hmm. I need him focused on this deal, so I won’t.” He turns his gaze towards me. “But if you hurt her, you’ll have me to deal with.” His voice dips to arctic temperatures as he delivers that warning.

I give him an unimpressed look. “I’d quake in fear if that meant a fucking thing to me.”

The cruel smile he gives me in return tells me that he may be a bigger threat than I originally gave him credit for, muscles and all.

“I’ll see you later, poppet. Say hi to your mum for me.” He says, and she waves at him as he walks out.

I turn her in my arms. “Who was that?”

“My dad’s best friend.”

My jaw works back and forth. “So not your actual uncle then.”

Her eyes meet mine, twinkling with mirth. “He’s very happily married.”

“So you think.”

She gets on her tiptoes, wraps her arms around my neck, and buries her face in the crook of my neck, kissing a path up my throat and to my jaw.

“Are you jealous?”

“Don’t ask questions you already know the answers to.”

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