Chapter 16
B y the time Royce led Heather back to her apartment, it was very late, and she was exhausted. It had been a hectic day—filled with boardroom meetings, interviews with local police, MI6, SCO19, plus calls with courts, judges, attorneys, as well as face-to-face discussions with company employees, and all kinds of other unpleasant dealings. At the end of it, Heather was free and clear. She was unquestionably back in control, happy to find that she had never lost control, and the attempt to wrestle it away from her had been terminated before it went entirely too far.
As she opened the door to her apartment, she walked in and muttered, “I’m going straight to bed.”
“Good,” Royce said, closing the door behind them.
She turned to him and asked, “Are you okay to stay the night?” He raised his eyebrow and smiled, and she sighed. “I know. We were talking about it, but…”
He nodded. “Go. Get some sleep.”
She nodded gratefully in return, then walked into her room and closed the door, and he could almost see her collapse mentally. She was done in, but she’d represented herself well today. Her family would be proud to know that she stood up for everything important for the family business as well. Royce respected Heather so much, as she had fought well for her company and for her sister, all the time she was away as well as today.
As for Faheed, he was in trouble all over the place. Turns out several other governments wanted him as well, especially now that he was in custody. Royce was pretty sure the British government wouldn’t let Faheed go anytime soon. He had a lot to answer for.
Royce was glad that Hannah’s murder had been solved and the murderer caught with the best kind of evidence, Faheed’s own words used against him. It was over and done, and Royce, for one, couldn’t be happier. As he sat again on the same couch he had been on before, Heather opened her bedroom door and walked to him in a nightie. “Do you want to shower?”
He nodded. “I would love a shower.”
“Good,” she said, as she handed over towels to him. She still had her tarot cards in her hand.
“What’s with those now?” he asked, tucking the towels under one arm.
She smiled. “I had them the whole time in my office,” she shared, “trying to do some readings without everybody around. Believe me that they told me perfectly well who I could count on and who I could not.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “What do they say about me?”
She laughed. “Pull a card.”
Reaching forward, he selected a single card from the middle of the deck. Flipping it over, he rested it on top.
She held it out and asked, “What do you think?”
And there in front of him was the card with a picture of two people entwined. He stared at it and looked up at her, one eyebrow cocked.
She nodded and whispered, “Lovers.”
“Aha.”
“The cards tend to be absolutely right-on with me—not with everybody, but, for me, they’re a second skin.”
“Interesting,” he murmured. “Pretty sure Terk would want to know about those.”
“Pretty sure Terk would say it has nothing to do with the cards and everything to do with my utilizing them as a tool.”
He laughed. “I can see him saying that. You could always come and spend some time with me at Terk’s place and get to know the rest of the gang.”
“Will you go to work for them?”
“It’s been discussed,” he noted. “I’m not too sure what I’ll do just yet.”
“If you don’t have a home at Terk’s place, I can hardly come, can I? Besides, I need to be here,” she pointed out, “particularly after everything that happened today.”
“I know, and I didn’t say I would live there at Terk’s place. I’m not sure I’m up for that many babies.”
“Rick was telling me about that,” she said, her eyes widening. “That’s a lot for anybody.”
“It is, yet… they’re all pretty happy.”
“You could always stay in London and work for them as needed, whenever they had anything going on.”
“And that’s possible,” he agreed, with a nod. “Not too sure what I’ll do yet. I know Jonas was nudging around me as well, talking about business and optional work,” he said, with a laugh.
“What about all the energy stuff that you guys do for Terk?”
“It’s not as if Terk’s place is very far away,” he stated. “So, if I needed to commute between here and there, it would be fine.” He looked over at her. “Would the traveling bother you, as that’s part of Terk’s ops?”
“No,” she replied. “Although I do want you here more than gone away somewhere.”
He laughed. “How about if you were traveling with me?”
“That’s a different story.” She smiled. “I have a lot to process over the next little while.”
“You do, and that’s fine with me. You have lots of time to process things. I will always support you in whatever you do, from running your family business to starting a new venture,” he vowed, as he headed into the guest bathroom. “I’ll go get that shower.”
He stepped out soon afterward, a towel wrapped around his hips, wishing he knew where his duffel bag with his clothes in it had gone.
