Crewe

I got the best night of sleep in a long time.

My arms were locked around her body so she couldn’t slip away from me in the middle of the night. I wasn’t afraid of her slipping away, but my subconscious was. I was tired of the loneliness, tired of the nightmares.

She was my cure.

I woke up the following morning and saw her wrapped tightly around me, clinging to me as if she had the same fear. She was in my t-shirt and her panties, her long and slender legs brushing against mine under the sheets. I didn’t move because I didn’t want to wake her up. I entertained myself by watching her sleep, watching her chest rise and fall rhythmically.

When I returned to Scotland with London in tow, I knew that would cause a rift between Ariel and me. None of my other employees cared for her, not when she was the reason some of the men lost their lives. The only person who did like her was Finley, and that was because he hardly interacted with her.

Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing.

I didn’t know how this was going to work or for how long. Taking an appropriate wife had been a priority because I did need to have children, and not just to continue my line. Kids were something I’d wanted for my own reasons.

To regrow my own family.

I didn’t have parents or a brother. I was all that remained of my bloodline. If I had sons and daughters, I could share my legacy with them. Hopefully, I could look at them and see my own parents’ features looking back at me.

Since London wasn’t a suitable partner, that set me back. She didn’t have any wealth or connections to bring to the marriage. I wasn’t even sure if she wanted to have children. She didn’t seem like the kind of person who wanted to put her career aside to be a mother. She was just as ambitious as I was.

Maybe I could spend a year or two with her before I had to let her go.

Or maybe I was just setting myself up for torture.

I really didn’t know.

She woke up a moment later, her big and beautiful lashes opening to reveal the emerald eyes that haunted my dreams. She took in my features slowly, the recognition gradually dawning on her.

She needed a moment to understand this was real.

“Morning.” She slid her hand across my cheek, feeling the stubble that had grown overnight.

“Morning.” I dug my hand into her hair and kissed her, feeling the electricity immediately surge down my spine. I didn’t make love to her last night because I was too furious about her nighttime visitor. I didn’t like thinking about the last time he was in her apartment, the last time they fucked.

So I didn’t ask.

But I hadn’t been able to get it off my mind. I kept picturing a man’s hands all over her body—a pair that didn’t belong to me. It made me more than angry—more than jealous. In fact, he broke my heart.

But I had no right to be angry. She told me there hadn’t been anyone else when she stayed in Scotland. If I hadn’t taken so long, nothing would have happened. The second she came to New York, she resumed her life without thinking about me.

She wasn’t bluffing.

So it was my fault.

I’d been with other women too, so my hands weren’t clean. But that didn’t make it hurt any less. I wanted to be with her when there wasn’t another guy in the picture, sitting on her doorstep for an obvious booty call.

My cock was hard, but I tried not to push it into her hip, giving her the wrong idea. If she went down on me or rode me, I wouldn’t have the strength to say no. But I didn’t want to extend an invitation.

She stretched her arms above her head before she hooked her leg over my hip, pressing my cock right against her own hip.

Now there was no hiding it.

“When do you want to leave?” I asked.

“Leave for what? Breakfast?”

Of course, she was thinking about food. “No. For home.”

“As in, you want me to leave today or tomorrow?”

“Preferably.”

She sat up in bed, her hair messy from the way my fingers had run through it. “Well, I need to put my two weeks’ in first. I signed a six-month lease, so I need to take care of that too. To pack and ship everything will take a while…”

I was already an impatient man, but there was no way I waiting for all of that to get wrapped up. “We can take everything you need on my plane. You’ve seen it—it’s huge.”

“My dressers and bed?” she asked incredulously.

“You shouldn’t take that stuff anyway. I’ll buy you new things.”

She stared at me hard.

“What?”

“That’s not part of the independence condition. I don’t need you to buy me anything.”

We hadn’t even had breakfast yet, and she was already annoying me. “I don’t want you to move in to a shady place like you had in Edinburgh.”

“There was nothing wrong with that place.”

“It wasn’t a good side of town. There’s a lot of criminal activity in that area. I know the area a lot better. Let me choose.”

“You’re gonna choose a castle or something.”

“If I were gonna choose a castle, it’d be my castle. No, there’s a nice community in Edinburgh that I approve of. I’ll get you situated there.”

“A community?” I asked.

“A nest of houses. It’s in a gated community.”

“Well, I don’t have a car, so I wanted to walk everywhere.”

“You aren’t walking anywhere,” I snapped. “I’ll get you a car or a driver.”

That same look returned to her face.

