Page 26 of His Forgotten Wife
Tears filled her eyes. Shaking her head, Dolly stepped away from him, even as he ate up the distance she wanted to put between them. “I know that,” she said, the words coming in a shout through her thick throat. “I see you and I…”
“It’s okay,agapi.”
It felt as if he were flaying her skin off to see the vulnerability she hid beneath. As if the loneliness and grief she had felt at learning that he was in a coma couldn’t be contained by her body anymore.
And then there was no gap between their bodies, nowhere for her to go. And she wasn’t sure she even wanted to escape.
When his hands landed gently on her shoulders and pulled, Dolly gave in. His arms were like tight vines around her back as he squeezed her close. With her face buried in his chest, her tears turned to sobs, wrecking through her with the force of a storm.
All the loneliness she had known when he was comatose came pouring out of her.
She clung to him, inhaling the scent of him deep into her lungs, burrowing into his hard, lean muscles, letting her heart have its fill of him. She had no idea how long he held her like that, letting her grief and fear run their course, and she didn’t care. Most of her life, she’d craved to be touched and held like this, to be loved. And the longer she’d worked for Ares, the more vividly her dreams began to take his form.
This wasn’t that, she reminded herself, but just for a second, it was everything she had ever wanted.
“And here I thought you were a smart woman, Dahlia,” Ares said in a dry voice, her head tucked under his chin. As if they had done this a hundred times before. His fingers kneaded the tight knots at her shoulders. “You could have told me you weren’t dealing with it well, you know. Asked me to hold you like this.”
“That’s like asking a cactus to grow colorful flowers. And you hate any touchy-feely stuff, Ares. That can’t be news to you.”
“I apologize if you have never been able to depend on me before.” He frowned, and all the small scars and nicks on his face looked deeper. “I’m beginning to see the seeds of why you want to leave me.”
“It’s unfair to make you think you were a bad or uncaring boss, Ares. I just want different things now. Beginning with a full night’s sleep.”
He nodded. “Will you ask for help at least while you are here, Dahlia? I don’t like to see you in pain. Not when I can do something about it.”
“Not all of my troubles can be solved by you,” she said, smiling.
For the first time in days, it felt as if that pressing weight on her chest had been lifted. There was no better proof than his thumping heart in her ears to know he was well. God, she hoped her mind got the memo and let her have one peaceful night.
His hands moved over her back with infinite tenderness before he released her. And the loss of his warmth, of his hardness, of him, was instant.
“I don’t agree. I’ll bloody well solve anything for you. You should know that.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. A sudden burst of awkwardness filled her, and her hands and her body felt extraneous to her feelings.
“Ares?” came Arabella’s tentative voice from the spiral staircase.
Dolly could have kissed her for interrupting at that exact moment, before she blundered her way into another cringey deep confession. Maybe she should pay his sister to interrupt them every fifteen minutes while she was here.
“I’m sorry for disturbing you,” Arabella said, blushing prettily. “Mama sent me. Everyone’s waiting for you.”
Pulling back, Dolly straightened her wrap. “We should go. I can’t monopolize you like this.”
“You can, anytime,” Ares said, grinning.
Dolly blushed. If he kept up this relentless charm, no one could save her from herself. “Aren’t you the one who wants to reconnect with his family?”
“Making me cut a cake like a child and stuffing themselves with processed sugar, and buying me nonsense gifts that have nothing to do with my interests, is the way to do it?”
“Hey, no sugar-shaming,” Dolly said, loosely lacing their arms together. “They want to celebrate you, Ares. And I want to too,” she said, clearing her throat. “Please let us. I’ll even eat your share of the cake and save you from it.”
CHAPTER SIX
Dolly stared, eyeswide in wonder as they arrived at the main deck. She made a conscious effort to untangle herself from Ares’s side. Even without the animosity aimed at her by his parents, it was clear that they were desperate to spend time with him.
All around her, the world seemed to shimmer in turquoise shades.
The yacht had veered away from the busier parts of the coastline, and they were now approaching a secluded cove nestled between jagged cliffs. The cove, almost invisible from afar, opened to reveal a small, crescent-shaped beach with powdery white sand and lush greenery spilling down the rocky slopes.
