31. Chapter 31
Chapter thirty-one
Lachlan opened the door to a compact but surprisingly luxurious bedroom with a wide bed, a small sitting area, and its own private bathroom. The window shades were down, leaving the room dim except for the warm glow of a lamp beside the bed.
Lachlan carried me inside and set me on the corner of the mattress.
Instead of standing, he lowered himself onto one knee between my legs and took my face gently in both hands.
“Look at me, Isabella.”
Something in the roughness of his voice made me obey.
His green eyes held mine, and hearing my name wrapped in that deep Irish accent made everything else recede.
“You’re safe,” he said. “That’s the first thing I need you to understand. I know you’re frightened about what happens when we land. You’ve spent the last few days fighting for the next ten minutes. Now you suddenly have to think about the rest of your life.”
My throat tightened.
“But you don’t have to figure it all out today.” His thumbs moved slowly over my cheeks. “You unlocked a man you had every reason to fear and bet your life on my word. There aren’t many people with that kind of courage.”
“Lachlan—”
“Let me finish.”
I closed my mouth.
The corner of his lip lifted slightly.
“Good girl.”
Those two words sent an embarrassing little flutter through me.
“I’ll always be grateful for what you did for me, but that isn’t why I’m going to help you. I’m doing it because I want to.” His thumbs stilled against my cheeks. “There’s a whole fucking world waiting for you, Isabella. You’ve never had the chance to find out what you can do.”
His hands slid from my face to the sides of my neck.
“If you want me beside you while you figure that out, I’ll be there. If you need room, I’ll give you room. I’ll be as much or as little a part of your life as you want me to be.”
My head dipped.
“Thank you.” My voice came out quieter than I intended as Lachlan waited for me to continue.
“I don’t know what higher power brought you to me, and I know you went through hell, but I’m so grateful for your help.” I stared at my hands. “And I know you keep telling me I’m not a burden, but right now, the reality is that I am.”
One hand slid beneath my chin and tipped my face up.
“For a while, I’m going to have to depend on you, and I hate that.”
“I know.”
There was no pity in his expression.
“I promise I’ll find work as soon as I can. I’ll earn my own money and pay you back for whatever—”
“No.”
I blinked. “No?”
“I don’t want you to pay me back. Like we all told you out there, you’re not indebted to any of us—especially not me.
You can get a job. You can earn your own money.
You can build whatever life you decide you want, and I’ll support you every step of the way.
” His hands settled on my thighs. “I understand why that matters to you. You’ve never had the chance to succeed or fail on your own merits because someone else was always making the decisions for you. ”
My eyes burned.
“So decide for yourself what you want to do. Work or study, try something and decide you hate it, fuck it up spectacularly and start over if that’s what it takes.”
A tiny laugh escaped me.
His fingers tightened gently around my thighs. “There’s only one condition.”
“Oh?”
“You don’t put yourself in danger trying to prove you can do everything alone.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“And who decides what’s dangerous?”
“Me.”
Despite everything twisting through my chest, I laughed.
Lachlan smiled, then tipped my face up and kissed me softly.
“How about you rest for a while? It’s been a stressful few days. A nap might do you some good.”
I huffed out a small breath. “I don’t think that’s possible, thousands of feet in the air and shaking uncontrollably.”
“Closer to forty thousand feet, but who’s counting?”
“Not helpful.”
A slow smirk tugged at his mouth.
“You know what you need, Mouse?”
“No. What?”
“A distraction.”
He reached for one of my boots and unlaced it, pulling it off along with my sock before doing the same with the other.
“What kind of distraction?”
“Still working that out.”
Liar.
His hands circled my waist and brought me to my feet.
The moment I stood, my knees nearly gave beneath me. Whatever had kept my body moving through the FBO was gone now, leaving my legs unsteady.
My hands shot out and gripped his shoulders.
Lachlan steadied me with one hand while the other found the button of my jeans, popped it open, and lowered the zipper.
His hands slipped beneath the waistband of my panties and curved over my bare bottom before hooking both with his thumbs and dragging my jeans and panties slowly down my hips and thighs. My breath caught at his warm touch.
He crouched lower, taking the jeans with him until they pooled around my ankles. One tug freed one foot, then the other.
Before my legs could wobble again, he guided me back onto the corner of the bed, spreading my knees wide.
My pulse kicked harder.
“Lachlan.”
“Hmm?” His smirk widened.
There was far too much amusement in that sound.
He slid both hands beneath my top and drew it over my head in one smooth motion.
