“What do you mean?” Heavenly cocked her head, her pale curls sliding across her shoulders and down her bare arms.
The sun slanted through the windows, lighting her up like the angel he always called her. He clenched his fists and quelled his urge to cross the floor, take her in his arms, and nestle her body under his until he reminded her in the most thorough, pleasurable ways possible that he belonged to her, now and always.
“I love you more.” At her gasp, he went on. “That sounds like a terrible thing to say. But Autumn and I had problems. We met in high school. I was the only man she’d ever known. In some ways, she went straight from her father’s care to mine.”
And he’d sucked it all in. They’d fit together because she hadn’t liked decisions and thrived on structure. He’d relished having complete control over her…at first. But even before Tristan’s birth, the weight of her day-to-day care had begun to drain him. He’d tried his best to ease back, but she’d merely cried and heaped guilt on him, then accused him of not loving her anymore. After every such fight, he’d inevitably resumed being the master to her slave, while assuring her that her fears weren’t true. But he’d been lying, and deep down, they’d both known it. The breaking point had been coming. Tristan had been a temporary Band-Aid, a vehicle—he’d hoped—for Autumn to grow into a fully adult role. Instead, she’d crumpled under the weight of duty. So had he.
Together, they had been a disaster.
Heavenly lifted a trembling hand to her mouth. “What are you trying to say?”
“There is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you safe.” He couldn’t stand the distance between them another moment. He rushed her, wrapping hard fingers around her soft shoulders and hauling her body against his, ignoring the way she tensed. “I would go to the ends of the earth for you. And if anyone ever dared to touch you, what I did to the motherfucker who ended Autumn and Tristan would look like a scratch.”
“You would kill them.” Heavenly sounded shocked, but it wasn’t a question. She knew.
He didn’t pretend otherwise, merely nodded. Now that his secret was out, he might as well be clear about her protection. Better for her to know exactly who she claimed to be in love with. “In ways so terrible, even the most hardened criminal would be afraid to whisper about it.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re scaring me.”
“I’m sorry. That isn’t my intent. You know I can be gentle. I can love you softly, sweetly—in whatever way you need. Everything that happened is in the past. It was years ago—”
“But that part of you still lives and seethes under your surface.”
Seth couldn’t refute her. Instead, he glanced over her shoulder at Beck for help.
“He’s not pretending otherwise.” The surgeon pushed away from the island and made his way toward them. “He’s only saying that there’s more to him than violence. And you know that. Come here.”
When Beck fitted his hands around her waist and tried to pull her away from his grip, Seth resisted, pinning the doctor with a warning glare. Beck met his stare, his eyes full of calm. They asked for trust. Seth hesitated, then released her into the surgeon’s care. Heavenly exhaled and relaxed against Beck when he fitted her back to his chest.
Then he banded his arm around her middle and dipped his head, caressing the shell of her ear with his lips. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” Her reply sounded steady, sure.
Seth hoped like fuck the surgeon didn’t ask Heavenly if she trusted him. After everything he’d admitted today, he knew the answer and he couldn’t hear the terrible truth. “Beck—”
“It’s fine,” he insisted, wearing an expression that told him to shut the fuck up.
It went against his grain, but Seth did it. In Heavenly’s eyes, the doctor had the moral high ground.
“Would I ever steer you wrong?” Beck asked her.
“No,” Heavenly admitted.
“Have I ever hurt you?” A smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “Unless you asked me to.”
“No.”
“Have I shown you that I only ever want what’s best for you?”
She let out a shaky breath. “Yes.”
“I have,” Beck agreed. “I always will. You said you trust me, little girl.”
“I do.”
“Good. I trust Seth. I trust him with my life. And I trust him with the most important thing in my world.” He skimmed his lips down her neck, cascading them across her shoulder as he caressed the strap of her cheerful sundress down her arm. Then he repeated the process with the other strap, leaving her bodice clinging to her breasts. “I trust him with you.”
Heavenly gasped. “Beck—”