Page 70 of Princess of Pride
“Please, Lachlan.” I grip his jacket tighter. “Make it go away.”
He pulls back. “Not until you tell me what happened. Did you talk to someone?” The muscle under his eye twitches. “Did someone hurt you?”
I cry again, triggered so easily—more than I’ve been in my life. “It’s nothing you would care about.” I lower my chin.
He stands, taking me with him, and scoops me into his arms, carrying me like a lover would. “Let’s get you cleaned up, then we’ll talk.”
“I don’t want to talk.”
He walks toward the castle, as sturdy as a horse, the wind not shifting him in the slightest. “If you want me to fuck you and take away your pain, we’ll talk.”
I glare. The nerve of him to say that when I’m vulnerable. “Fine. Sex is off the table.”
“It was never going to be on the table. Not for your first time. The second time… any place is fair game.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I snap, ignoring the spark of heat his words stir in my lower belly. He’s trying to distract me, and it’s working. It’s so easy for him to get me riled up and turned on. Both are better than heartache.
“I know what you meant.” His mouth hints at a smirk.
17
HE WANTS ME WATCHED
Lachlan carries me into the orangery, where the air is warm and humid. In here, what happened outside seems surreal, like a nightmare I woke up from. The dirt on our clothes and the salt stuck to my skin says it was as real as the scent of citrus in this glass room.
“I need a shower,” I whisper, suddenly embarrassed over my behavior.
I turn my head away. The last person I wanted to see me break down is Lachlan. Yet. He didn’t shame me or blow me off. He literally saved me from falling to my death. How careless I’d been. Out of my mind and not thinking. He didn’t leave me either. He kissed me with more passion than I’ve ever gotten from him, like he was desperate and needed the connection, needed to know I was real and still there. He asked me what happened and is withholding sex if I don’t tell him. Not that that is a problem. I vowed to withhold sex from him first. Then he went and made a joke—to cheer me up. Never thought I’d see the day.
Now he’s literally carrying me to my room.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
He doesn’t say anything, but his grip on me tightens as he moves through the castle, and then climbs the massive staircase. So far, no one is around to see us, though I wouldn’t mind running into Kat like this.
“I wasn’t scared,” he says to my surprise. “I was terrified. I thought you were…” His Adam’s apple bobs with a deep swallow.
“I wasn’t.” I don’t want him to think I’m suicidal. He’d probably lock me in an institute. “I was upset, and I couldn’t breathe. I wasn’t thinking.”
“No, you weren’t.” His tone is harsh, his fingers digging into my side and thigh with bruising force.
I let out a soft yet sardonic laugh. “I knew it wouldn’t last. You’re incapable of being nice for longer than ten minutes.”
His jaw muscle ticks, and he keeps his gaze straight ahead as we climb more stairs. His breathing is barely labored, even though out on the cliff he seemed as out of breath as I was.
He climbs the final set of stairs.
“I guess you don’t want to talk after all.” I sigh and close my eyes. I don’t want to either.
“Lorna,” he says. “Thank you for clearing the house.”
I open my eyes to a tall, slender woman with an athletic figure. She wears a black collar shirt and black pants. Her brown hair is twisted into a neat French braid. I’d guess she’s around my mom’s age, only she looks it whereas Mom appears in her thirties thanks to Botox and lasers. Mom. My heart constricts, and my features fall.
“This is Emery,” Lachlan says, continuing down the hallway with the housekeeper at his side. “Emery, this is Lorna.”
I smile, but it doesn’t reach my eyes. “Sorry to meet you likethis.” She wasn’t the lady who showed me the way out. That woman was younger and had auburn hair.
“Not to worry.” She gives me a kind smile. “You’re safe, and that’s all that matters.” Her Scottish accent is thick but not to the point that I can’t understand her. “A hot shower can do wonders for the soul.”
