The Billionaire’s Bride by L. Steele

24

Edward

I take in her flushed features, her sleepy gaze, her thick hair flowing about her shoulders. Gorgeous, beautiful, a vision to wake up to every day. She bites her lower lip and I feel the tug all the way to the tip of my dick. She shifts her shoulders; I drag my gaze down to where the covers are pulled up to the tops of her creamy breasts. I reach out, tug on the sheet, which slips down to catch on her nipple. I trace the outline of the swollen bud, and her breath catches in her chest.

I raise my gaze to hers. "Good morning," I whisper, "how did you sleep?"

"Good." She swallows. Her hand jerks, as she traces a path down the forearm of the man sleeping on her other side. "I… I can explain Ed." She gulps, "It’s just… I um, woke up and, well—"

"Shh," I touch my finger to her lips, "are you hungry?"

"Hungry?" She blinks.

"Breakfast?" I tilt my head, "I could make you my special?"

"Your special?" She opens and shuts her mouth.

Guess I’ve surprised her with my calm acceptance of the three of us being in the same bed. Hell, if I hadn't surprised myself with my lack of outburst at having woken up last night to find the two of them in my bed. Maybe I'd been too tired, maybe I was just tired of fighting, or maybe they had looked so peaceful sleeping curled around each other in my bed, that I hadn't had the heart to wake either of them. For a moment, my mind had drifted back to when Baron and I were kids, fighting over our favorite toys, learning to take turns, and having sleepovers. Ah, the innocence of youth. I’ll never admit it, but I swear, I think I almost felt like it was supposed to be this way. Like we could have had this easy peace between us, if not for the incident.

So, I had contented myself with wrapping my arm around her and falling asleep. I had woken up to the most gorgeous sight ever. Of her in my bed, her face turned toward me, the sheet poised low on her breasts, barely covering her nipples. I'd give anything to wake up to that sight every day. My heart stutters in my chest, as I hold her gaze, "You do eat eggs don't you?"

She nods.

"Good.” I throw back my end of the covers, swing my legs over and stand; reach for my sweat pants and shrug into them. When I turn, I find her gaze fixed on me. I drag my fingers down my chest and her breath hitches. I slide my hand toward the waistband and she jerks her gaze up to mine.

I smirk.

She scowls. "Jerk," she mouths the word without heat.

"Your jerk," I whisper back.

She opens her mouth, and I raise a finger to my lips. I glance at the slumbering Baron next to her, then jerk my head toward the door. "Come on," I say in a low voice, "let’s not awaken Sleeping Beauty here."

Inch by inch, she slides out from under his arm. Baron stirs in his sleep and we both freeze.

He was a soldier and I'd have expected him to wake up with all this movement around him, but instead, he slumbers on. Maybe he's more tired than usual?

Maybe it's the fact that he slept with her that exhausted him, and sated him? I set my jaw, watch as she scoots all the way over to the end of my bed. Then she swings her legs over the side, glancing around for something to wear. I grab my T-shirt and hand it to her. As she shrugs into it, I walk over to the closet, pull out a pair of my boxer briefs, and return with them. She slips into them and they hang around her hips. The t-shirt dwarfs her. It reaches almost down to her knees and covers the boxers completely, but it’ll have to do for now. I walk out of the bedroom and she follows me. I wait for her to precede me, carefully shut the door behind us, then follow her down to the kitchen. She switches on the coffee maker while I pull out the ingredients needed for making pancakes.

"I do eat milk, butter and cheese, as well; and fish," she ventures. "I guess I am a fake vegetarian."

"When did you give up meat?"

"When I was thirteen, I saw a documentary on how livestock are butchered to provide meat, and that was that." She shudders. "I gave up not only meat, but also fish and all animal products, but it was exhausting." She sighs. "Our society is so geared toward animal products… Sometimes I think there is a larger conspiracy at play. Big corporations want to rule our dining tables and dictate our eating choices. I resisted for as long as I could."

"You did well," I mutter as I crack the eggs and whip up the pancake mixture, "Looking at you, though, I’d have never guessed how ecologically and politically conscious you are."

"Why, because I am a belly dancer?” She frowns. "So, of course, I shouldn’t have a single original thought in my head?"

"Hold on, spitfire," I say lightly, "you know that’s not what I meant."

"Hmm," she purses her lips, "then what did you mean?"

I toss some butter onto the hot skillet, then turn to her, "Just that there’s more to you than meets the eye and I, for one, can’t wait to unpeel all the layers and get to know your deepest, darkest desires."

She draws in a sharp breath. "Edward," she shakes her head, "sometimes you…you…"

"Impress you?"

"Shock me."

"But you still find me irresistible."

"Whatever," she mutters.

"The sassy Eve, at a loss for words?" I smirk. "That’s a first."

"The alphahole, whipping up a meal, in the hopes that he’ll get into my pants?" She sticks out her tongue at me and I fix my gaze on her luscious mouth.

"Keep that up and I promise I’ll bend you over the table right now and…"

The sound of someone clearing their throat reaches me. I glance up to find Baron in the doorway. He takes in the scene, winks at me—bastard, then saunters over to the table. He bends his head, kisses Eve on the lips. "Good morning, beautiful," he rumbles.

