It wasn’t said in a harsh way, and it wasn’t a flat-out rejection. He told me that with tenderness… he wanted me to get my rest. And so I went back to bed and I fell back asleep.
I didn’t wake back up the rest of the night. In fact, my eyes only opened after Jackson made me climax in my sleep and then bit my lip, telling me to wake up just a bit ago.
Rolling to my side, disappointed he doesn’t intend to have sex with me just now, I take him in. Head propped on his hand, he’s wearing that smug smile of satisfaction that he made me come.
I cock an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re not still mad at me?”
“Oh, I’m still mad at you,” he says without a lick of anger in his voice. It’s very confusing. “But I also understand what you and your father are trying to accomplish. I get why you want to do this. And if you and I did not have a personal relationship, I wouldn’t have a single problem with this harebrained idea to lure the assassin. That being said, I know this is going to happen, so I have to put that aside for now and turn my attention to the best way to protect you.”
I reach out my fingers and trail them down the middle of his chest. Lifting my gaze to his, I say, “I trust you to keep me safe. I trust all of you to bring this assassin down. It will be fine, and then it will be over.”
“And then it will be over,” he says softly, and we both know we’re not talking about the plot at this point.
We’re talking about us.
To keep from crying, I lean into him and press my lips against his. I hold them there, just breathing him in and feeling my heart break because if this goes down tonight the way we all hope it does, he doesn’t have to stay until my actual birthday in six days. The threat will be over, and he will go home.
This could be our last time together.
Perhaps Jackson senses my sentiments because his arm snakes out to gather me closer, and he kisses me hard.
God, I’m going to miss this.
My bedroom door is thrown open so hard, it hits the table behind it, and a big, booming voice says, “Good morning, my darling girl. I have a huge surprise for you.”
Then my father strides into the room, a smile plastered on his face until his eyes lands on me and Jackson.
I shriek at the intrusion, but Jackson reacts on instinct. Before my father even notices us in the bed, Jackson has already rolled out in all his naked, hard-on glory and grabbed a gun from somewhere. He has it aimed straight at my father’s head where he holds it steady for just a moment before lowering it with a sigh.
My father’s eyes bug out as they slide back and forth between me—in bed with the sheets pulled up to my neck—and Jackson who is putting the gun on the side table.
“What in the hell is going on here?” my father bellows at the top of his lungs.
“Father,” I yell back at him, “this is my private room. You should have knocked.”
I see that my father is holding a large, black velvet box—no doubt with jewelry inside—but it’s his other hand that raises and points a shaking finger at Jackson. “You… you… you… I trusted you to protect my daughter.”
“And I have,” Jackson replies dryly and moves to a chair beside the bed where he draped his clothes last night as we undressed.
“Father!” I exclaim again, and his eyes come to me. “Turn around so I can get dressed.”
He honors my request but starts a tirade when his back is to us. As I scramble out of bed and nab my robe from a chair, he says, “This is intolerable. Mr. Gale, you are a dishonorable man, taking advantage of my daughter this way. I invite you into my home and—”
“Father … stop it,” I screech in anger, my eyes cutting to Jackson who has his pants on and is now shrugging into a T-shirt. I march around my father as I belt my robe and come toe-to-toe with him. “This was a mutual attraction we both acted upon, and I am an adult. You have no say.”
“This is my home,” he blusters.
“It’s my home too,” I snarl back.
That shuts my dad up, but he whirls on Jackson. “What did you think was going to happen? Think you were going to live happily ever after here in Bretaria? Enjoy our wealth? Maybe become a crowned prince by marrying my daughter and inheriting our ruby mines? Well, let me tell you something, you’re not worthy to walk ten paces behind her, so you can get those notions right out of your head.”