The Proposal - Kitty Thomas Page 0,69
can ban you from the resort just like anyone else. Fuck around with her, and we won't be able to undo the damage. I want her tonight when we go to bed. Alone. For the whole night.”
“Fuck that noise,” Griffin says.
“No,” Soren says, flatly.
“We're here for a week. You can each get her alone for one of the nights, too. And Soren, you already had her alone on the jet.”
“Why should you get her alone all night first? You had her first last night,” Soren says.
I know what he thinks. He thinks I'm trying to usurp his territory. He thinks I'm trying to unseat him and run this quad. I've never attempted a direct power takeover, and I'm not attempting it now. But they've both noticed I'm more possessive of Livia than I've been of the others and just how fast that possession took hold.
“Because I'm the one who can be the most gentle with her, and that's what she needs right now. She needs eased into our world. She's not like the other girls who voluntarily came to us and knew what they were getting themselves into.”
A lot of those girls were guests of other members here at the club. They'd already been passed around to at least a dozen men and some couples before ending up in our bed and under our control. Livia is different. In so many ways.
Griffin nods. “Yes. Okay. I agree with Dayne. Just for tonight. Come on Soren, you know he's right. He's not trying to take over.”
“When we get back home...” Soren says, warning.
“Your castle, your rules,” I say, holding up my hands in mock surrender.
He nods his agreement. “Fine.”
Half an hour later our food is here. I ordered normal casual American fare. Nothing fancy. Nothing foreign. Nothing unpronounceable. Livia doesn't need to navigate bizarre spices and mystery sauces right now. She needs normality. So it's burgers and fries. We're all going to have to hit the gym hard as soon as we get home.
When I go back upstairs to retrieve Livia, I find her sobbing and shaking in the tub. If even a champagne bath can't calm her nerves... I was right about this. I blow out the candles and pull the plug on the tub and lift her out. She clings to me even as she's clearly afraid of what I—what we—will do to her here.
I've seen girls break down like this in the dungeon, and I haven't intervened. But those girls weren't mine, and it wasn't my business to know what they could and couldn't take. They signed contracts. They knew what they were getting into, but Livia doesn't.
I carefully dry her off then get her into a soft terrycloth robe and pull her into my arms.
“Please, Sir,” she whimpers. And that broken sob breaks my heart.
“Shhh,” I say. “We aren't going to hurt you. We're going to have dinner and cuddle on the sofa and watch a movie. Then you're coming to bed with me—just me. We aren't leaving this house tonight.”
“But you said...”
“I know what I said, and you aren't ready. We have our entire lifetimes. We'll go slow with you. I'll protect you.”
“But Soren...”
“... isn't in charge here. This is my resort. I'm running the honeymoon. Relax.”
Inexplicably these words have a stronger effect on her than the champagne she drank or just soaked in, and I feel her sigh as the tension finally rolls off her body and she melts into my arms.
It was worth it waiting for the wedding night to initiate her, but the side effect of that is that we've lost time we could have used seducing her into our world. Soren may like her fear—fuck I like her fear—but it's too much too soon.
I wipe the tears off her face and kiss her. I shouldn't have left her up here without any explanation, but I needed to manage Soren and Griffin.
She's much calmer by the time we get downstairs. We all sit together at the big kitchen table with our ginger ale and burgers and fries. Livia picks over her food at first, but then her appetite shows up and she digs in.
“There's our healthy eater,” Soren teases. And I see the corner of her mouth twist up in a smirk.
“Soon you'll be eating for two,” Griffin says.
“Or three,” I say because I can't help myself.
Livia's gaze goes solemnly to mine and then back to her food. I wonder if she's already pregnant. The timing of the wedding couldn't have been more