Chapter 37: Two Weeks Later

Eriu refusesto talk to me. She'd rather pretend it never happened. She puts on a happy smile, but I hear her crying in the shower. I know she has a lot of emotions she's not dealing with.

After my brother was killed, I didn't deal with shite. I kept it all in, and I don't want her to suffer like I did.

But I can't force her to talk either. Iseult has tried too, but she shuts everyone down, saying we're not helping by bringing up what happened.

It's easier to hide from pain. The hard part comes from embracing it and learning to let it go. I hope she realizes that sooner than I did.

I have eyes on Eriu at all times. But it's Rogue and another Quinn enforcer who are keeping tabs when I'm doing work for the Quinns. I still hate having someone else watch her, but I can't be everywhere at once.

She doesn't know I've got two people on her. But I've learned my lesson when it comes to this woman. It's for her own safety. And for my peace of mind.

I can't lose my wife. I'd die without her.

The Palmers are no longer a threat. Anyone who was loyal to them was taken out too, including Karen's twin brother. With them gone, there's no one left. We're free of them.

My cell rings, and I glance down to find Iseult calling.

"Yeah?" I answer.

"Is she doing any better?" Concern weaves in her tone.

"No. She needs help, and I don't know how to give it to her."

She sighs. "She keeps dodging me too. Dad still wants to have her birthday party in two weeks. Think she'll wanna come?"

"I'll try to get her there. I'll tell her it'll mean a lot to your father."

"Not sure if that'll do anything. She's been rejecting his calls too."

I rub a palm over my face. "We've just gotta give her some time. This is hard for her."

"I know that. I just wish I could do more."

The water in the bathroom shuts off, and I know I have a few more minutes while she's drying her hair.

"Look, I've gotta go. She's done with her shower, and I don't want her thinking we're talking about her behind her back."

"That's literally what we're doing."

"Yeah, genius, I know that. Going now."

The door starts to open, and I immediately end the call and drop the phone on the bed beside me.

Eriu comes out with a towel wrapped around her body, her brows pinched tight. "Were you just talking to someone?"

"Aye." I scratch my temple. "Just work stuff for your dad."

"Oh, okay…"

She starts for the dresser, and I breathe with relief. I hate lying to her.

My eyes linger on the backs of her bare legs and my cock swells, missing her, craving and needing her. I haven't attempted to touch her, merely content with holding her as she drifts off to sleep. When she's ready, I'll know.

She slips off the towel, still facing the dresser and starts getting dressed.

"Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?" I ask, my fist curling, everything in me snapping.

I've never felt this helpless.

"Sure." She gives me a wide grin over her shoulder.

But I know better. She's hurting, and I can't fix it.

"What do you wanna go for?"

She shrugs, avoiding my eyes now. "Whatever."

"Eriu…"

"Yes?" She clears her throat and starts refolding some of her shirts in the drawer.

"Talk to me. Talk to someone."

Her hands still, and her body rolls up and down with deep breaths. "If you plan on doing this all day, then maybe we shouldn't go to dinner."

"I'm sorry." I rise, placing my palms on her shoulders from behind, gliding them up and down her arms.

With a huff, she sags against me. "It's okay. I know you mean well."

"We all love you."

"I know that too."

"Your birthday is coming up, and your father would like to throw you a party, but before you say no?—"

"I wasn't going to say that." She pivots around, and a small smile makes it on her lips. "A party may be just what I need."

"You sure, love?"

"Yeah." She throws her arms around my neck, and I see it then: a glimpse of the woman I married.

And I want her back.

"Lord, every time I remember that you're turning nineteen, I feel ancient."

"Oh, shut up!" She gives me a playful swat on my chest. "You're my sexy older husband and I like it that way."

"Do you now?" My voice drops deeper, and her eyes instantly turn hooded, her tongue darting out to lick over that bottom lip I want to suck into my mouth.

"I do…" Her tone turns huskier, and it doesn't help my raging hard-on.

I can't think about feckin' her right now. It wouldn't be right.

Yet my lips drop closer, needing to taste her, to let her know she's not alone. She rises on her feet, her mouth brushing over mine.

"Feck," I groan, my fingers slipping in her soft strands, gripping them tight in my grasp. "I've missed you."

"Missed you too…"

She kisses me slow, her soft lips sliding around mine. I don't dare kiss her back, needing to simply feel her.

Her fingers sink into my shoulders, and she pushes our bodies closer, forcing me backward until my legs hit the edge of the bed.

She looms over me, cheeks a little flushed as she starts to pull her t-shirt up until it's falling to the floor, her nipples hard, and I ache to take them into my mouth.

"Are you sure?" I ask, not wanting to push this, no matter how badly I may want her.

She nods, drawing her leggings down and stepping out of them.

My cock throbs, and I pull it out, fisting it tight, dragging my hand up and down as I stare down her body. My God, it's been too long.

She gazes at me hotly, running her fingers past her abdomen, right above where she's warm and wet and mine.

"Come on now, lass. Stop teasing me and put this cock inside you and feck it."

She tugs on her bottom lip as she struts closer, settling over me, her knees dropping on each side of my hips. She flips her hair and leans her chest flat against me, her enticing breaths mingling with mine. Her core rocks against me like she needs this.

And so do I. The feeling of her wet cunt against my hard-on is making me lose all my control.

My hand reaches for her hair, wrapping it tight around my wrist, and I slam her mouth to mine. Growling, I take the lead this time, kissing her with raw, aching passion, flipping her around as my mouth feasts on her neck. The pulse beneath pounds as fast as my heart does.

My tongue rolls over her beaded flesh, teeth wrapped around it as I pull and flick.

She bucks and moans, her back arching as I lower down her stomach, pulling her thighs apart, needing to taste her.

"You smell so fecking good, baby, and you taste even better." My tongue sweeps up from her opening to her clit. "All feckin' mine."

"Oh, God!" she whimpers, thrashing beneath me, the desire tethered to every inch of her flesh.

I live to make her happy.

"You're mine. You hear me? Mine to love. Mine to take care of. And I will do that for the rest of my life."

She's beyond the ability to speak, her body lost to the things I make her feel. When I roll the tip of my tongue around her clit, she cries out, gripping my hair hard.

I grunt, enjoying her brand of pain, sucking her into my mouth, needing her to come undone, to let me have it all just so I can do it all over again.

There's no way I can stop, not until I have her screaming my name. Not until she forgets what happened, forgets the ugliness, even for a moment. Because later, she'll remember it all over again, and I won't be able to do a thing about it.

When her release comes, shattering with my name branded on her lips, I flip her over and force her knees up, thrusting all the way inside, until we're both lost to it. Lost to the feeling when the world disappears and it's just the two of us to hold on to.