His fingertips hooked beneath one bra strap and eased it from my shoulder, followed by a soft kiss on my collarbone.
Then he dragged the other strap down as his mouth traveled slowly across my chest to my opposite shoulder. One hand slipped behind me, and with a quick tug, opened the clasp.
He peeled the bra away and tossed it aside.
His palms swept up my ribs and cupped my breasts, lifting them as I arched toward him. A low growl vibrated in his throat before he pressed a kiss to one nipple and then the other.
My hands braced on the mattress behind my hips, pushing my breasts forward, practically begging him to take one in his mouth.
Lachlan took full advantage.
His lips closed around one nipple, drawing it deeper into his mouth while his tongue circled the sensitive peak. At the same time, his fingers pinched and rolled the other.
A moan slipped out of me, and he did it again—harder.
My head tipped back, and the next sound came out higher-pitched, somewhere between a moan and a whine.
Lachlan made a low rumble of approval against my breast.
His hand slid down onto my thigh while his mouth left my nipple and kissed a slow path upward, across my chest and along my throat until he reached the sensitive place behind my ear.
I shivered.
His lips brushed my skin. “Close your eyes.”
I did.
“Now stop thinking about everything outside this room and focus on the mattress beneath you. Feel the vibration between your legs.”
The low hum of the engines came through the floor and into the bed in a steady vibration.
Suddenly, I was aware of it everywhere Lachlan had made me sensitive.
“You feel that?” he murmured.
I nodded.
“Use your words, Mouse.”
“Yes.”
His mouth brushed my ear.
“Good girl.”
Heat slid down my spine. I was learning that he liked this sort of game.
Then he moved away.
I kept my eyes shut as fabric rustled somewhere in front of me.
His shirt, maybe. A buckle. A zipper. Then nothing.
The silence stretched until I could hardly stand it.
A shiver of an entirely different sort moved through me.
“Christ, Mouse. Sitting there on the edge of that bed with your legs spread, eyes closed, waiting for me to decide what happens next…” His voice dropped lower. “You’re fucking breathtaking.”
I couldn’t move.
Couldn’t think about anything except what he might do next.
Chills rose over my skin beneath the weight of his unseen gaze. The steady vibration coming through the mattress had only made the ache between my legs worse, and I was so wet I could feel it against the blanket.
I didn’t care.
There was nothing in this world I wanted more than Lachlan’s hands on me.
The suspense was killing me, but I kept my eyes closed and forced myself to stay still. He liked this—making me wait while I wondered what he would do next—and I wanted to give him exactly what he wanted.
The mattress dipped between my thighs.
His hands closed around my waist and pushed me backward.
“Damn, Mouse. You soaked the mattress.”
His fingers gripped my inner thighs, pressing my knees to the mattress.
“Mmm, that needy little pussy of yours is desperate for my fingers.” He shoved me a little farther up the mattress. “Or maybe it prefers my tongue.”
“Either.” My voice came out embarrassingly high. “Either’s good.”
Lachlan laughed, a deep, full-throated sound that made me smile as my pussy clenched with anticipation.
Then he moved.
One arm slipped beneath my waist, and with a quick turn, he flipped me onto my stomach.
A startled squeak escaped me.
His palms traced the curves of my waist before gliding up my sides and along my arms, forcing them up while his mouth trailed kisses up my spine.
“Keep your cheek on the mattress for me, Mouse,” he hummed as his lips brushed my ear.
I obeyed.
Lachlan shifted behind me, placing one knee between mine and then the other, spreading my legs wider. His hands slid beneath my hips and lifted, bringing my knees underneath me and leaving my ass in the air.
His fingertips skimmed slowly over one cheek, down the backs of my thighs, then returned just as leisurely.
I couldn’t resist looking.
When I peeked over my shoulder, he was leaning back on his heels, completely naked, his hungry smile making it obvious how much he liked what he saw.
I never would have imagined wanting to be positioned this way for a man, but with Lachlan behind me wearing that hungry smirk, it nearly undid me.
Something bold stirred within me.
I arched my back a little deeper and rocked my hips from side to side, deliberately putting on a little show to please him.
“Fuck, I love this view.”
I pushed my ass a little higher, so I was fully on display.
“And don’t think for a second I can’t see how wet that tight little cunt is.” His voice roughened. “Begging for attention, isn’t she?”
“Yes, begging,” I said in a breathy whine.
He reached between my thighs and dragged one finger slowly over my clit, dipped into my wetness, then continued upward until the slick fingertip traced up the cleft of my ass.