“Just like you’re going to be mine.”
“Tell me you love me.”
“I love you, Jeremy,” I murmur.
“Am I the only one you love?”
“Only you.” I touch his cheek, melting when he leans into my touch. “Do you love me?”
“I’m fucking crazy about you, Lisichka. I love you more than words can express.”
“What do you love about me?”
“Your melodic voice and the elegant way you speak.” He kisses my throat where my vocal cords are. “Your addictive taste.” He nibbles on my pulse point. “Your fucking water lilies scent that if I don’t smell, I get a headache.” He sniffs my neck and then behind my ears before he kisses my nose, my cheek, and my eyes. “Your face, the way you look at me, the way you look when you see me, the way you look when I’m touching you.”
I’m floating so high at the impact of his words that I’m surprised I don’t crash and burn from the heights I reach. “How are the ways I look at you different?”
“You look at me like you love me. Your lips part, and your eyes widen the slightest bit when you see me. As for when I’m touching you? You look like you love being owned by me, chased, possessed. You love being mine.”
“I do. So, so much.”
“And I love it when you’re mine, Cecily.”
“Me, too.”
“Only mine?”
“Yes.” I chuckle. “Stop being so jealous.”
His arms tighten around me. “I’m a jealous man. I’ll always think about the years you crushed on that fucker Landon.”
I reach a hand out and stroke his cheek. “You can have the rest of my years, Jeremy.”
He starts to spin me around when the sound of the door opening reaches my ears. Jeremy pushes me behind him and throws a thin blanket over my nakedness.
Scrambling, I wrap it around me as Jeremy stares at the hall.
“Who the fuck—” His words cut off when a petite woman comes inside with a smile on her face. “Mom!”
It’s his turn to cover himself with a bit of the blanket that I’m wrapped in.
“Who are you hiding from? I’m your mother,” she says with a soft smile, placing a takeout basket on the coffee table.
“What are you doing here?” he asks in a more composed voice after sharing the blanket with me.
“Checking in on you since you haven’t left the guest house in…two days. You’ve been barely eating the meals I’ve been sending you either.”
I wince and glare at Jeremy.
It’s been that long, and he made me lose track of time.
“The poor girl looks dehydrated.”
“I’ve been making her drink just fine.”
My cheeks heat, and I step on his foot, but I might as well not have touched him, considering the smile on his face.
Lia shakes her head. “Your father wants to see you. Get changed and come to the main house. We’ll have dinner together.”