“That’s nonnegotiable. Scotland is a beautiful place, but it’s certainly not safe.”

She made the smart choice by not pressing it. “So I leave all my stuff behind.”

“Except the essentials. I’ll help you get settled. And if you ever want to change your mind about moving in to the castle, the offer is always on the table.” I missed having a quickie on my desk in the middle of the day. I missed seeing her in the bedroom the second I walked in the door. Her need for independence was irritating, but after keeping her as a prisoner for six months, I would be insensitive not to understand.

“I know, Crewe.”

“So, can you leave tomorrow?”

“I still need to put in my two weeks’.”

“Why?” I demanded. “Just tell them you’re leaving.”

“What if one of your employees just got up and left?”

“I’d get over it and hire someone else. Life goes on.”

“Well, I don’t own a business, so I can’t afford that luxury. I need to be a good employee if I want to get a good job later down the road.”

“Don’t forget who you’re sleeping with,” I reminded her. “I can get you whatever job you want.” Even though I’d prefer it if she had no job at all.

“I’d rather get a job on my own, Crewe.”

I hated it when she didn’t need me. That clingy act she put on before was probably all for show, but I wish she would behave that way again. “Two weeks is too long.”

“You don’t have to stay. I can put most of my stuff on your plane then fly out on my own later.”

I didn’t want to return to Scotland without her. I didn’t want to sleep in that big bed alone. I wanted my woman protected in my arms and surrounded by the stone walls of my keep. “You’re really going to wait two weeks?”

“Yes.” She was just as stubborn as I was. Sometimes I respected it, and sometimes it just annoyed me.

When she didn’t leave me any other choice, I caved. All of this could have been avoided if I’d just pulled my head out of my ass sooner. We would already be in Scotland right now. “Fine. But you’re staying here with me. Move your stuff out of the apartment and hand over the keys.”

“And where do I put my things?”

“I’ll arrange for my men to fly it out so it’ll be ready when we get there. How does that sound?” That was the best compromise we were going to find.

“Good. And you’re going to stay here the whole time?”

I wasn’t leaving her again. “I can work from my laptop.”

“You said that already but didn’t answer my question.”

“Yes. I’m staying here.” I was going to make up for the past month in the next two weeks. I didn’t just want good sex like I had been having with my other lovers. I wanted the incredible passion I only experienced with London. Ever since I’d fallen in love with this woman, the sex had blown my mind. It didn’t matter how good Sasha was between the sheets—she couldn’t compare to London.

“Then I’ll get my stuff and talk to my landlord.”

I propped myself up on my elbow. “Great. Now we can talk about breakfast.”

“Yes!” She snatched the menu off the nightstand and flipped it open. “What are you getting?”

“Egg whites and a protein shake.”

She rolled her eyes. “Still boring as ever…”

“My body isn’t boring.”

She rolled her eyes again, but this time she smiled. She looked at the menu again. “I’m getting the French toast, bacon, and eggs. And a coffee. Oh, and an orange juice.”

“Then call it in.”

She lay on her stomach and grabbed the phone off the nightstand, her knees bent and ankles crossed as her feet rested near her ass. Her curves looked amazing in my t-shirt and her underwear.

My eyes honed in on her ass, and I was thinking about pulling her panties down so I could shove my cock into her pussy. I missed how wet it was. I’d been wearing condoms, and condoms sucked. My eyes couldn’t turn away as I listened to her call room service. As much as I wanted to fuck her, I hadn’t forgotten about the man who stopped by the apartment. I didn’t want to know the details, but I needed to hear them anyway. I needed to know that he meant nothing to her.

That she thought about me when she was with him.

Just as I thought of her when I was with Sasha.

And I needed to know there would be no one else besides the two of us—from here on out.

After we picked up her essentials at her apartment, we headed back to the room. She grabbed her scrubs for work, as well as the rest of her clothing and accessories. The second we walked back into the hotel room, I felt more at ease. Now that she was living with me, even if it was temporary, it felt the way it used to. We shared the same space together, the same bed and the same bathroom. The hotel didn’t feel like a castle, but it would do.

She put her stuff away in the closet and the drawers, and soon the bathroom counter contained her toothbrush and makeup bag. Her razor was in the shower, as well as the special shampoo she preferred to use on her long hair. Panties were placed in my underwear drawer.

It felt like home.

It was past noon, but I wasn’t hungry—at least not for food. I finally had this woman all to myself without any interruptions. If my phone rang, I could ignore it. Ariel thought I was here on business, and I would allow her to think that until I was ready to come clean.

