Page 24 of A Seductive Beauty
“Ms. Griffin, I’m going to need to touch you, okay?” She nods, and I hold the growl back as he moves his hands over her body and face.
“No broken ribs that I can feel. I can’t probe her face too good without causing her pain. I’ll get the car.”
“Why did he do that?” Fiona cries as she buries her face in my neck.
I lock away the emotion of needing to kill the man for touching Fiona as I focus on her. If this has something to do with me, I don’t know what I’ll do. I practically taunted people on the dance floor to come after her with my claiming of her, but I couldn’t stop myself if I wanted to. When it comes to Fiona, all reason leaves my brain and all I want to do is mark her and claim her as mine. I want her by my side forever, but this right here might be why I can’t have her. Why she isn’t meant to be mine.
As I stand there in the parking lot empty of other people, a feeling of being watched overcomes me. The hair on the back of my neck standing up and the urge to pull Fiona in closer are like a warning against my skin that this isn’t over with. Shane pulls up and jumps out to open the back door. I slip in with her in my arms, not wanting to let her go.
“To my house, now.” The feeling of being watched stops as soon as we pull away.
“Aidan, I’m scared,” Fiona whispers.
“I know, beauty. I’ll protect you.” Her eyes close and I kiss her forehead. “Even from me,” I whisper against her skin. Her soft skin that I want to mark up with my bites, but right now all I can think about is killing the man who touched her.
A man who thought he could hurt my woman.
We pull through the gates to my house.
“The doctor is on his way. I’ll text him to come here instead of the office,” Shane says as he stops the car in front of the large double doors to the house.
“Please.”
A guard steps forward and opens my door. I step out still holding Fiona to my chest. She has been unconscious for a bit. I’m going to need to rouse her soon just in case she hit her head, and I need to get her out of her wet and muddy dress. Entering the house, I walk straight to the staircase and make my way upstairs. I take her to my room instead of the lone empty bedroom. If she’s under my roof, she’s in my bed with me. I carefully lay her on the bed, but she cries out and clutches the lapels of my jacket.
“Beauty, I need to get you laid down and changed before the doctor gets here to check you out.” She nods and tries to sit up, but I gently push her back. “Let me take care of you.”
Her eyes widen and she bites her bottom lip but immediately flinches. Her hand flies up to carefully touch it. One of the thin straps of her dress is ripped and hanging down, causing her knocker to almost fall out the top of her dress. She looks down and carefully adjusts it.
I turn my back on her for a moment, trying to get control of my raging hormones. I stride into my closet and grab a shirt. When I return to the bedroom, she is looking around her.
“Let me help you up and into this.” I hold up the button-down shirt.
“I’ll get it dirty.” Her voice quivers.
“I don’t care. This will be the easiest to put you in without going over your head.” As I reach the bed, I set the shirt down and carefully lift her up again and help her stand. “I’m going to cut your other strap.”
She doesn’t flinch away in fear when I pull my knife from my back. I cut the strap, drop the blade on the bed, and reach around her to release the zipper. The dress pools at her feet and I groan when I step back and see her nearly naked body in front of me. Her pale skin is already bruising across her ribs.
She shivers and covers herself. Carefully, I pull her hands from her knockers.
“I want to see all of you, mo áilleacht.” The Irish words for “my beauty” flow from my tongue.
Her hands fall away as she looks up at me. Leaning down, I gently kiss her lips. I want to push for more, but I’m afraid to hurt her already bruised lips.
I reach for my shirt and help her into it, then I roll up the sleeves so her little hands aren’t covered. I button up the shirt and then lift her back into the bed after I pull the duvet back. She snuggles in and groans in pain.
“After the doctor looks at you, we can maybe give you something for the pain.”
I sit on the bed and take her small hand in mine carefully. One of her hands is bruised and I worry that her knuckles could be busted.
“Whose room is this?” She looks around.
“Mine. I’m going to—” A rap on the door stops me from saying more or from her arguing about being in my bed. I make sure she’s covered before saying, “Enter.”
“Boss, the doctor is here. Seamus messaged that he has the package set up for you.” Shane steps inside.
“I can’t leave her tonight. Tell him to have some fun until I can come by.”
