Arranged Marriage | Part 2

Chapter 21

I woke to the sweetest scent imaginable. The smell of strawberries, flowing from Eliza's locks that covered my entire face. Like the old days, Eliza lied asleep with her head resting on my chest. I savoured every moment of this, knowing it wouldn't be long till our lives got back to the unfortunate reality that we endure everyday. For the moment, we had peace.

As if sensing my thoughts, Eliza groaned as sleep slowly began to disappear. Slowly, she lifted her head, clearly still half asleep. When she saw that I was wide awake, she smiled, resting her heavy head on her arm.

"Morning," she sighed, her voice croaky from the hours of little use.

"Morning," I smiled, dancing my fingertips up and down her arm, "You look well rested."

"That's because I am," she purred, inching her way closer to my face and placed a soft butterfly kiss on my lips, "Someone kept me up last night."

I chuckled as the cheeky memories resurfaced in my head, "I seem to remember someone begging me to go on."

She gasped, her eyes light and playful, "Did I do that?"

"Yes," I beamed, brushing the backs of my fingers against her smooth, soft cheeks, "over and over. Please, Patrick, I need you now."

"Stop it!" she cried, slapping my chest before falling into a fit of giggles.

My insides turned with love and excitement, causing me to pounce on her. She became easy pry as I rolled her onto her back and climbed on top. My lips latched onto her neck like I was devouring her, but the playful laughter that escaped her lips told me that she didn't hate. The complete opposite actually.

"That's not what happened," she giggled, nuzzling her cheeks against the side of my head.

"Oh really," I challenged, lifting my head so that we were face to face, "How did it happen, Amore?"

A devious smile curled on her lips, making my shaft twitch alive, "I seem to remember you clawing at my legs and eagerly throwing me on the bed."

"You didn't enjoy that?" I asked, in an attempt to tease.

Her smile turned into a cheeky smirk as she tried to conceal her hidden feelings.

"Come on, Amore," I purred, going in to her neck again, running my tongue along the curve that was connected to her shoulder, "Tell me. You loved it."

"Maybe," she brushed off, making me cry out in offense.

The little minx.

"Do I need to teach you a lesson?" I warned her, pressing my pelvis harder between her legs.

She visibly sucked in a breath, trying to hide it as best she could. Oh, but it was so obvious. The way she licked her lips and her sudden inability to keep eye contact with me.

I wanted to enjoy this moment, I did. But last nights memories weren't fair from the top of my mind. Not only that, Konrad was still a force that needed to be dealt with. And that was something that we needed to face now, and not a later time in the future.

"Eliza," I started, curling my fingers in her hair.

"Mmm," she hummed, tilting her head to the side and smiling up at me with anticipation.

"We need to talk about last night."

Immediately, her face dropped and I saw her need to avoid the topic as clear as day.

"Do we really have too?" she asked, shifting awkwardly underneath me, "We have the shares, why does the rest of it matter?"

"Because Eliza, we still have to deal with Konrad, one way or another. We've won this battle but the war is far from over. And –," I paused, struggling to hide the almost human feeling of jealous that had been filling me from head to toe, "And I don't want to be blindsided. I don't want there to be some small piece of information that you left out about last night that Konrad can use to get between us."