“Jeremiah.” This admittance has his body going stone cold.
“Why does Jeremiah have your daughter, Star?”
“Because he’s her father, Shamus.”
The pain in my hips from his firm grip has me yelping before he eases his hands. He then begins rubbing a soothing pattern where his fingers were just embedded in my skin.
“We have a lot to talk about, Star. But I need to know where he keeps her,” he expresses, pulling back and looking me square in the eyes.
“I’m not allowed to know that, Shamus. But I need you to promise me something. If you are who you say you are, I need you to find her and get her to my sister. Stella will make sure she’s safe and protected at all costs. My daughter will know love and acceptance from her. I need this, Shamus. I need her to have the life I can’t provide for her.”
“I’ll find her, Star. I will get you both out of her and home, where you belong.” His vow lifts the heaviness from me.
I believe him.
I don’t know him, but for some reason, something that mystifies me, I do believe he is a man of his word and will take care of my baby.
“Are you an honorable man, Shamus?” I ask him as I brazenly rake my fingers down the front of his chest.
“I don’t want you to have any false pretenses where it comes to me, Star. I’m honorable to a point, but I’m also not a man to be trifled with. However, with that being said, when I give someone a promise, I always see it through. I will get you and your daughter out of this. I need you to trust me. Do you believe me, Star?”
“Don’t ask me why, Shamus. But I do, deep in my core, I believe every word,” I entrust him with that knowledge that I’m finding myself questioning the sanity of given the circumstances.
I stand up and hear a groan once I do. But I know that we can’t just talk, there’s a job I’m expected to do, and if I don’t, and Jeremiah finds out, I won’t see Ella tomorrow as promised.
I have to see her.
I go over to the corner of the room where a bowl of condoms are sitting on a table. I walk back over with the foil square wrapper in my hand. His eyes get comically wide when I reach down for his belt.
His hands reach out to still mine. “What are you doing?” he questions.
“If we don’t do this, he’ll know. I trust you, Shamus, I need you to trust me back. We have to do this. Please,” I adamantly profuse.
I’m sure we could get away with pretending, but for some damn reason I can’t comprehend, I want him. I want to feel him buried deep inside of my core.
To brand me.
How fucked up does that make me?
“Star, we don’t have to do this,” he imparts, even though I can see the same longing in his face that I’m sure mirrors my own.
“We do. If nothing else, I need this. Give me this one night, Shamus.” I hate coming across as desperate, but I want to feel alive, and he manages to make me feel that emotion that I haven’t experienced in three years.
Not since those first few months with Jeremiah.
But I don’t think this man would ever do to me what Jeremiah did.
I should be terrified by the thought of this, but for some damn reason, he has a calming effect on me.
Chapter Three
Shamus
I shouldn’t be allowing this to happen. Kruger will have my ass if he finds out I was allowing my dick to lead me. But the desperation in her eyes, tells me that she needs this as much as I do.
I know that we’re expected to fuck, but I want this to be something special. I want our first time to be meaningful. I have a feeling she’s never been shown the respect she deserves, nor has she ever had a gentle touch.
That’s something I can give her.
But, will she ever forgive me and be willing to give us a shot down the road if I allow it to happen? I need those answers before I follow through with what she’s asking of me.
“If we do this, Star, I want you to know this means a beginning to you and me. When I get you free, you will be mine, belong to me. Mine to protect, to love, to honor, to own.”
“Own?” her voice cracks as she lifts her eyebrows as she says this. “I don’t want to be owned by another man, Shamus.”
“My ownership over you will be much different than anything you’ve ever experienced before. Owning someone in my world, it’s a thing of honor and respect. It means you will forever have my protection along with your daughter.”
“How do you know that you’ll want that? It sounds like a big commitment, Shamus. We’ve only known each other for hours, if that.”
“A man knows when he’s found the woman who’s meant to be his,” I answer back.
“And, I’m that woman for you?”
“Knew it the minute I was shown your picture. It was confirmed the minute our eyes met. But the second you touched me; my heart told my mind that you were put on this earth for me.”
“Those words just make me want you more,” she shyly admits.
“I won’t touch you until you agree to my terms, Star. Will you be mine?”
“I can’t make that kind of decision or promise when I don’t know what my future holds, Shamus.”
“I will make sure you have the life that you deserve, Star. I will get you both out of here. I won’t accept anything less. You are destined to be mine.”
“Show me what it’ll be like to be yours, please.” She doesn’t need to beg me to touch her, that’s a given. I will spend the rest of my life pleasing her, showing her that life is so
