Page 12 of Midnight Revelations

“What changed that day in the restaurant?” I wrapped myself around him when his grip on me loosened.

His gaze bored into mine. “I decided that I never wanted anyone else to ever touch you. That was the day that you looked at me and I knew that you belonged only to me.”

I loved the possessive tone in his voice, the way his eyes swept over me in assured ownership. “And what about the Ivans of this world that Papa has decided would make a perfect husband?”

“Maybe Lucas should marry him if he likes him so much.” Ash’s expression darkened.

“I like this side of you.”

“What? The asshole caveman who wants to drag you away and hide you from the world? Or the possessive bastard who tried not to punch that smarmy smile off Ivan’s face?”

“Both.” I kissed the bunched muscle of his arm. “I only ever wanted you, Ash.”

“Well, now that you’ve provoked the beast, you have me…”

“Hmmm. Now that I have you, what am I supposed to do with you?”

That salacious grin that I adored appeared on his lips. “I can think of a few things.”

“I don’t have any clothes on. Do I need to get dressed up to participate?”

His teeth bit into his bottom lip and he pushed himself up to look down between us, his arm muscles bunching on either side of me. “No, I definitely think I can work with this.”

I deliberately widened my legs and arched my spine to put my breasts on display. “I feel underdressed without my panties.”

His laugh rumbled over me. “As much as I fucking love your panties, I don’t think you need them tonight.”

I eyed the window behind him. “Technically, it’s the morning.”

“We’re just in time for sleepy morning sex.” His tone dripped seductive energy.

“We haven’t slept,” I pointed out like a smartass.

“Then close your eyes and pretend to sleep so we can have wake-up sex.” The Ash I knew for years didn’t tease people, but the Ash I discovered did and I loved that about him.

“Sometimes when I can’t sleep, I have a bath.” I stared into his eyes and waited for him to take the hint.

“Bath sex it is then.” I giggled when he threw me over his shoulder, my expression sobering when I saw the bruises on his back.

I had no idea how to keep him safe, but I needed to discover a way to protect him from the dangers that stalked him. Now that I had Ash in my life, I refused to let him go. A tendril of fear curled up in my stomach at the thought of anyone trying to take him from me.

***

Chapter Five

Ash

Lucrezia went to have breakfast with Lucas, who was stomping around the suite like a bear who had his honey pot stolen. Technically, it was just a little mishap that had been easy to orchestrate from my phone.

Jordan tended to go in with guns blazing. An accountant could cripple someone from across the globe and no one would ever know it was them. Ivan had had some bad news this morning regarding his portfolio. There would soon be nothing left in it to present to Lucas when he asked for Lucrezia’s hand in marriage. I knew men like him, and me stepping in last night would not be enough to put him off his horny quest.

Jordan wasn’t the only one in our group who had his own personal clean-up crew. Mine just tended not to deal in bodies and blood. I learnt a long time ago the importance of money, it was the reason I became an accountant. It wasn’t sexy or exciting, but money really did make the world go around, and I was the king who set the tune that it danced by. The Council made a lot of money and it was because the stock market couldn’t just be predicted, but nudged in the right direction from time to time. Nothing major that would draw attention, but enough to ensure that I made the men around that table very wealthy.

It also ensured that I had amassed enough money myself to ensure that Lucrezia was given everything her heart desired, including the fate I was currently planning for her. Most women wanted expensive dinners and priceless jewels. Not my angel who wore panties with unicorns on her ass.

Lucas barked an order outside the bedroom door. I froze for a moment, my eyes glued to the bedroom door handle, ready to run if it so much as moved. I’d gotten in the shower with Lucrezia this morning with the excuse that we couldn’t have the water running twice. It ended with her pinned to the wall and my hand over her mouth to muffle her screams.

Jordan definitely suspected something but thought I was fighting the attraction. Xavier believed his warnings to me were enough to make me walk away and ignore Lucrezia again. The problem was that I didn’t want to. I was sick of doing what everyone else wanted or needed. For the first time in my life, I felt like being selfish and choosing something I craved over duty. When I was with Lucrezia I lived instead of existed.

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