The Price (House of Sin #5) - Elisabeth Naughton Page 0,78

Henley, stirring something in a pot when I entered the room. He looked up when he heard me, and when our eyes locked, I watched a warm, relaxed smile spread across his face, one I hadn’t seen in weeks.

“There you are,” he said as he flipped off the burner. “I was sure you went back to bed.”

If only...

Oh God... I was going to hell. I was about to ruin everything. Take away that easy, happy look. Hurt the one person in the world I never wanted to hurt.

I forced a smile I didn’t feel and moved toward the coffeepot. “Someone wore me out last night.”

Luc’s lips brushed my nape as I reached for a mug from the cabinet. “I think someone liked the way I wore her out last night.”

A shiver rushed down my spine. I had liked that. More than I’d expected. Of course, I loved anything he did to me when he was in domineering-Luc mode. And I was deathly afraid what I was about to do was going to take that Luc from me all over again.

He set a carton of creamer on the counter beside my hand, then stepped away. Cool air washed over me where all his heat had just been, and as the chill sank into my bones, it was all I could do not to turn, grab him, and convince him to run away with me for good.

Except running wasn’t going to save us. Not from his family. Not from his House. Not from what I was about to do.

“This is all ready,” he said as he carried two bowls to the table. “Come over here and eat before it gets cold.”

I gathered my courage and turned toward the table with my coffee. Sinking into a seat by the window, I tucked one leg under me and looked down as he set a bowl of oatmeal near my hand and placed a platter of bacon in the middle of the table.

With a kiss to the top of my head, he said, “Eat, angioletto. If you keep losing weight you’re going to start looking like those models at Covet. I like my woman curvy, not built like a ten-year-old boy.”

That comment drew a reluctant smirk from me, especially when I remembered all those stick-skinny models who’d flirted shamelessly with him in the Covet halls in New York, and the ones who’d thrown themselves at him at the fashion shows in Rome. “That won’t happen. I like ice cream too much.”

“Gelato.” He smiled as he sat in the seat next to me and stirred his own oatmeal. “I remember. We should have gotten you some when we were in Edinburgh yesterday.”

Just the mention of our trip to Edinburgh made my smile falter. I looked down at my breakfast and knew I needed to eat it, but that sickness was back, swirling in my gut, and I was afraid if I tried, the food would just come back up.

I managed to eat a few bites without getting sick, but for the most part, I just pushed my food around in my bowl as we chatted about the weather and Luc talked about taking a drive up to the Highlands to show me some of the castles.

“You know,” he finally said with a wary voice as I stared down into my bowl for the hundredth time. “It’s not going to magically jump into your mouth.”

“I’m sorry.” Tears burned the backs of my eyes, and I dropped my spoon and covered my face with my hand. “I’m just... I’m really not that hungry, and you went to all this trouble and—”

“Hey.” His hand covered mine on the table. “It’s okay. I was only teasing. Just talk to me. I can tell you’re upset. Was it last night? Did I push you too far? Because if I di—”

“What? No.” I dropped my hand and looked at him. His eyes were locked on me, and there was a fear swirling in those stormy pools I hadn’t seen before. I squeezed his hand, wanting to reassure him. “I liked what you did last night. I loved it, actually.” I placed my other hand on our joined ones on the table. “I’m not upset about that at all.”

“You’re upset about something. Was it the session yesterday? When Abigail asked you to leave? That wasn’t about you. She just didn’t think I’d be honest with my answers with you there. We didn’t even really talk about you or us. We mostly talked about