Page 26 of The Broken Vows

I thread my hand through his hair and look into his eyes, unsure. “This is the most irrational thing I’ve ever done, Zane. Everything points to this ending in tears — our families would never accept it, we run competing companies and that’ll cause friction in our relationship, and then there’s our past. I’m worried a small part of me only wants you because it makes me feel powerful to see how much you desire me. It soothes the girl you tore down for years, and I’m not sure that’s enough. It isn’t a stable foundation, and I know I should walk away, but I just… I can’t, and I’m not sure why.”

He shifts his hips, and I bite down on my lip to suppress a moan. I have no doubt he’s doing this on purpose — he’s reminding me how perfect we could be, and he’s succeeding.

“Celestial, I’m grateful to have a chance with you at all, even if it is because it makes you feel empowered. No one needs to know, my sweet goddess. This thing… it can just be ours, if that’s what you want. I’ll be whatever you want me to be, Celestial, so long as you let me be yours.”

My heart skips a beat, and he smiles at me shyly, looking so vulnerable that all I want is to hug him tight and reassure him in whatever way I can. I never should’ve let our argument drive us apart, shouldn’t have taken so long to decide whether I could trust him. I gently trace the edge of his face with my fingertips, earning myself a soft sigh from him.

“It doesn’t matter how we got here, Celeste. All that matters is where we go from here. We have a history of not communicating and misunderstanding each other, and we can’t let our future be ruled by that too.” He leans in and presses a soft kiss to my forehead, his gaze pleading. “I already have our past working against me, so I have to work twice as hard now to make up for that. Tell me you’ll work with me by talking to me. Please, Celeste. I know us being together isn’t going to be easy, but if we don’t communicate with each other, we don’t stand a chance at all. I can’t go through this again with you, the insecurity and going weeks without talking to each other because we just don’t know how to do anything but argue.”

I’ve never seen him look so earnest. “I’m in my head a lot, and I have a habit of not discussing things until I’ve worked through them in my mind… but I’ll try, Zane.”

“Is that a vow?” he asks, his tone betraying his desperation. He truly wants this with me, doesn’t he?

I gently cup his face, my heart pounding wildly. “I vow to communicate as best as I can, Zane, and I vow to look beyond our past and toward our future. My feelings for you scare me, to be honest. I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t feel so strongly about you when most of the memories we share aren’t pleasant, but despite it all, I…”

He smiles at me when I can’t quite find the words to describe how I feel. “Yeah,” he whispers. “Me too.” I exhale shakily when he drops his forehead to mine, our bodies pressed together. “We don’t have to complicate things right away, Celestial. All those things we fear? They don’t have to be a factor right now, not yet.”

I nod in relief. “Let’s figure out if we’re good together before we tell our families. You know as well as I do that all hell will break loose if our grandparents find out. We already have so much stacked against us. While we figure out if we can withstand everything that being together entails, we should keep it quiet.”

Zane smiles, and the way he looks at me makes my heart skip a beat. “Tell me, Celestial. Does this mean I get to call you my girlfriend now, even if it’s only in private?”

I’ve never thought of Zane Windsor ascute, but that’s exactly what he is in this moment. Still sexy and powerful, but perfectly adorable too. It strikes me then, that this is a part of him that’s onlymine.

“Only if I get to call you my boyfriend,” I whisper, unable to keep the smile off my face. I don’t want to let the past torment me any longer, not when I can havethisinstead.

Zane rolls his hips in response, desire flashing through his eyes. “Fuck. Say that again. Tell me what I am to you.”

He’s so hard, and the angle he positioned himself is the best kind of torture. It makes me want to push him until he loses control and takes me hard and fast. “Zane Windsor,” I murmur. “Myboyfriend. It sounds a bit juvenile, doesn’t it?”

He pushes the tip of his cock against my clit and rocks back and forth in the most teasing way, grinning when I fail to suppress my moans. “It does sound juvenile,” he whispers. “But if I have it my way, you’ll be calling me something else entirely soon enough.”

I frown in confusion, but he merely shakes his head and drops his lips to mine. “You took my first kiss and my first time, and now you’re my first girlfriend. How many more firsts will you take? I’ll give them all to you if you want them.”

Before I can even reply, he slips the tip into me, making every one of my thoughts fade away, until all I can think about is the way he’s making me feel.

Zane Windsor might end up becoming my downfall, but what a way to go.

ChapterTwenty

Celeste

I grab my phone from my desk when I see Zane’s name flash across the screen, unable to keep from smiling. The last couple of days have been completely surreal. We’ve been texting each other constantly, and every evening, he comes over to see me, even if it’s only for a few minutes, with a new bunch of flowers in his hands each time.

Being Zane Windsor’s girlfriend is an experience no one could ever have prepared me for. I know what it’s like to receive his attention in a negative way, but having his undivided devotion is something else altogether. With each day that passes, more of my worries fade away. With each kiss, he heals some of the wounds he left me with.

In- Zane

Have dinner with me tonight? I’ll cook you the same lamb ragout we had on our first date, and we can have it in the observatory this time. Some of the trees finally blossomed — you’ll really like it.

I grin to myself as I type a reply.

Celeste

I’ll bring dessert!

In-Zane

Celestial, you ARE my dessert.

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