Page 62 of Cruel Love
“Good. Come with me.”
Willow trailed behind me with a slight limp. I threw the occasionalglance over my shoulder, making sure she was keeping up. Each time, I caught the trepidation carved into her face.
I led her through the house, reassuring myself that I was making theright decision, that Willow wouldn’t be able to escape the grounds of my house. When we reached the double doors that led out to the garden, I came to a stop, glaring down at her.
“I promised you’d be rewarded if you behaved,”I said, her eyeswidening with hope as she looked from me to the garden. I snatched her jaw between my thumb and forefinger, making her give me her full attention.“I’m trusting you, Willow. If you dare try to escape or if you speak to any of my staff, I won’t just revoke your access to the garden, but I’ll lock you up in a cage and treat you like a fucking dog. Do you understand?”
She blinked, disbelief shining in her eyes.“You…you’re letting mego outside?”
“As long as you obey my rules. Yes. You can come and go from thehouse and the garden as you please.”I released her chin, my black heart stuttering as a beautiful smile pulled at her lips.
Fuck, I’d never seen her smile before.
She was breathtaking.
She took a step forward, pausing with her hand outstretched to thedoor handle.“I won’t run, James,”she said, her tone full of conviction.
When I bobbed my head in acknowledgment, she pressed thehandle down and opened the door, stepping out onto the veranda before pausing to close her eyes. Tilting her head up to the sky, she inhaled deeply, a look of serenity settling on her face.
After a few seconds, she opened her eyes again, finding mine withnothing but gratitude filling them.“Thank you,”she whispered, tears brimming in her eyes.
I swallowed the strange lump that had formed in my throat beforewalking away, knowing that if I stayed any longer, I’d do something fucking stupid.
Like telling her how much power she was beginning to have over me.
Chapter 22
Willow
Icouldn’t remember a time when I smiled as much as I did in thedays that followed James permitting me to go outside. From sun up to sun down, I explored the house and gardens, taking in every inch of the interior, smelling every single flower outside, and only returning to the house when Edith summoned me for meals.
I loved James’ house, but I loved the gardens more. They wereutterly spectacular, and even though I’d seen them from the bedroom window, the view wasnothingcompared to how it felt to walk around them.
When I was at Peartree House, I was rarely allowed outside. I’d lostcount of the times I stared out the windows watching the girls socialize or take their lessons outside, wishing I could go out into the fresh air, and now I was allowed to go outside whenever I wanted to.
Since the night James made me try to remember my life beforePeartree House, things between us were different.
Strange.
He insisted I ate breakfast and dinner with him in the grand dining room. We barely spoke, but it was oddly comforting sitting next to him at meal times, and often, I found him watching me, his brows furrowed as if he was trying to figure out how we got to where we were.
Him and me both. When I first arrived at James’ house, I didn’t thinkfor one second I would ever reach a point of wanting to be in his company.
Yet here we were.
James still fucked me like he hated me though, but he always mademe come, at least twice, refusing to finish until I had. Afterward, he wouldn’t go to sleep until I was wrapped in his arms and pulled tight against his body as if he was scared I would disappear into the night.
When he would leave me in the mornings after eating our breakfast, Ifound myself missing him, longing for night to fall when he would return and bathe me with his brand of attention.
Missing him soon turned to craving him, and craving him was turninginto something I didn’t want to acknowledge because that would mean admitting that I was falling for a monster.
Like I had done the previous two days, I took an old blanket I’d foundin a guest bedroom outside with me, laying it down on the grass in a secluded area.I’d discovered the little spot that overlooked a stream runningthrough the entire length of the grounds, hidden by trees and shrubs, and offered me privacy.
James need not have worried about me talking to any of his staff,since being allowed out into the garden, I hadn’t seen anyone, and I doubted anyone would come to this part.
I laid down on my stomach, pulling the dress up around my thighs toallow the sun to get to the backs of my legs as I turned to my current place in the book.
It wasn’t one I was enjoying, time travel wasn’t a genre I particularlyenjoyed, but I was determined to open my mind to new genres, so I was forcing myself to try and get through it. But as the sun began warming my back and legs, my mind decided to wander to the night before.
