Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
Her chest eased. “I believe you.”
The disappearance of doubt in Mairi’s eyes had his own chest easing as well. But still he said, “We’ll go to Willow’s office tomorrow anyway. I’ll never give you any reason to doubt me again.”
A tremulous smile was his answer, and then Mairi was taking his hand and pressing it to her heart. “That’s good...because I want to promise the same.” Tightening her hold on his hand, she said unevenly, “I want to talk about Drake.”
Damen stiffened. “There isn’t any need—-”
Praying he wouldn’t hate her, Mairi said, “I lied.”
Chapter 24
DAMEN WANTED TO CLOSE his eyes. If he ever saw a lingering affection in Mairi’s eyes when she talked about the other man, he didn’t know what he would do. Let her go? Kill the other man?
“Look at me—-”
Damen rolled her on top of him and pressed her head to his chest to keep his gaze over hers resolutely. “Don’t push me, Mairi.”
She tried to lift her head. “Damen—-”
Jealousy had him snarling, “No.” He tried to keep his voice level because he knew what had happened wasn’t Mairi’s fault. It wasn’t even Morrison’s fault. It was all his. He fucking knew that, but it didn’t mean he could bear having the knowledge shoved at him like a stick in his ass all the time.
Still, his wife persisted, as if she didn’t think he had paid enough for his sins. When she tried to raise her head again, he let her this time. If Mairi thought he needed to die all over again by making him listen to every single fucking detail about the time she had spent in another man’s goddamned arms—-
So be it.
Because he loved her.
The hard look on Damen’s face made her heart ache painfully. If she had ever needed proof of how much Damen truly loved her, then it was that look.
And she wanted to cry because it was also proof that her long-ago dream of finding her own Greek billionaire to love and be loved by him had really come true.
Lifting herself up, her elbows on his chest, she repeated, “I lied.”
He forced himself to ask. “About what?”
“I can’t...I can’t deny that we’ve been intimate, but he never...we never did it.” She bit her lip, shame engulfing her. “I wasn’t even thinking of hurting you when it happened. I just wanted to give myself a reason not to come back to you. I wanted to prove to myself that I was no longer...yours.” Her head dipped after her confession, a part of her fearing Damen’s reaction. Hearing herself say the words made Mairi realize how wrong she had been. How that shouldn’t have ever happened—-
“Did it work?”
Her head snapped up, and she wasn’t sure if she had heard him correctly. “W-what did you say?”
Damen said between clenched teeth, “Did it work?” He knew he had no right to ask it, knew he was probably setting himself up for more pain, but he couldn’t help it. He had to fucking know. “Did it make you feel you were...his?”
She shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “Even Drake knew that...all the time it happened, my heart wanted it to be you—-”
Love had him hauling her up so he could kiss her, Mairi’s words beyond everything he had hoped...or deserved. Even when she had been at her lowest, even when Damen had been at his cruelest, Mairi had still been unable to stop herself from loving him.
Damen cut the kiss so he could look into his wife’s eyes and she could look into his as he said, “Even if you had, it wouldn’t have made a difference.”
Mairi started to cry again.
“I would still beg and fight for you to be mine.”
She pressed her lips to his even as she sobbed, “Thank you.” Their lips brushed against each other, their tongues dancing. When she pulled away to look down at him, she couldn’t stop herself from crying again. “Thank you for loving me.” She lifted her eyes to him, wanting Damen to see every emotion swirling inside her. “And thank you so much for the book.”
“I’d write a new one every year if that’s the way to keep you with me.” Damen was only half-joking.
A teasing smile flashed on her lips. “Before that can happen, I think I’ll need to go through this one first. There may be untruths in it. Or inaccuracies.”
Damen deadpanned, “There is something missing in it.”
“There is?” Mairi blurted out in surprise. She had skimmed the book, and everything had seemed perfect. “Like what?”
Instead of answering, Damen gently pried himself away from her, and she watched in confusion as Damen twisted to his side so he could reach for something inside the bedside drawer. When he turned back around to her, Mairi’s jaw dropped.
Damen was holding a vibrator.
“Ummm...” She had totally no idea where he was going here.