Page 10 of Recklessly In Love With A Ruthless Savage

"You’re not alone anymore," he murmured.

I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to. But the past had a way of finding me.

Dragging me back no matter how far I ran. I pulled away gently.

"I need to go." Crew let me. He didn’t stop me. He just nodded once.

"You got today, Nova. Get your head right. But tonight?" He stepped close again, mouth brushing my ear. "Tonight, you’re back in my bed.”

I shivered, nodding before my brain could catch up. And then I was gone, heart pounding, mind racing, body already missing him.

Everyone was still asleep when I made it back to the room. The kids were passed out in their beds, and Tyra was snoring like a grown man in her room. I went to my bedroom undressed and took a long shower, letting the hot water relax my sore muscles. My mind was all over the place with thoughts of Crew’s words. He was trying to tear down the walls that I had carefully crafted after all these years. I had to be strong. No amount of dick should be able to throw me off my square like this. It was the only one thing I could do. I wasn’t going back.

"You’re back early," Tyra mumbled, stretching as she entered the living room.

I jumped, splashing coffee on my wrist. "Damn, Tyra. You scared me."

She grinned sleepily. "I figured you’d be gone for days. Thought I was gonna have to tell Timberly you ran off with a rich mountain man."

I snorted, sitting across from her. "Not funny."

"Kind of funny," she said, sitting down on the couch and rubbing her eyes. "You good?"

"Yeah," I lied automatically.

Tyra stared at me for a long second, then shrugged. "If you say so."

The day passed in a blur of cartoons, popcorn fights, and trips to the overpriced arcade downstairs. Minus the annoyed faces Tyra was making because I refused to tell her about my night and the fact that I said I wasn’t going back. My only concern was enjoying my time with my daughter. After making breakfast for Tyra and the kids this morning we started our day out on the slopes with the trainers. The kids were doing such a good job on the skis and snowboards. Tyra and I were another story, but we had fun nonetheless. After some time in the snow, we had a hearty lunch in our suite. I opted out of going to one of the restaurants, scared I might run into Crew.

After lunch, we spent the rest of the day inside playing games and watching movies by the fire. Our private chef prepared a delicious roast with carrots, potatoes, and freshly baked bread. The kids crashed early, knocked out from sugar and arcade-induced exhaustion. Tyra and I cleaned up the disaster zone they left behind. Somewhere between loading the dishwasher and arguing over who cheated at Uno earlier, my head started spinning.

"I’m not going back tonight," I said suddenly, out of nowhere.

Tyra looked at me over her shoulder. "Okay."

"I’m serious," I said, flopping down onto the couch. "I need to... think."

"Sure," Tyra said casually, wiping down the counter. "Think with your coochie. Think with your heart. Either way, that man’s gonna get you."

I threw a pillow at her and she cackled.

"Sleep it off, Nova," she said, flicking the light switch off.

The last thing I remembered was Timberly crawling up next to me on the couch, her tiny body curling into mine. I kissed her hair and closed my eyes. Telling myself I was strong enough to stay away from Crew. The feel of being carried woke me from my deep slumber on the couch. For a moment, I thought I wasfloating but then I felt the warmth from the hard chest that I was being cradled against.

This can’t be… I was on the couch in my suite. I opened my eyes and Crews' stormy gray ones were looking down at me. His lips quirked up into a sly smirk.

“I thought I told you that you would be in my bed tonight?”

“I- I fell asleep,” I said. It wasn’t a lie I had fallen asleep after a few too many glasses of wine.

“I told you it was cute when you did that. But if you do it again I’ll have to punish you,” he said.

“What?” I asked, already knowing.

“If you lie to me again I’m going to fuck your throat until you can’t speak. He said, eyes shining like he couldn’t wait to do exactly that.

CHAPTER 4

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