I came behind London as she stood at my dresser, and I ran my finger up her arm. I moved up until I reached her shoulder, feeling her skin prickle under my touch. Her breathing changed slightly, reacting to my sudden proximity. She was an expert at reading my mood, especially at times like this.

My hands circled her waist, and I pressed my mouth against her ear. “I missed you.” I let my hot breath enter her ear canal, knowing she liked it. I’d been sleeping with her for six months. I knew all the things she enjoyed.

Her hand moved behind her shoulder and around my neck, her fingers digging into my skin as they moved into my hair. Since I’d confronted her on the street, we still hadn’t kissed, probably because we both knew where it would lead. “I missed you too.”

I pulled her tightly against me, wanting her to feel how hard I was for her. The second she set her things in my drawers, I was reminded of scorching nights with her within the stone walls of the castle. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to go back in time and take advantage of those perfect moments. “When you were with him, did you think of me?”

She tensed in my arms.

I waited for her answer.

“Yes.”

I gripped her tighter. “Did he make you come?”

She moved against me, her perky ass against my crotch. “Yes…”

“But did he make you come the way I do?” I hated myself for allowing another man to touch my woman. If I’d just kept her close, this never would have happened. But I would make her forget he was ever between her legs.

“No…no one does.”

Good answer.

“Did you think of me when you were with them?” she whispered.

I yanked on the neck of her t-shirt and pulled it to the side so I could kiss her bare skin, sealing my mouth around the area and giving her a gentle nick of my teeth. “Yes. They were nothing compared to you.”

She leaned back into me and turned her head my way, her breaths falling over my skin.

“Just you and me from now on.” My hand slid down her stomach and into the front of her jeans. My fingers found her underwear, and I slipped them under the lacy material. “Understood?”

She took a deep breath when she felt my fingertips reach her clit. “Yes…”

I rubbed the nub harder, feeling her writhe against my chest. I knew when I slid inside her warm channel it would be as incredible as I remembered. But I was torturing myself, taking my time to make the final moment truly incredible. I loved making her feel good, making her heavy breathing escalate the longer I touched her. I used another finger to rub her, to massage the area aggressively and make her nerve endings go off. Listening to her moan quietly was just as satisfying as if I were deep inside her. My mouth moved over hers, and I kissed her as my hand pleased her, making her want me more with every passing second. I wanted her to beg me to fuck her, beg me to rip her clothes off.

Her hand cupped the back of my hand, and she kissed me back with the same desperation. Her tongue dove into my mouth, and she filled my lungs with air as she breathed through the pleasure.

Kissing her was just as I remembered—powerful, blinding, and sensational.

How did I go so long without kissing her?

She gripped my wrist and steadied my hand just as she moaned into my mouth. “Stop.”

My fingers kept going. “I’ll stop when I feel like it.”

“I want to come when you’re inside me…”

My fingers slowly stopped as I kept my face pressed against hers. I wanted to watch her face contort into a look of immense pleasure as she came for me. I could make her come now and again later, but my cock was anxious to feel her tighten around me.

I pulled my fingers out of her pants and placed them in her mouth.

She sucked them immediately, her eyes on me.

My cock twitched in response as I watched her suck her own pleasure off my fingertips. She wasn’t kinky or adventurous in bed like some of the women I’d been with, but she had a special touch that made her incredible. I didn’t miss the threesomes or the strippers. Why would I want them when I could have London?

I pulled my fingers away and got to work removing her clothes. Her pants were undone and the shirt was gone, and she turned around and did the same to me. With anxious fingers, we peeled away everything until we were both laid bare. I stared at her small and perky tits, missing the way those hard nipples felt in my mouth. I appreciated her perfect hourglass figure, the way her slim waist curved inward with flawless skin. The small muscles of her core could be seen, and they shifted under the surface every time she moved.

I forgot how beautiful she was.

I’d jerked off to her memory countless times, but I could never truly picture her perfection. Seeing her in the flesh reminded me of her incredible qualities, of her stunning beauty that no other woman could match.

I guided her to the bed and got her on her back, exactly where I wanted her. I wanted to see her face, see the way her hair stretched across the pillow and the way her eyes lit up like stars. Rarely did I face a woman during sex. I preferred their face against the comforter and their ass in the air. But I thought London’s face was her sexiest feature. Direct eye contact brought me comfort, not unease. I could look into her soul and have her look back into mine without fear.

Her legs circled my waist, and her ankles locked together against my lower back as she prepared to take me. Her fingers hooked under my arms and over my shoulders, gripping me tightly as she positioned herself for the ride ahead.

