"Try?" I sighed back, tipping my head to the side when his lips pressed into the flesh right below my ear.
"I will always chase you, vita mia. Always."
"Hmm," I murmured in thought. "Even if I found someone else?" I knew it would be the way to push him, the way to get exactly what I was looking for in the wake of his father's interruption to our sweet evening. It seemed only natural.
He smacked the underside of my breast, making me squeal with a giggle. "I have spent a great number of years chasing men out of your life, Little Dove. Men who weren't worthy of you, boys who thought to toy with you and toss you aside. If any dared to touch you now that you're mine, I'd kill them with my bare hands." The deep growl of his voice told me he didn't find it amusing when I pushed, but I stood from the chair and pivoted to face him.
"Chasing men off?" I asked, my brow furrowing.
He nodded. "Mostly in school. Rick. David. Craig. None of them deserved you."
"Why didn't you chase off Connor?" I asked, choosing to focus on that instead of the hypocrisy that he'd been chasing off boys while he dated. As much as it pissed me off, it also felt good to know that even back then he'd wanted me, no matter what it had been that stopped him from claiming me. I hoped to understand it more someday, but today wasn't the day for that conversation. No matter how much I wanted it, the beast loomed too close to the surface for a reasonable conversation.
"By the time you met Connor, I'd decided I had to stop. That I wasn't going to interfere in your love life anymore. You have no idea how much I regret that decision, Samara. If I'd gotten rid of him like the others—"
"Don't. I don't want you to think like that. If I hadn't been with Connor, I wouldn't be who I am today. I happen to like myself for the first time in my life, I think. I'm responsible for my own choices, and I should have left him the first time he hit me. But I didn't. Or the second, or the third. I waited until it went way too far before I got out, and that's not your fault. You can't protect me from what you didn't know, my Stallion," I whispered, leaning in to touch my lips to his. "Besides, it led us here. I like where we are."
"I like where we are too," he whispered, lifting me around the waist until I perched back on the stool, and he slid between my legs. "I never want to leave where we are."
I giggled, pressing my lips to his neck as I unbuttoned his shirt. "I do have one objection."
"And what's that?"
"You have clothes on, and that's a crying shame." With a chuckle, he helped me divest him of those clothes, and just like that, I was happy with where we were.
So fucking happy
???
Catching up on the analysis I'd missed in my absence seemed like a never-ending project. Usually, I entered values daily to keep it from getting to be too much for me to do in one sitting.
I'd never had a greater appreciation for that system but trying to get caught up me
ant that it felt like the rest of my job duties just fell by the wayside in the meantime. But I also knew that Jasper depended on those numbers, a quick check and balance to be sure that his people were managing funds appropriately without him having to take the time to do it himself. Being the only person he trusted with the task had always been flattering and one of the achievements in my life I felt truly proud to own.
Even if it wasn't the career path I'd ever seen for myself, I was good at it. I defied all those people who said I'd end up a cleaning lady for the rest of my life if I tried to reach too far. Like mother, like daughter, like there was something shameful about her job.
I just didn't have a domestic bone in my body. I couldn't cook, and my cleaning tended to leave a trail of dirt behind.
I couldn't handle it. It had been something Connor complained about constantly, even if we had a housekeeper. I wasn't a slob; I picked up after myself. I just didn't scrub the shower or clean the kitchen I didn't use.
Lino seemed to find it endearing, never complaining once when he had to cook every night or order in if he didn't feel like it. He'd known who I was when he married me, so committing to that woman and then complaining about those things would have been ridiculous.
Why marry someone you wanted to change?
When the door to the offices shoved open, I didn't even glance up from the files opened on my computer. "I'll be with you in just a moment," I said politely, noting down the numbers on my spreadsheet before turning my eyes up to the man who glared down at me.
I knew who he was, and I knew exactly why he could have been so angry—though how he'd found out was beyond me. "What can I do for you, Sir?" I asked, standing up from behind my desk to be level with the man. If nothing else, I hated when a man towered over me with anger in his eyes, but I swallowed down my moment of panic.
"I need to speak to Jasper Rowe, immediately," Jim Clarke hissed at me, leaning forward to grip the edge of my desk so that we were eye level. I forced a bitchy smile to my face, glancing around him to look at the closed door of Jasper's office. As if I didn't know exactly what his schedule dictated for the hour.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible. Mr. Rowe is with a client." I took my seat, picking up my highlighter and turning back to my analysis. "If you'd like to take a seat in the waiting area, he has an opening in about twenty minutes. I can see if he'd like to squeeze you in then, Mr. Clarke."
His eyes narrowed, and he studied me as if he hadn't expected me to know his name. "And how is it that a secretary knows my name?"
"I can assure you; I know every client of Lamb & Rowe. Now, the seating area is right over there"—I pointed to the four chairs at the front of the office—"If you'd like to wait. If not, I can take a message and relay it to Jasper. I'm sure he'd be happy to contact you when he has a moment."
"He will see me now!" he yelled, slamming his hands down on the edge of my desk.