“She said she would.” His tone was skeptical.
“Why wouldn’t she? She loves you. You’re her family.”
“I’m not. Not really.” He tossed a stick into the fire pit.
“She’s coming back.”
He glared. “They don’t come back, Minnow. They never do.”
“Stop it. You’
re being ridiculous.”
“You’re being naïve.”
“But –”
He got to his feet and stalked off into the night. She waited for him to come back, but the bench was too hard to sit on, tender as she was.
When the fire had burned down to embers, she doused them with the bucket of water that sat nearby. She was frozen and literally falling asleep on her feet. Giving up, she trudged back to the house, not sure if she should be angry or sad – wishing she could track down his first parents and get in line to smack them.
Chapter Ten
Curled on her side, with her legs pulled up, the girl was a tiny bump under the covers in her big bed. One hand was curled in front of her mouth. In the pale morning light her face was young and vulnerable, and it made him feel things he didn’t like. She was out here alone with him for another week, and he couldn’t be trusted with that kind of responsibility. Not when his feelings for her sometimes turned dark.
Trusting himself alone with her out here was too much temptation for one sadist to handle. Well – maybe Rodrigo could trust himself, but Severin was new at having to control himself around a willing woman who apparently rarely if ever used her safeword. He’d never been good at controlling himself, and he didn’t know if he could pass this test.
Only a few more days until Sutton came home. Then they’d have a chaperone at least. He was still talking to her every day, but her absence made him uneasy. The second delay in her coming back had been less unexpected than the first, but he hated it all the same. Too much could go wrong with her out there by herself. And her sister wasn’t getting any younger. What if she decided to stay indefinitely? Her sister was probably easier to take care of than he was, and better company. And she was Sutton’s actual, real family.
Sutton had enough money stashed away to retire anytime she pleased – to buy houses and cars and a new start. He was a grown man. It wasn’t like he needed a nanny anymore.
How could he expect her to choose him over her own flesh and blood?
If she didn’t come back it wouldn’t surprise him. Church was never coming back. Maybe Church was what had kept Sutton here all along. They’d always had a strong bond. Church had always been the easy one, so Severin had never begrudged the fact that Sutton liked him more. She’d never said so, but Church was never any trouble, and had turned into someone she could be proud of.
Severin was a disappointment. None of the things she’d ever worked on with him had sunk in. He was the same mess he’d been as a teenager, only in a bigger shell.
Minnow gave a small cry but didn’t open her eyes. Were people supposed to wake someone having a nightmare? He couldn’t remember. Her breathing changed. She rolled onto her stomach and squirmed against the bed, whimpering. Not a nightmare. She was such a sensual little thing with her long eyelashes, pouting lips, and with her rounded ass that begged for his attention. He groaned inwardly, sinking back onto the couch beside the window. Apparently she even thought about sex when she was asleep. She mewled, and his cock went hard immediately, more than willing to accommodate.
What was she dreaming of? Or more importantly, who?
“Please.” The word came out as a breathy whimper. “Oh please. I’ll be a good girl.”
He palmed his erection, meaning to readjust himself in his jeans, but he’d been up half the night wondering why he hadn’t taken her the night before, and the series of erections he’d had as a result were starting to wear on him.
She was probably thinking about Rodrigo, and how hard she’d come when he fucked her. It was his own fault for insisting, but now she was probably going to fantasize about Ro forever. He’d have to live with that.
Watching Rodrigo fucking her had been so fucking hot though – because he’d told them to. Both of them looking to him for direction and approval had been a heady experience.
A plaintive sound of pain split the silence of the room, and her hips rocked harder against the bed. “Please no, you’re hurting me, Mister Leduc.”
Fucking hell.
Her eyelids flickered, and her desperate whimpering grew louder.
Nights ago, she’d given him permission to touch her while she slept, so really there was nothing stopping him but his own stubbornness.
“Miss Korsgaard!” he barked.