I nod. “Now you can help me get free from my geas and allow me to find a fix for this hex. My father and Tucker specifically instructed me to never try. But if you say you’ll allow it–”
“Crone’s sake, I allow it. Of course you should try to find a cure. I’ll help you.”
Emotion overwhelms me, and a tear slips out.
“Hey. No. Don’t do that. Tears are my kryptonite.” Ambrose rushes over to my side and wipes away my tears.
“I’m just really tired.” That’s an understatement. I’m tired from the craziness of the last few days, but it’s the years of being under someone else’s control that have really worn me down. I’m so damn exhausted, always having to obey someone else’s commands, be at their beck and call.
“Fuck. Yeah. Me too. Let’s get some sleep, and we’ll figure out our tickets back home whenever we wake up.”
Home. A shiver of anticipation races down my spine. I know he means Mystic Hollows, but it has the ring of something else. Ambrose presses a button on the bedside table and shutters roll over the windows, blocking out the sun. I crawl back in bed, ready to forget the world for a time. Ambrose climbs in beside me. I try to stay on my side, not wanting to blur the lines of thismarriage any further. He reaches out, his hand brushing mine. I freeze, wishing I had more damn experience with any of this.
“Sleep. Our troubles will still be waiting for us when we wake.”
It should sound like a warning, but I find it strangely comforting. The real world can wait another day.
8
AMBROSE
Iwake up warm, confused, and hard as fuck.
A woman’s hand slides up my stomach, and a soft sigh paints my chest. Lush curves press against my side, and I squeeze a handful of ass with a groan.
“Piper,” I rasp, memories filtering in from the day before. The plane ride, the chapel, marrying Piper, having her trembling and begging beneath me. Holy fuck.
We went to sleep on different sides of the bed. Piper all but creating a pillow wall between us. Which seemed laughable, considering everything that’s happened in the last day. But she was nervous when we’d gone to bed, so I behaved.
I slide my hand up her back, pulling her closer to my side. Fuck, she feels good tucked in next to me. The tips of her fingers find their way inside my robe, and she rubs her face against my chest. Her leg slides up mine until her knee is at my waist. Her hips shift and she makes a soft, needy sound.
I stroke a hand down her hair. “Piper.”
Her eyes are closed, and her body shifts to get closer to me. Her head falls back when I run my fingers through her hair.
“Piper?” Is she still asleep? Her hand is traveling lower, her nails scraping lightly over my stomach. Fuck.
“Piper,” I pant out, giving her a little shake. She stops moving, but her eyes are still closed. “Are you awake?”
Nothing. Crone, she sleeps like the dead.
I run my finger down the length of her nose, then over her eyebrows. Her forehead wrinkles, and I smile at how cute she is. I tug on her ear, and she swats my hand away.
“Piper,” I practically shout, and her eyes fly open. Her hand is deep in my robe and mine is resting on her hip. She blinks away the sleep and snatches her hand away as soon as she realizes how close she was to grabbing my dick.
“Oh no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to–”
“You’re perfectly welcome to grab any part of me at any time.”
Piper covers her face with her hand. “Ambrose, I can’t sleep with you again.” She scoots backward, groaning when she lifts her leg off my hips.
“Why not?” I chuckle. I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with Piper Beaumont. No, that’s not her name any longer. She’s Piper Roth. Damn, I should not like that so much. I’m a feminist. I’m progressive. Where the hell is this caveman shit coming from?
Piper gnaws on her thumbnail. She forces her hand down, clasping her fingers together in her lap. The shutters are still closed in the room, and I have no idea what time it is. It’s dark in the bedroom, but the bathroom light is on, providing enough illumination that Piper’s face is visible. She can keep her tone even to hide her emotions, but I can read the nuances of her face. It’s one of those things I’m surprisingly good at, despite some people thinking I’m shallow.
“You aren’t a one-woman kind of guy.” She exhales loudly, pausing before she continues. “And I can’t handle being one ofmany. I know nothing about relationships, but I know this about myself.”
“That’s insulting.” I lay my hand over my heart, as though I’m wounded. Truthfully, I am a little hurt. I know I have a reputation, but I don’t like that Piper sees me as if I’m just a horny opportunist. I slide over to the side of the bed and turn on the lamp. Piper flinches as the light comes on. There’s a crease on her face, where it was scrunched up against my chest. Her hair is a distracting fall of red. We’re both still wearing the robes from yesterday, but hers has opened, and she’s displaying an obscene amount of beautiful cleavage.
