Chapter 27
A woman with a warm smile and long silver hair put two elegant place settings and food platters on the table in front of us.
“Carry on, loves, and enjoy,” she said.
Ethan came from nowhere and sent her bustling away, destroying the peace Will and I found only minutes before. His inconvenient interruptions were becoming a habit.
“Will, pop in the security office and make sure everything is how you want it. Thom and I will stay with Ellie until you come back.”
Will glared at Ethan as he spoke to me.
“Seems my fucking brother can’t handle shit on his own. I won’t be long, baby. Eat something while it’s warm.”
As Will walked away, Ethan moved two leather club chairs closer to the sofa, then pulled out his phone and focused on that, cursing about the volume of new email messages.
Thomas winked. They all had the same eyes and the same cocky wink.
“They’re both arseholes,” he teased.
I smiled.
“I’m sorry about the shopping thing. I know you’d probably prefer to do something else. I just need to grab some things while we’re here. Did you pick up Kirsty?”
“Yeah, she’ll be down in a minute. She’ll stay here while I take you out.”
“Can you keep up?”
“You’ll tire out long before I do, Ellie.”
“We’ll see, huh? So anyway, what is this he ordered, and how do I eat it?”
Thomas pointed at one of the platters.
“Yorkshire puddings. The small ones are sweet. What are you drinking?”
He scooped up a pudding from the savory platter, cut it into pieces, soaked it with gravy, and handed me the plate.
Mary Hastings might’ve had to hold back with her sons, but still, she did teach her boys to open doors, send flowers, and prepare a plate of Yorkshire puddings.
“Chateauneuf,” I said.
Then I took a bite. And moaned. I stuffed another bite into my mouth right away.
“Wow, this is delicious. It’s roast beef and what…watercress?”
Thomas nodded and handed me a napkin.
“It pairs well with your wine, and together they’ll make you sleepy.”
I muttered through another mouthful.
“That makes sense. He wants to work late tonight.”
“Well, maybe not after that snogging we walked up on.”
My cheeks heated up, and I dropped my head, moving my attention to the plate.
“Thomas!”
“Thom’s right. Oh, and look who’s back,” Ethan said.
I lifted my face, and Will stared down at me with his handsome smile before reclaiming his seat on the sofa with me. He canted his head toward the bar and sent his brothers away.
Will grabbed one of the sweet puddings and held it up to my mouth. I took a bite, and he shoved the rest of it into his mouth and watched for my reaction.
What a little bite of heaven…a soufflé-like bread filled with toasted coconut and warm, melted chocolate.
“That’s so good. You’ll make me fat with your English food, Will.”
The dribble of chocolate on his mouth was utterly kissable. I dabbed at it with my napkin.
Catching me off guard, he leaned in and sucked chocolate off my bottom lip.
“Next time, do it like that.”
Then he demonstrated again, and probably sensing my undeniable arousal…and after adjusting his own, he smirked.
“Drizzling it all over your lovely naked body in my bed would be even better.”
Sweat dampened the nape of my neck.
Because I wanted the chocolate, the nakedness, his bed.
He touched my cheek with the back of his fingers.
“You’re blushing.”
My face got even hotter, and I smiled, saying nothing.
Will fed me another bite from my plate, then handed the fork to me, and we finished our dinner while flirting and teasing each other.
The guys began to drift into our space, chasing away our intimate mood.
Drinks flowed, and they all carried on, joking, teasing, and challenging each other with this or that. The camaraderie among them amazed me—I’d never seen anything like it. They might have been a mix of brothers by blood and brothers by choice, but nonetheless, they were a solid band of brothers.
I thought about the tribal Celtic arrow tattooed on Will’s shoulder.
His father had inked the same one on each of his sons when they turned eighteen, like a traditional rite of passage. And at some point, Ben got inked with that same symbol of brotherhood.
Feeling drowsy, just as Thomas predicted, I snuggled against Will’s side, gripping his shirt loosely in my fingers. His strong heartbeat and his rich voice relaxed me.
He kissed the top of my head.
“You’re tired, baby. Let’s go up to the room.”
So I said good night to everyone, slipped my hand into Will’s, and we headed for the elevator. The moment the doors closed he swept me off my feet.
“Will, what are you doing?”
“I told you I’d carry you up to bed. I’m a man of my word if nothing else.”
I laughed from my belly.
“I haven’t seen you laugh as much since?—”
“—don’t say the words,” I whispered.
“It’s all right for you to be afraid, Elle.”
My need for him displaced fear and logic most of the time, but in that moment, the words about to spill onto my lips were a lie.
“I’m not afraid.”
He frowned but then quickly hid his concern.
“Good.”
Will pushed through the door of our hotel suite, into the bedroom, and lay me on the bed.
Removing my shoes slowly, one at a time, he tossed them onto the floor, and then dragged his fingers over the arches of my feet.
“Christ, even this turns me on.”
Our eyes connected as he climbed on the bed and covered my body with his.
Damn it, I wanted our clothes gone.
“How long before Ethan shows up again?”
“Probably sooner than he should.”
He pushed his arousal against my stomach and kissed me hard, owning everything, me, the world, taking it all. He stopped and spoke softly in my ear.
“You’ll be the cause of my ruin, woman.”
And then, while grumbling about Ethan fucking up quite a lot of shit at the firm, he lifted onto his palms and got up off the bed.
“But now you’ll fix it,” I said.
He winked.
“Yes, I will. You sleep, Elle. I’ll only be on the other side of the door.”
After he closed it, I went into the bathroom. Even from there I could hear them talking, the deep thunder of Will’s tone, and the smooth roll of Ethan’s voice.
Their meeting didn’t keep me from falling asleep. In fact, it lulled me into it.
But as soothed as I might have been, another nightmare breached my mind.
This time, I couldn’t wake up. I couldn’t cry out. I’d fallen into sleep paralysis. I didn’t know how much time had passed before my body caught up to my brain. Finally, I jerked upright and cried into my hands for a minute before calling Will’s name.
Will rushed into the bedroom and took my trembling body into his arms.
“It’s a nightmare. No one is here. No one can hurt you, Elle.”
“Please make it stop,” I whispered.
“I will. I promise I’ll stop them.”
Ethan patted Will’s shoulder.
“We’ll get those fuckers,” he said.