Their Harlot Bride (Bridgewater Brides #7) - Golden Angel Page 0,37

William said, also sounding apologetic on my behalf. “He says things he doesn’t mean sometimes.”

“I’m working on it,” I added hastily. I was never going to call her that again. Just the hurt look in her eyes made my heart ache. “If I forget again, William will pop me a good one.”

Instead of smiling, her lips tightened. “I didn’t like you two fighting. Not over me. I’m not worth it.”

Both of us scowled down at her.

“The hell you aren’t,” I said.

“Yes, you are,” William said, right over top of me. “You’re worth everything, Sassy.”

The expression on her face was disbelieving, which made me scowl even harder.

“I don’t care that you lied to us. I mean, I do care, and we’re going to discuss that later,” I quickly amended, “but it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

“How you feel about me?” Her eyes widened again.

“I love you.” There, I’d said it. Something inside me eased once I had the words out. I’d never said them to a woman, other than my mother, but it felt right… because it was. Sassy was my wife. I was still ticked she’d lied to us, but my anger didn’t diminish my feelings.

“And I love you,” William said, right on top of my confession.

Sassy’s eyes filled with tears, and her hand squeezed mine tight.

13

Sassy

* * *

“How… how can this be possible?” I wanted to believe them, I wanted to believe them so badly, but it didn’t make any sense.

They knew what I was, what I had been… how could they possibly love me?

“How could we not?” William asked, a small smile curving his lips. “Why wouldn’t we?”

Clive’s grin was a little lopsided. Despite his words earlier, I could see how sincere he’d been in his apology. Their hands were warm around mine, comforting, and neither of them was willing to let go.

“I was a whore,” I said baldly, bitterly, watching them for any change in their expression, but they just stared back.

“And now, you’re our wife,” Clive said, finality in his tone. “Are you planning on returning to being a whore?”

“No!”

“Are you going to go looking for pleasure with other men for the fun of it?” William asked.

“No!” I would have shaken my head, but the smallest movement sent a little jab of pain through my skull, and I immediately stilled. Both of them were already leaning forward, looking at me closely.

“Are you alright?”

“Don’t shake your head like that, sweetheart.”

My lips pressed together as a sob rose in my chest. They settled back into their places on the bed, steadily regarding me. Did my past really not matter to them? It had seemed to matter a great deal to Clive.

I met his gaze. “Why were you so angry before then? Why aren’t you still angry?”

“I wasn’t angry that you were a whore,” he said, then paused. “I wish it hadn’t been necessary for you to become one, but I wasn’t angry. I was angry, you lied.”

“He has a thing about lies,” William said.

“I don’t trust easily,” Clive admitted. “So, when I do and find out I was lied to, it hurts. It makes me wonder what else the person lied about, and when the person is someone I love…” His voice trailed off, and then he shrugged. “I started to wonder if everything you’d said to us was a lie.”

“No!” I squeezed his hand tight. Out of all the possibilities, that had not been one I’d considered. “I’m so sorry… I never… I never meant to hurt you.” I hadn’t really thought I could.

“We know, sweetheart,” William said sympathetically. “You’ll be punished for lying, and that will wipe the slate clean, and we can start over.”

“P-p-punished?” That was the last thing I expected to hear, especially from my sweet William. Usually, Clive was the threatening one, although he’d never made me feel unsafe. Even when he’d been mad and yelling insults, I hadn’t feared he’d physically hurt me.

But ‘punishment’ sounded very ominous.

“We would never harm you, Sassy,” Clive said seriously, his thumb stroking over my hand. “But we are going to spank you for lying to us.”

“Spank me?” Like a child? Put me over their laps and use their hands to smack my upturned bottom? Heat rose in my cheeks when the image that flashed through my mind caused a very odd and unexpected reaction in my body.

“Spank you,” William confirmed.

“But that will hurt,” I protested, not at all sure how I felt about this turn of events.

A part of me was intrigued by the