She looked over at him, and a slow smile split her face. “Now, that’s a lovely way to walk into a lady’s apartment.”
He sighed. “I seem to have lost track of my clothes.”
“What happened to your bag?”
“I’m not sure, I thought it was still here.”
“Maybe Rick took it when you guys went into town today.”
“Probably, since I was headed into the corporate world with you and Rick was off to gather the big guns. Still, I don’t need clothes to sleep in. I’ll roust up a new outfit tomorrow.”
“Good idea,” she said, chuckling. “Now, can we get some sleep? I’m so tired.” Then she yawned yet again.
“You should have been in bed a long time ago,” he noted. “You didn’t need to wait up for me.”
“I wanted to,” she shared. “Just in case you had any doubts about where you’re sleeping, it’s in here with me.” And, with that, she led the way to her bedroom and her bed.
Royce hesitated in the doorway.
“Don’t even think about it,” she warned in that CEO tone she’d been using all day. “Yes, I know exactly what I’m talking about, and, yes, I know exactly what I want to do. I’m just too tired to do it right now,” she added, her tone turning cross. “So, either get into bed or don’t, but I’ll talk to you in the morning.” And, with that, she rolled over and closed her eyes.
A bark of laughter burst from Royce, as he walked over to her bed. “With an invitation like that, how could I ever refuse?”
She chuckled. “You can’t, but I didn’t expect you to anyway,” she murmured.
As the mattress sank beneath his weight, she rolled toward him. Reaching out, he pulled her into his arms. “Now that is where you belong.”
She smiled. “Maybe, at least for tonight.” Then she slowly fell into a deep sleep.
He followed not too long afterward, waking several times, assessing intuitively where they were and how they were doing. Not registering any danger, he fell back asleep over and over again. By the time morning dawned, he felt as if he’d gotten enough sleep to survive another day. He opened his eyes to find her staring down at him. When he reared back, she chuckled.
“I brought you coffee and crawled back into bed to wait for you to wake up.”
“Coffee?” he repeated. “In bed?”
“Yes, I figured it was my turn to wait on you.”
“No such thing as turns in a relationship. We both wait on each other. We both try to make the day easier for the other one,” he stated. “You’ve been in tough straits recently.”
“I have been, but I’m getting back on my feet, so no need for you to look after me now.”
“What if I want to?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s a different story,” she whispered, giving him a cheeky grin. “I more than happily accept all the tender loving care coming my way. I just didn’t want you to feel as if you have to look after me because I wasn’t capable. For a while I wasn’t,” she acknowledged, “but thankfully I’m doing much better now.”
“Good,” he said, as he shifted to sit up slightly and picked up the coffee cup. “Did you get any sleep?”
“I did. I do have to go into the office today though.”
He nodded, knowing that would be high on her agenda. “I’m pretty sure we’ll have to deal with the government at some point today and a few other things. Like my clothes. Maybe Rick has them. I’ll give him a call.”
“What about Rick? Where is he?”
“He went home to his wife last night,” Royce said, with a wave of his hand. “If Jonas needs him, they know where to find him.”
She smiled. “There is a great deal of comfort in knowing that, when you run into times of trouble, there’s somebody to call,” she shared. “I’m still amazed that my sister had the wherewithal to contact or to get through to Jonas somehow.… It still breaks my heart that she didn’t see a way out for herself, or at least feel that she could stay alive long enough to get out on her own. I don’t know what she was thinking honestly, but I can’t do anything about it. I just hope she’s at peace now.”
“I’m sure she is, especially knowing that you’re not up there with her,” Royce stated.
Heather nodded, sipped more of her coffee, and then put it down. She snuggled up closer with him. Holding his cup to his lips, he took another sip. Then she put it off to the side, pulled the blankets back, and sat in his lap, facing him.
His eyebrows shot up. “Lady, when you get your equilibrium back, you’re downright dangerous.”
She chuckled. “You haven’t exactly seen the real me quite yet,” she admitted. “I’ve alternated between being devastated and whiny, or upset and heartbroken, but I haven’t really been the much more CEO-me .”
“You can be the CEO-you anytime you want,” he replied, shifting beneath her.
She smiled. “That’s exactly what I was thinking, so maybe you could try out the real me for a change.”
