Dirty Aristocrat(121)

My fists clench hard as I force myself to calm down. ‘Let it be. Leave it be.’

Eventually my pulse returns to normal, the boiling rage goes. In its place comes guilt. I shouldn’t have left her alone and unprotected. I should have protected her better. That was my job.

I take the battery out of the phone and toss them both into my safe. I very much doubt it, he is a little coward, but I might still need it. Chance favors the prepared mind.

I go back to the bedroom and stand over her. Her hair is fanned out on the pillow, her lip is split, her face is swollen and bruised. How strange that the split, the swelling and the bruise have only made her more precious and intriguing. She moves, dislodging the sheet down to her waist and exposing a small strip of skin between her pajama top and bottom. It is milky white and flawless and it gives me great pleasure to claim ownership of it.

I watch the easy rhythm of her breath going in and out. It is strangely seductive and I watch her for a long, long time. Part of me is shocked by the strength of the emotion I feel. Part of me is in awe of it. I never thought I would ever feel this way for a woman. The signs are all there.

I watch her slip into a restless dream. She turns and tosses. I reach out and slot my finger inside her loosely curled fist. She makes an odd sound and tightens her grip. And then, while still deep in her dream, she says the oddest thing. Something I never in my wildest dreams thought I would hear from her lips.





SIXTEEN



Lily

I wake up with my head throbbing and my body aching. I stretch and wince and then realize that I am in Jake’s bed. He is sitting at the foot of the bed watching me.

‘Good morning,’ he says softly.

I groan a reply.

‘How do you feel?’

‘Worse than yesterday.’

He stands up and comes to my side. ‘Need some help getting out of bed?’

‘I don’t think so,’ I reply, but he bends down and gently lifts away my upper body, and puts pillows under my back.

‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome,’ he says so close to my ear, I am filled with the fresh scent of him.

‘Have you been awake long?’

‘About an hour. I’ve got to go soon, but I wanted to get some food into you before I leave. Alicia will be around later with some magazines and if there is a book you want she can get it from the bookstore. Just call her.’

‘Am I going to be staying here tonight?’

His jaw tightens. I recognize it. He is about to impose his will on me again. ‘I’ve moved all your stuff here. You’ll be staying here from now on.’

‘What?’

‘It’s not open to discussion, Lily. You’re staying here.’

I lift my hands in disbelief. ‘It’s impossible.’

‘Impossible is a dare.’

‘Jake, you can’t do things like this. You can’t just move my stuff in here and tell me I’m going to be living here from now on. You have to ask me and I have to agree.’

‘Asking would imply a choice.’

I give a gasp of laughter. ‘Yes, that’s right. At least give a girl the illusion of choice.’

He folds his arms across his wide chest. ‘Would you like to move in here?’

‘I’ll stay here for a few days and then we’ll talk about it.’

‘See why asking is stupid?’

‘I’m not a child, Jake. You can’t decide for me.’

He walks up to me. ‘Don’t you get it? I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t know you are safe.’

I look into his face and I know he is telling the truth. ‘It could have happened to anyone,’ I say quietly.

‘It didn’t happen to anyone. It happened to you.’

‘I don’t think he will be in any fit state to come back after last night, will he?’

‘I protect what’s mine, Lily.’ No remorse. His face is icy calm.

I sigh. My head is throbbing and I simply don’t have the energy to fight with him. ‘OK, OK, let’s talk about it when I’m better.’

‘Want some breakfast?’

‘Yeah, I do. I want some ice cream.’

‘For breakfast?’

‘I was always allowed to eat ice cream when I was feeling poorly,’ I say without thinking and realize what I have said.

In the morning light his eyes are suddenly sparkling emeralds. Impenetrable. But what comes out of his mouth is mild and friendly. ‘What flavor?’

‘I like pistachio and vanilla, but I’ll have whatever is in your freezer.’

He only has cookies and cream so I have a bowl of that. He watches me eat and then he has to leave. ‘I’ll be back at lunchtime,’ he says, and kisses me lightly on the cheek that is not swollen and throbbing.