The Reluctant Wife: Chapter 12

That was a week ago. I’m still not over the fact that he called me a little girl. Or that he felt I was topping from the bottom. I do know what he means by it. I’ve read enough spicy romance books and seen enough porn to realize he was alluding to the fact that he’s dominant. Which is not a surprise. If he thought that was going to dissuade me—he can think again.

The fact that he could initiate me to the pleasures of sex and do it in such an interesting fashion has sent my libido into overdrive. Also, I’m pissed that my seduction attempt didn’t work. Again! I refuse to be embarrassed by my behavior though. I gave it my best shot. So what, if it didn’t work? I can try again, and differently. I’m nothing if not persistent.

Not that I’ve done so yet. Instead, I’ve gone about my daily routine without raising any further objections. And though I do feel a little resentful that he must approve my public engagements, I know it’s the best way of staying safe.

He continues to ride with me in the car to and from my appointments. Smelling his dark scent and being close to him in that enclosed space has me drenching my panties in a way that’s seriously embarrassing. Not that he’s speaking to me much. We’ve exchanged maybe five full sentences since that day, and all of it is related to my security arrangements. After we return from my daily appearances, I don’t see him.

I don’t even hear his movements, though he’s in the next room, with only an interconnecting door separating us. I was so bored, I forced myself to use the gym in the basement of the hotel. Under the watchful eye of a security guard who was not Ryot, which meant, I promptly lost interest. I ate a few meals in the restaurant downstairs and even had a late-night drink at the bar a couple of evenings, but it became such a hassle when security had to go down and assess threats before I could go. And when it became clear Ryot wouldn’t be the one accompanying me there either, I didn’t venture back.

I miss that man more than I care to admit. I’ve taken to watching TV and yes, I admit, also watching porn and masturbating while thinking of my big, dark, handsome bodyguard. None of which is helping.

I’ve worked myself into a state of such arousal, and my thoughts are so jumbled, that I know I need to speak to someone about it.

I throw off the cover, then sit up in bed and shove the pillows behind my back to support me. I stare at the interconnecting door between our rooms, which he made sure to lock after himself. As if I were going to head into his room? I snort to myself. Nope, I need a different way to approach him. Nothing as amateurish as my last seduction attempt.

Reaching for my phone, my gaze falls on my laptop, and I rub at my forehead. I should have started writing my next novel. Given I’m not going out in the evenings, I should make the most of my time and, at least, start brainstorming ideas for the book, but I haven’t been able to get myself into the mood to do it.

I’m too busy worrying about the bill we’re running up for this trip. This hotel is just as luxurious as the previous hotel, but it has a smaller number of rooms. And Ryot booked out all of them on this floor for our stay. I could remind my father we can’t afford it, but he’d insist—rightly—that this is the best way to ensure my safety. I can’t argue with that. But it means he’s probably spending money we can ill afford to cover the costs. Which makes my forthcoming arranged marriage and the money that will come with it even more unavoidable. My spirits plummet.

I need to get my mind off my upcoming nuptials, so I grab my phone and videocall my friend, Zoey.

I met her at university. She’s one of my best friends, and my editor. No one knows my inner thoughts more than she does.

She and her two friends, Harper and Grace, welcomed me into their circle, and being with them helps me feel more ‘normal’ and less like a princess. I dial her number, and it keeps ringing. Shoot, is it too late to call? I am about to hang up, when she answers.

‘If it isn’t Her Royal Highness, herself.’ Her image appears on screen.

I wince. ‘You promised you’d never call me that.’

‘Considering you’re calling me close to midnight, I think it warrants the title, eh?’

‘I’m so sorry.” I slap my forehead. “I couldn’t sleep, and it was only after your phone started ringing, I realized how late it is, and⁠—’

‘Relax, Aura, I was kidding you.” She stretches and yawns.

‘Woman, are you still at work?’ I glance around what I can see of her surroundings and can make out the bookshelves in the background, as well as the coffee maker she keeps on the shelf at the far end. ‘You are still at work,’ I exclaim.

‘Someone has to make sense of your meanderings and turn it into a coherent narrative.” Her eyes gleam with a wicked glint.

I grab my phone, then push my legs out of the bed and, standing up, I begin to pace. ‘How bad is my writing? Are you going to send me pages and pages of revisions that I’m going to have to spend weeks fixing?’

She laughs. ‘Firstly, no, it isn’t bad at all for a first book. And I wouldn’t have approached you to write a novel if I didn’t know you’re talented and have been writing since the first day I met you⁠—’

‘But—’ I begin, but she cuts me off.

‘I also know how much you love to read spicy novels, and you have so many drafts completed and gathering dust on your hard drive. And remember, you’re publishing under a penname, so no one is going to know.

I gnaw on my fingernail. ‘I’m still worried. What if someone finds out it’s me writing?”

I only accepted the publishing contract when she named an advance that took me by surprise. It’s good money, which I’ll use to help foodbanks in Verenza, who’ve reported a ten-fold increase in their services in the last six months. “If anyone were to find out⁠—’

‘I promise, your penname’s identity will be kept secret.”