“It’s all the real you, the same one I’ve spent the last several days with,” he pointed out. “All the different parts and pieces of you. I’m certainly not judging how you handled all the trauma you went through.”
She leaned forward and crossed her arms on his chest as he slid down until he was mostly flat. “Back to that being a nice man thing, I guess.” When he shuddered in response, she said, “I thought you didn’t care.”
“I don’t,” he said cautiously. “Unless it sounds as if it’s becoming more of a label than anything.”
She rolled her eyes at that and kissed him. “No, no labels,” she said, “just a whole lot of appreciation for who you are.” He reached behind her, his hands massaging the back of her neck and shoulders. She moaned softly. “Now that you can keep doing anytime you want.”
“You’ve been through a lot,” he admitted. “We could probably both use some deep-tissue massages.”
She opened her eyes and asked, “Can you book us a couples massage?”
“Absolutely. I’ll look into it while you’re at work today, if you want.”
“Ooh, that’s a good idea,” she whispered. When his hands stroked down her back, she felt it through her thin nightie. She sighed. “I can’t believe it’s all over with.”
“It is,” he stated firmly. “There will still be hiccups, a few bits and pieces to deal with, but there won’t be any more of the trauma level that you’ve already been through. That’s over with.”
“What about Faheed? Do you really think he’ll go to trial?” When Royce hesitated to answer her question, Heather eyed him curiously.
Royce finally spoke. “I worry that, without protection, he won’t survive jail. Whether their own government picks off the brothers, one by one, or they choose to commit suicide , I don’t know which one will come first.”
She pondered that and nodded. “I guess I can see that. It’s too bad because a part of me wants to see him suffer for a very long time.” When he gave her a smirk, she nodded. “I know. I know. I should be nicer.”
“No,” he countered, “don’t ever feel as if you have to validate those feelings. Nobody would ever judge you for being upset over the senseless loss of your sister.”
“Not to mention the other women,” she reminded him.
“Exactly,” he murmured. He pulled her down and gave her a light kiss, then a deeper kiss, and finally a kiss that left her gasping.
“Christ.” She rested her head against his chest. “You pack a crazy punch.”
“Crazy?” he repeated, rolling that word around in his mind.
“Powerful, deadly, knockout punch of a kiss.… Whatever you want to call it,” she muttered, as she leaned down and gave him a kiss, her tongue dueling with his. When she finally lifted her head, she smiled at him. “I am so looking forward to this.”
He laughed and rolled until she was tucked underneath him. “So am I.”
He lowered his head to savor every inch of her lips and the sweetness of her mouth. By the time he began to trail kisses across her cheeks and down her neck, she was purring like a kitten in his arms. He couldn’t believe they were here and happy and safe, and he didn’t want anything to mar it. He took his time, enjoying absolutely everything about this wonderfully innocent woman, and yet he knew that she was a worldly corporate CEO too, now writhing in his arms.
When he finally shifted so that he was between her thighs, he looked down at her, and she smiled, pulled him closer, and lifted her hips. “Yes, please.”
Then he plunged deep inside her, closing his own eyes as she closed around him, making him gasp in joy. And then he started to move. When she came apart in his arms, he couldn’t do anything, so caught up in the same maelstrom that had driven her until he reached his own completion.
Shuddering, he climaxed in her arms before slowly sagging down beside her, pulling her into his arms and just holding her close.
She nestled against him, murmuring, “I wish I didn’t have to go to work today.”
He chuckled, held her even closer in his arms, and whispered in her ear, “Nobody said you have to go in first thing this morning though, did they?”
She laughed. “No, at least not for another hour.”
“How about two?” he asked. “That sounds like a reasonable compromise to me.”
“Oh? What do you think we’ll do for the next two hours?” she asked in a teasing tone.
He leaned over, slid back down, and took one flush-pink nipple in his mouth and suckled deep. She heaved, her body arching beneath him, and, when he lifted his head, she gasped. “Absolutely two hours,” she whispered. “We don’t need to go in a minute earlier.”
He laughed and resumed what he was doing. As far as he was concerned, he could do this forever. She was a very special woman, someone who connected with him on so many levels, and he was blessed to finally have found her.