I rubbed my cock against her folds and felt her lubrication coat the surface of my length. She was ready for me, had been ready since the moment I walked into the room. I pressed my head inside her slit and was greeted by a fold of her moisture.

She was soaked.

“Jesus Christ…” I was used to the uncomfortable dryness of a condom, but I’d never forgotten how incredible she felt. Now I was reliving one of my favorite memories, feeling the pussy I’d become obsessed with. I slid all the way inside her until I was completely sheathed. I held myself steady, feeling my heart race at record-breaking speed.

She dug her nails into me and possessed a fiery expression in her eyes, just as affected by the combination of our bodies as I was. She squeezed her knees against my sides and let out a low moan.

My hands dug into the mattress as I suspended my body on top of hers. I gave my first thrust and slid through her tightness, feeling my entire body shiver in pleasure. She was so slick, wetter than I’d ever felt her.

She craned her neck up and kissed me, her lips gentle despite the tension in both of our bodies. With restrained passion, her lips moved with mine. Her breathing was building into a crescendo, an explosion that would leave her screaming underneath me. Her nails dug into me harder, and her hips worked with mine to meet my thrusts.

I wouldn’t last long, but thankfully, she wouldn’t either.

“I’m already gonna come…”

I rocked into her harder, pressing her deep into the mattress where she couldn’t slip away. I gave her every inch of me over and over, hitting her hard in the perfect spot. I got off on getting her off. She turned me into a real gentleman.

Like I’d hit a button, she ignited. Her sexy legs squeezed my hips as she came around my cock, her moisture oozing down my length all the way to my balls. My name rolled off her tongue in the sexiest way possible. “Crewe…” Her hair was sprawled around her body, her long strands perfect for me to fist.

I wanted to keep going, but my cock couldn’t handle the wait. I needed to put my seed inside her now, to claim her as my woman again. After a few more pumps, I released inside her, feeling the most exquisite rush through my body. “Lovely…” Nothing made me feel more like a king than coming inside my queen.

She tightened her legs and pulled me deeper into her, making sure she got every drop I had to give. Her arms hooked around my neck, and she looked into my eyes with a beautiful face and red cheeks. Her eyes were lidded like she was both satisfied and exhausted, but she wanted more the second I was ready to give it. “I missed that so much.”

“That makes two of us.”

She pulled on her scrubs then placed her hair in a bun. “I need to get to work. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

I already hated this. “Do you always work the night shift?”

“It’s when the ER is the busiest.”

Why did she have to choose a career that was so dangerous? “I’ll walk you.” I grabbed my coat from the coat rack and threw it on.

“You don’t need to walk me, Crewe. I’ll see you in the morning.” Even in baggy scrubs and a jacket, she looked beautiful. No way in hell was I letting her walk around alone.

“I can either walk you or my driver can drop you off and pick you up again.”

“Neither is necessary.”

I blocked the door with my body and stared her down. “Pick one.”

“I’ve been living in this city my whole life. I’ll be fine.”

“And my men snatched you without a struggle,” I reminded her.

She crossed her arms over her chest, irritated by the comment. “That was totally different, and you know it.”

“Anything can happen. That’s what I know.”

She tried to get to the door, but I didn’t move. Like I was a mountain blocking her path, she had no way of getting around me. “Crewe, move.”

“Lovely, pick.”

London finally saw reason, knowing I wasn’t going to change my mind. When I wanted something, I got it. “I guess your driver can take me.”

“What time do you get off?”

“Seven.”

“I’ll ride with you on the way there.” I took her hand, and we walked to the lobby together. My driver was at the curb when we walked through the doors, and we got into the back seat and got comfortable for the short drive.

This whole night shift thing was annoying. I was supposed to sleep all night without her. That defeated the purpose of having her in my life. My arm circled her shoulders, and I pressed my face near hers. “Put your two weeks’ in?”

“I’ll do that tonight.”

She didn’t do that three days ago? “You couldn’t have done that earlier?”

Her green eyes were always a little darker when she was annoyed. “I didn’t think a few days would make much of a difference.”

“It makes all the difference in the world.”

“Well, I’m doing it now. That’s all that matters.”

The car stopped at the entrance to the hospital, and I got out and walked her to the door. It was cold outside, piles of snow still sprinkled in the gutters. The sky had been overcast all day, and I suspected another storm was coming. “I’ll see you in the morning.” I gripped her hips and gave her a kiss.

“I might wake you up with a surprise…”

I smiled against her mouth, forgetting about the small argument we’d just had. “I look forward to it.”