I couldn’t help myself. I kissed her excruciatingly hard. “You’re a witch, I swear. Or maybe a HSP yourself. ”

She frowned. “How do you mean?”

“I need the same thing.” I smiled, tracing her bottom lip with my finger. “I feel like I’ve lost you a little. That you doubt what we have is true. I need to make you focus. To accept nothing else could match what we’ve found. And in a way, I need to punish you for ever doubting that.”

I stared at her with a mixture of awe and worship. Had she picked up on my silent wishes as I picked up on hers? Last week, while dealing with Bonnie’s funeral and lawyer documents, I’d had the sudden compulsion to fight such grief with blistering dirty sex. I wanted to ravage and fuck. I wanted to remind myself that no matter what I’d done to my father, I was still me and still deserving of Nila's love.

I hadn’t asked her to give me what I needed as I hadn’t wanted to hurt or upset her.

But here she was asking for the same thing.

“You’re fucking perfect.” I kissed her.

“And you.” She kissed me back.

“Will you let me have control tonight? Let me do what we both need?”

Her head fell back, submitting to me. “Anything, Jethro. I’m yours for the night. Do anything you want.”

“Just the night?”

A sly smile spread her lips. “You want more than that?”

The growl built in my throat. “You know I do.”

“In that case, you better prove to me you can love me enough to last forever.”

More than forever, Needle.

I didn’t hesitate.

Letting her go, I shot to my drawers and pulled out two ties. Both silver with diamonds spilling down the fabric.

Nila didn’t take her eyes off me as I prowled to the head of the bed and snapped my fingers. The old hint of authority sent a shiver down her spine. “Come here, Ms. Weaver.”

She obeyed faster than any order when I’d been deadly serious. My lips quirked.

Seems sex is more wanted than debts.

My heart tripped.

If she reacted so defiantly and strong when facing something she didn’t want to face, what would she be like in our future? Would she be eager to do things I could guarantee she’d love? Could we finally have the trust I’d always begged her to give me so I could live entirely in her feelings for me?

Biting my lip, I ran the two ties through my fingers. “You’re making it very hard to remember I should be punishing you and not rewarding you.”

She smiled as she lay back, placing her hands above her head. Licking her lips, she never took her eyes from mine. “Perhaps, I want both.”

I swallowed hard, climbing on the bed and hovering over her. Slinging my knee over her hips, I straddled her.

We didn’t stop staring; my mouth watered, my cock hardened, and the shitty night faded. Somehow, she even managed to stop me thinking about Kestrel’s funeral in a few hours, about the mammoth task before me of culling the mine and granting peace to a scarred nation, and all the loose ends I had to tie up now I was heir.

I’m heir.

I never thought I’d say the words.

Hawksridge is mine.

Once upon a time, that was all I wanted because it offered freedom for my siblings and me. But now…I could walk away from it tomorrow because Nila was my true freedom and I loved her more than any estate or bank balance.

Dropping over her, I kissed her quickly, forcing myself not to get carried away. Her hand swooped up to my cheek, caressing me with love and lust.

Pulling back, I dropped the ties to the mattress and tugged on the hem of her glittery blue jumper. “This needs to come off.”

Sitting up in one sweep like a ballerina, she let me pull the fabric over her head. She didn’t say a word as I removed the small tank top underneath and unhooked her bra.

Once I’d revealed her breasts, her nipples instantly hardened, begging me to bite and suck.

I deliberately brushed my knuckles over them, granting her a smidgen of pleasure.

She gasped, her black eyes turning into empty galaxies just waiting for me to give her an orgasm and fill them with stars.

My cock twitched, begging to take her. But I had something to do first.

Picking a single tie from beside my knee, I growled, “Put your hands together.”

She stiffened with anticipation but obeyed. Her elegant fingers latched together, presenting them to me like the perfect surrender.

Taking her wrists, I gently wrapped the silver tie around her, securing it tight but not too tight. Guiding her arms back to rest on the pillow above her head, I kissed her brow. “Keep them there. Do not move. Understand?”

Her pulse echoed in her throat, dancing beneath her diamond collar. “I understand.”

“Good girl.”

Resting back on my knees, I turned my attention to her trousers. I tapped her hips. “These need to go, too.” My voice no longer resembled a distinguished lord, more like a feral sex-starved man who desperately wanted to fuck.

“Of course.” Nila arched her back, holding herself with suburb muscles as I unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. A soft pant fell from her lips as I wrenched the denim down her legs, followed by her lacy knickers.

Naked.

Was there anything more fucking perfect than Nila naked, willing, and wet in my bed?

Fuck.

She looked positively decadent.

My hands curled, forcing myself to find some restraint from fucking her that very instant. Tracing my finger along the inside of her thigh, I murmured, “Now, Ms. Weaver…what, oh what, should I do with you?”