Page 10 of Crown of Thorns
“That’s wonderful,” I say. “I love animals. They’re the best judges of character. What does your mum do?”
“She’s a veterinarian,” she explains. “But she runs Seaside Animal Sanctuary.”
“That’s amazing,” I gush. “When I’m feeling better, I’d love to visit. Do you think she’d mind?”
“No, ma’am,” the girl says. “She’s right over there.”
I look up and wave to the shocked woman with beautiful mahogany hair just like her daughter. “Would you mind if I came to visit one day?” I ask.
“No, ma’am,” she says quickly. “It would be an honor.”
“We’ll have our office set something up,” Rhys says, ending my happy moment with the young girland her mother, reminding me yet again that I’m just a movable piece on the game board. “I’d best get her home now.”
“Of course,” the woman says, and I watch as the girl runs happily back to her mother’s side.
Rhys leads me to the car and pushes me in. I slide across the seat, and he climbs in behind me. The driver closes the door and he and the security officer climb in the front seats, and then we take off, back up the winding road to the frightening castle on the cliff.
“Wow,” I whisper.
“That was nice of you to want to visit the animal sanctuary,” Rhys says, breaking the silence.
“She’s a lovely woman and her daughter was absolutely charming,” I reply. “I am also finding the people in the castle not so charming and would rather spend time with a sweet woman and her daughter, not to mention animals. Maybe I’ll just move in with the animals. A downgrade in cages to be sure.”
“Hen, I don’t fucking care if you adopt every homeless animal on the whole goddamn island,” he says, his voice low and menacing. “But if your ass is anywhere other than in my bed, I’ll tan it red.”
“You don’t mean that,” I snap. He wouldn’t dare spank me.
“Don’t I?” he snarls. “You’ve just seen me lose my goddamn mind over worry for you, you’ve seen my people stand vigil for you for twelve goddamn days and still you think you don’t belong here?”
“I know I don’t,” I answer. The truth is glaring. I’m not sure I belong anywhere.
“Then I’m just going to have to show you.”
Chapter 4
Forgive Me
Two weeks later…
I’ve been moping. Truthfully, I’ve been resting. I was told to lay low and relax while the bruises faded and healed before reentering society and showing the world that Rhys’s future queen was hale and hearty. But I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been hiding—from everyone including Rhys. Sure, he comes to bed every night and I pretend to be asleep. And sure he doesn’t try anything, I’m injured after all, but he does turn into me every night, covering my back with his strong body, and holding me protectively in his loving embrace all night long.
I can also tell that he’s getting restless. He wants to put this incident behind us and move on in every way imaginable. I’m going to have to face the music sooner or later and while the cuts and bruises have all mostly healed, the damage to my heart has not. The organitself is fine and pumping blood to all of the important parts of my body, but the part that blindly loved Rhys, trusted him unfailingly, lays in the morgue with Harris, awaiting burial.
I have not minded hiding from Saoirse or Taylor. I trust neither of them and know they don’t trust me either. Nor do they want me here. I’m sure they’ve been just as pleased with my absence as I have been from theirs. Now they’re free to plot and plan their machinations that would see Rhys married to someone more fitting from their social class. Someone who won’t pull the plug on Saoirse’s power trip and Taylor’s excessive spending and reckless partying. Maybe they’ll have orgies anywhere and everywhere once I’m safely back in the states.
I have missed Rhys’s sister, Dahlia. We had formed a tentative friendship before I left, and I believe she needs a friend. Other than the screaming crush she has on Leo, her brothers who are never around, a dead dad, and a hateful cow of a mother, she has no one. I didn’t think about that when I ran. I selfishly thought of only myself and my own feelings, wants, and needs—not anyone else. But perhaps she needs an escape as much as I do.
I wiggle my toes a bit beneath the blankets and suppose it’s time to get up. Usually, I sleep late, getting up long after Rhys has left for his offices to do whatever it is he does for long hours of the day. Avoiding him has been the name of my game for two weeks now andI’m going to keep at it until time runs out. As long as we’re alone, I should be fine. I’m not up to testing my self-control over my hormones before I’m ready. My defenses have been weakened by the accident but I’m more sure than ever that I can’t let Rhys back into my heart or my body.
I wiggle back a bit, still looking for a comfy spot in case I wanted to doze some more. I don’t keep any schedule these days. When I back into a very hard body that definitely shouldn’t be here, Rhys pushes his hand up the front of my tank to cup my breast and thumb my nipple as he tips his face into the crook of my neck and groans.
“Fuck but I’ve missed you, hen,” he says as his other hand dips into the front of my pajama shorts and cups me between my legs, plunging his fingers in to spread the moisture I wish he didn’t find there, up and around my clit.
Oh God, what have I done?
“Rhys—” I beg. I need him to stop, to give me more time so that I can fortify my defenses because as he plays with my body so skillfully, I just need him. I need his fingers, his mouth, his cock far too much and I know part of me will never be content without him. Sex has never been just that for me, not with him, not when he’s all I’ve ever known. I’d fallen for him long before he took my virginity.
“No, hen,” he says, pushing me gently to my belly and pulling my knees up underneath me to press myhips up into the air. “It’s time for you to forgive me.”
