Page 10 of Ruthless Legacy

I groan and shake my head. Why couldn’t he just let me sleep?

“Open your eyes, Little Red.”

I moan. Why wouldn’t the handsome fucker just shut up and let me go to sleep?

“This handsome fucker needs you to open your eyes, Scarlet. Open them and look at me,” he orders, gripping my chin tight between his fingers.

“Don’t let her go to sleep, Arch. You need to keep her awake,” I hear one of them say. Their voices sound far away, like they’re at the other end of a tunnel.

“She’s not listening to me. Fuck it,” I hear Savage say before I feel his lips press against mine. His warm mouth moves against mine and my lips take on a life of their own and move against his. I moan when his tongue enters my mouth.

“Well, that’s one way to keep her awake.”

“Shut the fuck up, Seb,” he replies against my lips before he continues to kiss me. I grasp onto his shoulders and shift in his lap, needing to be closer to him. His hands are in my hair as he kisses me. When he pulls away, I whimper. “Open your eyes for me,” he coaxes.

My eyes flutter open, and I look into two chestnut-coloured eyes. The eyes of my captor. “There she is. Now stay awake for me, okay?” I nod and rest my head on his shoulder. I’m still shivering but a little less now than I was before. It’s like his kiss breathed warmth into my body.

“Technically Little Red is a Club,” I hear Seb say from the front of the car.

“She’s not a Club,” Rafe answers, cold and firm. “She doesn’t belong in our world.”

“Mores the pity. Little Red has fire in her soul,” Seb comments. “I think Arch would agree with me too, huh?”

“Rafe is right, she’s not one of us,” he tells them both, his breath warm against my hair.

“So, have you heard when the Alderman princess arrives?” Seb asks from the front, as he drives us down the dark and winding road.

I feel Savage tense beneath me, and I snuggle into him, seeking his heat. I’m suddenly alert, keen to hear what they know about me.

“My dad seems to think she will arrive at Easter break.” I don’t miss the bitter tone in his voice when he replies. Is there bad blood between his family and mine?

“Well, you can always play with Little Red until the princess arrives,” one of the suggests.

“Maybe I will,” he says as his hands run up my back, and this time I shiver for a different reason.

The car comes to a stop. “Make sure you park her in the garage. I’ll take it from here. I’ll see you fuckers tomorrow.” He opens the car door and stands with ease, even though I’m wrapped around him. He pulls the blanket tight around me and closing the door, he walks away from the car towards his house. I look over his shoulder at Seb who leans out of the driver’s window and winks at me.

“I’ll no doubt be seeing you again, Little Red,” he says, and then he’s driving off down the side of the house.

I hear Savage turn a key in the lock and he carries me inside. He climbs the stairs and I look over his shoulder at the opulent hallway. There are sleek marble floors, and a large, beautiful chandelier hangs down from the ceiling. We enter a large bedroom, decorated with black walls. He sits me down and I whimper as his body heat leaves me.

“You need to take off that wet underwear, Scarlet. I’ll get you something dry to wear,” he tells me, before he pads away from me in nothing but a pair of tight black boxers. His toned thighs flex as he walks. I blow out a breath as I admire his pert behind. My fingers are like jelly, but I manage to unclasp my bra and drop it to the floor. My knickers follow them, and I pull the now damp blanket back around my shoulders, covering my body.

He comes back into the room, now wearing low-hanging jersey bottoms, and I notice the tattoo on his chest. It’s a fan of four ace cards for each suit of a card deck. “Arms up,” he orders me.

If I wasn’t desperate to be warm, I’d tell him there’s no way he’s seeing me topless, but I’m freezing and I need warmth, so I drop the blanket and lift my arms up for him. He pulls the top over my head, and I put my arms into the long sleeves, grateful to feel something warm and dry against my skin. He leans over by the side of me, and I startle at the close proximity, before I realise he’s pulling back the covers on the bed. “Get in, Scarlet. We need to keep warm.”

I drop into the warm and inviting bed and sigh as he pulls the covers over me and I feel the bed dip as he gets in behind me. I’m definitely warmer, but I still can’t stop shivering.

“Come here, Scarlet.” He pulls me against his chest and spoons me, and I’m enveloped against his warm body. One arm slings itself across my body. “What were you doing on my property tonight?”

Something stops me from telling him the truth. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” I reply, my teeth chattering loudly.

“How long is your family in Hawk Bay for?”

I shrug my shoulders and this time my answer isn’t a lie. “I honestly don’t know.” I really don’t. I mean, I want to believe this is it. That this is our last move, but even though we have been claimed by family, I still can’t let my guard down and let myself believe we’re going to stay.

“Do you ever wish you could press pause, Scarlet? Ever feel like fate is creeping up on you and all you want to do is run in the opposite direction and not do what they expect of you?”

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