Page 108 of Never Leave Me
“AREYOUREADY,LOVE?”Harrison held out his hand. In a crisp suit with a waistcoat and tie, he looked suave and darkly handsome and irresistible.
Ellen slipped her fingers in his and crossed the grand entryway of Chesterfield Park.
A private security guard stood by the portico door. At Harrison’s nod, the guard spoke into a wireless mic to more men positioned outside. There was a staff of bodyguards on duty twenty-four hours a day, and Ellen was grateful for the extra protection. With Dr. Lionel still on the loose and as more information about his connections with terrorists surfaced, Ellen feared they hadn’t seen the last of him.
Now, they had to attempt to explain to the curious public how they’d both been healed of lifelong illnesses. She and Harrison had talked at length about the approach to take, whether to tell the truth about the holy water and its curative properties or whether to attribute the cure to her dad’s research in a more generic fashion, leaving out any mention of holy water.
Finally they decided the world wasn’t ready—and perhaps never would be—for the truth about the Tree of Life and the holy water. Harrison was afraid people on every continent would begin searching for the ultimate cure, that more old flasks and bottles containing the water would be found, or perhaps even other unknown water sources would be tapped for remnants.
The thought of holy water in the hands of irresponsible people who didn’t know the repercussions chilled Ellen just as much as it did Harrison. They knew too well the risks and had decided the best option was for people not to know anything about it.
They’d concluded that the Tree of Life needed a guardian angel, just like it had from the beginning and throughout time. Perhaps Marian and Dad had gone back to be guardians during a time when the life-giving water had surfaced. Now she and Harrison needed to be guardians in their generation of any water that might surface again.
Whatever the case, Harrison had decided to put forth a statement claiming that while they’d benefited from Arthur Creighton’s research into a powerful drug, it had also contributed to Arthur’s and Marian’s deaths. The risks of the drug were too great, the danger too imminent, thus all research had been destroyed.
Harrison stopped several feet away from the closed door. “You know you don’t need to go out there. I can handle it for us.”
“As much as I’ve loved spending every minute of the past two days here with you, I realize we can’t stay secluded forever.”
He leaned into her, his long, lean torso pressing against her body and igniting her. “We might not be able to stay secluded, but our honeymoon is far from over.” His breath and lips touched her ear, fanning the smoldering flame inside.
Her chest tightened with a desire for him that she was learning was insatiable. No matter how much they were together, she never tired of lying in his arms and kissing him.
“How long?” Her voice came out embarrassingly breathless.
“How long is what?” He spoke as he made a trail of kisses across her jaw.
“Is our honeymoon?”
“Forever.”
She wound her arms around him until she was crushed in his arms, where she wanted to be. His lips sought hers eagerly with the kind of kiss that made her forget about all their troubles and reminded her why the pain had been worth it. If she hadn’t gone through it all, she wouldn’t have shed the fears holding her back from the one thing that truly mattered—a deep relationship with someone she loved.
Harrison had assured her he would have children and was willing to be an older parent for her sake. But she’d explained that she never wanted to have any children of her own and risk passing on VHL. Although they’d finally gotten the genetic tests back that showed her body was clear of the gene anomaly, she still didn’t want to take any chances. She was perfectly content to continue with her charities, especially Serenity House.
At the clearing of a throat of one of the bodyguards behind them, Ellen broke away from Harrison at the same time that he released her, although reluctantly. His breath bathed her forehead, and his healthy heartbeat thudded in the space between them.
After almost losing him, she was grateful for every second of the extra time God had given them. “I’m sorry I wasted so much time.”
He caressed her back. “Let’s have no more regrets between us. Without our past and everything that’s happened, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
“Even so, I want to make up for the lost time and the hurt I caused you. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy.”
“You already make me happy.”
She smiled up at him innocently. “So, are you saying there’s nothing I can do to make you any happier?”
The green of his eyes darkened. “Well, there might be one thing.”
Her heart quavered in anticipation of his next words.
He lifted a hand to her cheek and drew a light line from her ear to her lips. “Let me kiss you and never stop.” His voice was husky.
She pressed into him, needing and wanting only him. He dropped his mouth to hers and at the same time wrapped his arms around her and swept her into his embrace, bringing her home to exactly where she belonged.
The statement to the waiting press outside the gates of Chesterfield Park took less than a minute amidst the flurry of reporters and flashes of cameras. Harrison didn’t stop to answer the dozens of shouted questions. Instead, he’d hurried her into the waiting Bentley, and they’d sped away. Bojing drove them to the hospital, with only one detour along the way to pick up a strawberry shake.
As they pulled up to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital entrance, more news media waited outside while a team of doctors and specialists greeted them. Harrison drew Ellen closer into the crook of his body, and somehow she knew that side by side, they could face anything the future might bring them.
