with fantasies.
Closing my eyes, I rode out the storm, clenching around his finger and erection. I gasped when Hadrian suddenly sat up with me still in his lap, his mouth drenching my neck and shoulders in kisses as he continued to undulate inside me.
With a moan of surrender, he finally came, grasping me tightly for a moment and then releasing me so that he could gently collapse against the pillows. I fell on top of his chest, my breathing erratic and scattered.
He swept away my hair and rested his hand on the back of my neck, urging me to look at him.
“Are you all right?” he asked, his eyes clear and intense.
“Yeah. Are you? I didn’t hurt you?” I asked, my fingers drifting to his bandage.
“Hurt me?” he asked with a wry grin.
I rolled my eyes at his arrogance. It was clearly back, as though no vulnerability had passed between us.
“Did you enjoy it?” he asked baldly. “What I did to you?” His hand coasted over my hip to rest at the small of my back.
My cheeks flamed and I cleared my throat. “I think you know I enjoyed it.”
He let out a laugh and leaned forward to brush his lips across mine. “I have a pretty good feeling you’ll enjoy something much larger.”
Embarrassment made me bury my head against his neck.
“Sterling,” he said softly. “Look at me.”
His tone and the use of my name had me pulling back to stare at him.
“You shouldn’t ever be self-conscious with me. Nothing is off limits. Pleasure is pleasure and if you want something, ask for it. Aye?”
I nodded.
After he got up and washed his hands, he came back to bed and I snuggled up against him. His arm draped around me and his fingers stroked my spine.
“So, where does all of this leave us, Hadrian? I’m still a Rex girl and there is a contract between us.”
“Damn the contract.”
“I don’t like the idea of being financially dependent on you.”
“I guess that means you haven’t bothered to check the bank account The Rex set up for you.”
I looked up and propped my chin on his chest. “What do you mean?”
“The million dollars has been sitting in your account since the night you agreed to come to the island.”
“What? The night we discussed the contract, you offered me a hundred thousand dollars for accepting. Why did you change the amount?” I asked in shock.
“I never had plans to keep you here if you didn’t want to be. I didn’t want the money to be the reason you stayed.”
I stared at him in sudden understanding. “You wanted me to choose you, regardless of the money.”
“Aye. And besides, a million dollars is pocket change to me. It was never about the money…for either of us.”
I pressed my face to his chest again, loving the warm skin beneath my cheek. “Who is Ramsey’s father?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because you said after you went back to Dornoch to talk to him your life was never the same again.”
Hadrian paused for a moment, his hand tangling in my hair. “Ramsey’s father was the man who taught me everything I needed to know about how to navigate the criminal underground.”
My mind whirled with Hadrian’s unveiling. “You’re a criminal.”
“Aye.”
“What kind of…”
He stopped his tender love strokes and then gripped a handful of hair and gently forced my gaze to meet his. “It’s better if you don’t know.”
I swallowed. “You’re a criminal and a killer.”
His expression hardened. “Now are you afraid of me?”
I paused before answering, brushing my hand across his chest. “No. I don’t think I am,” I admitted.
“Liar.”
I glared in anger. “I’m not a liar.”
“Then you like danger?”
“Hardly.”
“Then why are you staying with me?”
I placed my hand on his heart. Not to push him away, but so I could assure myself that he wasn’t a figment of my imagination that I’d dreamed up. That this man—this broken criminal—really wanted me.
“There’s something special between us, and I want time to explore it,” I said.
“That might be the most honest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
There were still so many things left unsaid. The past I hadn’t shared, and wishes for the future I desired.
But for the moment, I didn’t need anything else except this time in his arms and the drums of our hearts beating as one.
Chapter Twenty-Five
We fell asleep sometime around dawn. I woke up again and found Hadrian standing over me, about to brush a kiss across my cheek.
I peered up at him.