‘Thanks, Z.’ I stop by the window and glance out at the park opposite. It’s dark and, but for the lights on in the courtyard below, everything is quiet.

‘What’s on your mind, hmm?’ She walks to the tiny counter at the back of her office and, placing the phone such that I can see her, she sets about filling her kettle.

‘You mean, other than the threats made on my life⁠—’

‘You’ve had threats on your life?’ She places the kettle down with a thump and snatches up her phone. ‘Are you okay? What happened?”

‘Relax.’ I half laugh. ‘I’m fine. I have a new team, led by a new security guy who’s bossy and overly cautious when it comes to my safety, so I’m sure I have nothing to worry about.”

She doesn’t seem very convinced. ‘How long have you been getting these threats? And why didn’t you tell me sooner.’

I turn away from the window and, walking over to my bed, I throw myself down on it. ‘This is not the first time I’ve received them. Remember that stalker years ago in Verenza who the local police managed to track down?”

She nods.

“I would have dismissed this as something similar, only this time, the note was left on my pillow in my hotel room.’

‘Oh, my god!’ Her eyes round. ‘In your hotel room?’

“Which is why Ryot insisted I move hotels to be safe.”

‘Ryot?’ Her forehead furrows.

‘Ryot Davenport. His family owns the Davenport group. He’s loaded, and god knows, he doesn’t need to work for a living, but he’s a former Marine and now, he’s into this body-guarding business. Just my luck that my father trusts him.’

‘Ryot Davenport?’ She seems taken aback. ‘My friend, June married his brother Knox. And another friend, Skylar married his other brother Nathan.’

‘Whoa, you know him?’

‘Only what I heard from my friends.’ Her gaze is troubled. She seems like she wants to say something more but is stopping herself from doing so.

‘What’s on your mind?’ I search her features. ‘Out with it, Z.’

She places the phone back on the counter and switches on the kettle. While it starts to boil, she moves away so the noise doesn’t intrude on the conversation. ‘These Davenport men can be quite pushy.’

‘Tell me about it. The man has been making unilateral decisions on my behalf and informing me after the fact. It’s so annoying and yet’—I shake my head—’I can’t stop myself from admiring him for it. No one has ever ordered me around the way he has. And I find it hot, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why.’

She gives me a funny look. ‘So, you hate him, but you also like him?’

I nod slowly. ‘I have conflicting feelings for him. It pisses me off when he decides something related to my security arrangement, and I have to fall in line. By the same token, I admire him for the fact that he does what he thinks is right and is not worried about being fired by me or my father. It helps that he doesn’t need the money. I can’t help but wonder if he’s doing it because he needs to feel a sense of responsibility?’

‘Responsibility?’ She turns back to her kettle and pours the hot water into her cup.

‘He went to war out of duty for his country. Now, it seems, he’s transferred that duty to his ‘principal.” I make air quotes with my fingers. ‘I’m convinced he needs to be on some kind of a mission to feel alive.’

‘You seem to have spent a lot of time analyzing him…’ Her lips curve in a smile.

‘Only because the man’s swept into my life and played havoc with his security measures.” I make a face. “Then there’s the fact that I met him at a bar the night before he arrived.’

‘A bar?’ She pauses with the cup halfway to her mouth. ‘You met him at a bar? Did something happen between the two of you?’ She peers into my face.

When my cheeks heat, her jaw drops. ‘Something did happen.”

‘It was only a kiss,’ I murmur.

Her eyes gleam. ‘You guys kissed?’

‘So what?’

‘So, you’re blushing.’ She smirks.

I toss my hair over my shoulder. ‘Fine. So, it was an amazing kiss. But it was before he became my bodyguard. He has since told me, clearly, we can’t be involved, since I’m his principal and it goes against his code of ethics to have any personal relationship with his clients. So’—I pop a shoulder—’can we talk about something else?’

‘Sure.’ She nods. ‘Why don’t we talk about how you got to a bar? I thought you’re not allowed to go to public places because it’s a security risk?’

I burrow further into my pillow. ‘My previous security team weren’t the smartest. It was easy for me to slip past them.”

She frowns. “Was it worth the risk?”

“If it means having an evening of freedom and experiencing what it means to be ‘normal’”—I make air quotes with my fingers— “then yes, it was worth it.” I also hoped I’d find someone I was truly attracted to—enough to lose my virginity.

I might have to settle for an arranged marriage, but this way, I was making sure I had some control over my life. Plus, it was also the ultimate FU to the rules imposed on me.

I make a face. “I won’t be able to do so again. Ryot insists I have a chauffeur drive my car. He’s part of Ryot’s team. No doubt, he’d go running back to Ryot if I asked him to drive me somewhere. Which is why I’m stuck here in this hotel room.’

‘Aww, I’m sorry, Aura. But it is safer for you not to go traipsing around at night.’

“You’re right.” I worry my lower lip with my teeth. “Whoever sent the note, they mean business.” The stakes are high, and I’d be stupid to ignore the security measures Ryot has set down. “But if I don’t get out and do something soon, I’m going to go crazy,” I half mutter to myself.

“Perhaps, the girls and I could go out to dinner with you. Why don’t you speak to Ryot about it?”