Finn sighs, but does as requested. He stands out in front of the door, back to the windows, arms crossed and looking mean as hell.
Kellen turns back to me, hesitates, then walks around the counter. He hops over the far end and comes behind. I back away from him until I bump up against the wall, breathing fast as he approaches like a demon from hell. He’s hotter than an incubus and more gorgeous than a model, and I’m afraid all he has to do is touch me the right way and I’ll accept any half-assed apology he might lob in my direction.
“I thought you poisoned my mother.”
I was not expecting that.
“You thought I did what?”
“It turns out, someone was giving my mother mercury in small amounts for years. That’s why she deteriorated. It’s not Alzheimer’s or dementia, but long-term mercury poisoning.”
My jaw drops open and so much clicks into place. “That’s why, when you heard I poisoned your father, you thought I did it to your mother too.”
“That’s right. I fucked up.”
“Where would I even get mercury? And why would I want to hurt your mother? She’s a victim of your father like I am, I never hated her.”
“I know that.”
“I can’t believe you thought I’d poison her with mercury. God, that’s so freaking horrible.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, his eyes blazing with passion as he stands inches in front of me. “I’m so fucking sorry I ever doubted you. Eunika confirmed the truth, even though I shouldn’t have needed her to. I know you didn’t hurt my mother. I forgive you for killing my father. Fuck him and I hope he rots. Please, Tara. I want you to forgive me for making the worst mistake of my life.”
I chew on my lip, watching his eyes, and wondering if I can really make myself forget the hell I’ve been in for the last three weeks and go back. I want to desperately, and I can even understand why he did what he did—in his position, I might’ve done it too—but something holds me back.
“I’m starting over here,” I say quietly. “How do I know you won’t do this again?”
“The contract. I had Albert burn the voided copy and destroy your signature. It’s as though you never signed it away.”
“I don’t want to come back for money and land, you asshole,” I say, shoving his chest, but he barely moves. “I want you to want me to come home.”
“I need you to come home.” He says it so sharply that it makes me flinch back against the wall. “Seeing you here in this place kills me. You’re a fucking queen, Tara. That pathetic, simpering little mewling girl-child Janet should be licking your goddamn high heels and cowering at your feet. She should be prostrate on the ground before you, not sitting there like she deserves to be in your presence. You don’t belong in this place, in a goddamn yogurt shop.”
“They were hiring and let me start right away,” I say softly, blushing. “I needed the money.”
“You’re mine, Tara. You’re my fucking wife, and my wife will not work here. She will not take shit from a nothing like Janet. You will be given everything you want and all that you deserve and so much fucking more.” He comes closer and puts one hand on my hip. I gasp in a breath and the other hand snakes into my hair and grips it. “You’re my wife and I will have you back.”
“Kellen,” I whisper, trying not to cry, I can’t freaking cry right now. “I can’t do this again. When you sent me away, it nearly broke me. I know our marriage isn’t supposed to be real, but my life is back in that city, and banishing me was like cutting off my limbs.”
I’m too much of a coward to say: and I thought what we had was real.
“I give you my word, Tara. You are mine and I am not going to let you go again.”
I nod once, and he crushes my mouth with his.
I kiss him slow and hard and deep and breathe in his smell and let his taste flood me. God, it feels so good to kiss him after these nightmarish three weeks spent wondering if I’d ever have a life worth living again. My world was crushed into a tiny ball of suffering, but he’s peeling me apart and sticking me back together again, putting my pieces into the right places, and sending a shiver of pleasure down my spine as he does it.
I’ve needed this so badly, so fucking badly, for what feels like a lifetime.
His fist in my hair tightens as I gasp. He crushes me hard against the wall and reaches his other hand down to the hem of my shorts. I bite his lip as he unbuttons my top button and yanks them down. I moan into his mouth as his hands shove down the front of my panties, stroking my glistening pussy.
Fuck, he always does this to me, the bastard. It’s like I can’t be around him without losing all control, like he shoots me up and drives me insane and I’m left dripping wet and begging him to do whatever he wants, no matter how I might feel at the time.
He pushes me past my limits, and whatever’s beyond feels too good to ignore.
I grab his hair as he drops to his knees. I gasp when he pulls down my panties and buries his mouth against my pussy. I’m bright red, blushing like crazy. The big windows are twenty feet away and I can see Finn’s outline at the door, his back turned to the room. If he looks over his shoulder, he’ll see me moaning, cheeks pink, body shaking. Kellen’s hidden by the counter, but oh my god, aren’t there security cameras?
But suddenly my mind goes blank because Kellen does something to my clit with his tongue that makes my back arch. A moan escapes my lips and Finn’s forgotten about. Kellen strokes me with his tongue and uses his fingers to slide inside my pussy, fucking me slow. I wriggle my hips, panting, moaning.