Her cheeks tinge pink. Fucking adorable. She glances at me, then at Baron, who wanders over to get three cups from the shelf; then he proceeds to pour coffee into them. He slides a cup over to me, then doctors one of the remaining two with sugar and cream, before walking over to the dining table. He hands a cup to Ava, places one at the setting next to her, before turning back to pull out plates and other utensils.

I turn back to the pancakes, pour the batter over the sizzling butter in the skillet. Behind me, I hear Baron bustling around as he sets the table.

By the time I walk to the table with a stack of pancakes, he’s set three places, and also placed other condiments on the table. I plate out the pancakes, seat myself.

"Can you please pass me the maple syrup?" Ava murmurs.

Baron slides the bottle over to her, as I pour honey over the stack on my plate.

"This place is certainly well-stocked," she muses. "How did you manage to get a hold of all this?" She gestures to the table.

"When I realized that the Mafia was targeting you, I mentioned to Baron the possibility of using this place as a hideaway."

"You did?"

I nod, "We both agreed that the only way to keep you safe would be to bring you here until the danger had passed."

"That’s when I reached out to Archer and had the place stocked up," Baron adds.

"Hang on," she scowls, "so you guys have been planning this for a while?"

"Just over the last week." I raise a shoulder.

"And I thought you two didn’t get along?"

"Oh, we don’t." I glare at Baron, who scowls back. "But when it comes to your safety, we agreed that we won’t compromise."

"It’s annoying how the two of you gang up on me when it suits you." She rakes her hair back from her face.

"Only because the one thing we both agree on is that we’d do anything to keep you safe," I offer

She snorts, then glances between us, "And that includes cooking up an elaborate dinner?"

Baron frowns. "You mean yesterday’s Indian food?" He jerks his chin at Edward, "That was all him."

She narrows her gaze on me, "Really? You cooked yesterday’s dinner?"

"Are you doubting my talents?"

She purses her lips.

"You don’t think I could whip up a lavish Indian meal for you?"

"Well," she blinks, " I mean—"

"Relax." I smirk. "I had a chef cook meals and freeze them for us."

"You did?"

"Of course, not." I grin. "I didn’t have enough time for that, but I did ask Archer to stock up on a bunch of frozen lunches and dinners. All of the best quality, of course."

"Of course," she echoes. "So, all that time, when the three of us were discussing the best way forward, while I was trying to be fair to both of you, you two were secretly plotting a way to get me here?"

She scowls at me and I raise my hands, "And we were right in having a plan."

"After that third attack, it was clear that you need to be protected until we track down the remaining two guys who came after you in the subway," Baron reminds her.

She shivers, folds her arms around herself.

"I don’t mean to bring this up to scare you, Eve." I lean forward and take her hand between mine. "It’s just, we want to make sure you understand how serious this threat is. Which is why," I gesture to the space around us, "we brought you here."

She blows out a breath. "I understand. I really do." She glances between us. "I just wish I, at least, had a phone. My father’s getting married tomorrow, and uh, he wanted me to be there. If I can't make it, I should, at least, let him know."

"Do you want to go to his wedding?" I hold her gaze. "Do you, Eve?"

She swallows, then glances away.

"If you did..." Baron tilts his head, "If you did, we’d make it happen."

She bites down on her lower lip. "To be fair, I’m not sure." She shakes her head. "It’s only been six months since my mother died and while she, apparently, approved of the woman he’s chosen to marry, I don’t know." She shakes her head, "It’s too soon. I mean, my parents were married for twenty-five years. They had me and my sister. It’s not like it was some fly-by-night relationship, you know. They had a wonderful marriage, a close family… And then, just like that…" she snaps her finger, "she fell sick one day and was gone in a few months." A tear rolls down her cheek, "It was terrible."

I push back my seat, walk around and put my arms around her. "I am so sorry, Eve."

"And now he’s getting remarried." She wipes the tears from her cheek. "I can’t believe he’s replacing her so quickly."

"Maybe she wanted him to marry?" Baron offers. "She’d have wanted him to be happy, right?"

"That’s what he claims." Ava sniffles and my heart seems to break.

"Don’t cry, babe. If you want to go and see him…"

"I do want to see him," she says in a fierce voice. "It's what my Mum would have wanted."

"If you want to go, we’ll take you." I meet Baron’s gaze over her head.

"It’s dangerous," he cautions. "We’d be revealing our whereabouts."

"Not if we are careful."

"However, as many precautions as we may take, there’s nothing stopping anyone from spotting us, then tracking us back here."

"We’ll be very cautious."

He blows out a breath. "Is this important to you, Ava?" he murmurs. "Do you definitely want to go?"

"My father and my sister will never forgive me if I don’t turn up." She smiles, then adds, "Also, Isla is organizing the wedding and she won’t be very happy if I didn’t turn up for it."

"Right." Baron scowls at me.

"Right." I jerk my chin at him.

"Where are they getting married?" Baron finally asks.

"In Windermere," she replies.

"That’s the next town over," I offer.

"It is?" Ava’s face brightens. "That means we can get there and back really quickly, right?"

"It’s a forty-five-minute drive, at the most," Baron interjects.

Both of us turn to him.

"We can’t stay too late." He raises a shoulder, and Ava’s face breaks into a smile. She holds out her hand. Baron glances at it, then back at her. "You also can’t leave my and Edward’s side."

"I promise." Her grin widens. "Now, will you take my hand, you stubborn man?"

He grabs her palm, kisses the back of her hand. "You sure there’s space for two more people?"