I see it even more in the man who’s decided, for whatever reason, that I am his newest toy.
The only thing I don’t quite know how to handle is the fact that I’m still very attracted to him, even knowing that he’s about to chew me up and spit me out.
Chapter Six
Luc
I feel somewhat…I can’t say guilty as I leave Ashley standing in her home, sick and frightened. Hell no! I feel no guilt. I’ve wanted her for what feels like an eternity, and now that I have her over a proverbial barrel I have no intentions of stepping back just to spare her delicate feelings.
What I feel, though, is a slight twinge of remorse for pushing her so hard when she’s obviously sick and in need of a lot more care than I’ve given her thus far.
I plan to remedy that as soon as I have her under my roof and in my bed. Not for sex, not yet, even though my dick is screaming obscenities at me right now.
No, for the first time in my life I feel the need to get a woman into my bed for the sole purpose of healing the strain that her battered life has wrought for three years.
I want to pamper her and make her whole, return all that fire I remember so well before taking what I consider my property. I just need to get my lust under control long enough to make that happen.
Not going to be easy though, not after the taste I’d had in the car. Bloody hell, I almost threw all caution out the window the moment she’d crawled all over me and started rubbing her wet heat on my boy.
I wanted, want, to throw her down beneath me and own her sex in the most primal way. I want to stamp my mark on her and make sure every swinging dick in the world knows that she belongs to me and me alone.
I know exactly how I’m going to do it, too; I just need to control myself long enough to get her healthy.
“Why are you here?”
Have I mentioned that this kid rubs me the wrong way while awakening every protective instinct I have? Well, he does. I’m caught between the urge to yell at him and soothe his innocent little heart all at the same time, an emotion I’ve had for only one other living being, and she happens to share my blood.
I can’t say what this boy…no, that’s a lie, I know that this boy is a good one. I see it in the way he looks at my woman when he thinks no one’s looking, as if she’s the beginning and end, his life raft amidst a stormy sea.
Yeah, the kid is good; he just needs a good kick under the bum to get him back on track. I plan to be the foot that gets his arse in line.
At least, that’s what I want, if Ashley doesn’t go all mama bear on me and tear me a new one.
“Tone,” I warn, signaling to Harry to drive. “Now then, before we go home I’d like to have a man to man talk with you,” I say, watching his little lip scrunch defiantly.
“What d’ya want?”
Patience, Luc. The child needs strength now, not another set down.
“I would like for you to drop the attitude long enough to listen. I am aware that your useless father was so weak he ran away from his responsibilities like a girl.”
I won’t sugarcoat his father’s actions just to spare his feelings. Better he know how I feel from the start, and from the look on his face I suspect he feels the same way, if not more disgusted with his parent than I am.
“Ash says I can’t talk about him that way.”
“She’s a woman. They tend to think with their hearts instead of their heads the way we men do. She still remembers your father as being a loving man. You and I know different,” I say, watching him straighten up like a weight has been lifted.
So that’s the way it is. I suspect that most of his anger stems from Ashley’s need to keep her father’s memory as clean as she can for a boy who needs an outlet, not a bloody fairy tale.
“Yeah, chicks don’t understand things the way we do,” he sighs, sitting back with a huff.
I restrain my smile and give him my best stern look.
“I am aware that what you must feel after that sort of abandonment is painful, and I am aware that having your sister work more than she sees you must be…frustrating, but I am telling you now, before we start, that she has done her level best to keep it all together because she loves you and wants to keep you.”
“Oh yeah?”
The lip on this pup.
“Yes. And no, I will not allow you to start bad mouthing her right now, so keep it to yourself, pup. What I want you to understand is this: if you cannot keep a civil tongue in your head while speaking to Ashley, I will ship you off to boarding school so fast your little head will spin. She is sick and exhausted; she needs a calm, restful time now to recuperate.”
“She’s just being—”