Lust , Passion And Duty

Chapter Sixty Nine

Bella’s POV

As far as patients went, Lord Erik was a nightmare. He was a nightmare in many other regards as well, but giving his body time to heal wasn’t on his agenda.

Ibash wasn’t happy about it. “You need to rest, Lord Erik . It’s been only three days and you’re already running around.”

“I’ve had worse. Now stop the fucking fussing. I’m not a child.”

“Maybe not. But I’m obviously the only one of the two of us capable of sane decisions.”

“Neither of you is sane. Now help me with this fucking crib,” Ades muttered.

I leaned in the doorway of the future nursery. Ibash and Nina had gone shopping this morning, and now the four Falcone brothers were trying to put together the furniture. Though Ibash and Youngest prince were doing all the work because Ades’s arm was in a cast and most of Lord Erik ’s body was bandaged, not to mention the many broken bones in his body.

Ades sat on a plush baby blue armchair, which sat close to the window. Sometimes when he thought no one was looking, his eyes twisted with something dark, something haunted. Some wounds would take a long time to heal. Lord Erik leaned against the windowsill, wearing only low cut sweatpants, barking orders.

A smile tugged at my lips.

“The instructions are quite clear, Lord Erik ,” Ibash drawled. “I don’t need your orders on top of that.”

Youngest prince scoffed. “As if that’ll stop him.”

It was still difficult to grasp what had happened these last three days. I’d left my family,Gabriel , to live in Hades with the man who kidnapped me and his family who helped him do it. But with every passing hour, I realized it had been the right decision for my children and maybe even for me.

The moment Lord Erik saw his babies, a knot in my chest loosened, a knot that had strangled me since he released me, only to be pulled tighter when jemima. and Jordan were born. They belonged here.

I had tried to keep my distance from Lord Erik so far, only visited him twice so our twins could get used to his presence, and I knew he wasn’t happy with it.Lord Erik spotted me in the doorway, his eyes becoming more eager and intent. My pulse picked up, and I turned around to return to Jordan and jemima. who were waiting downstairs with Nina .

Lord Erik cornered me in the hallway. For someone with his injuries, he was annoyingly fast. “Are you running from me, Angel?” He backed me into the wall, his palms on either side of me.

“I’ve learned that doesn’t work. You always catch me,” I said, leaning back because with him so close I was having trouble focusing.

“I often imagined how it would be to see you again,” he said in a low voice. “But this wasn’t one of the scenarios I came up with.”

I regarded him. “When you sent me off like a thing easy to dispose of, it didn’t seem like you wanted to see me again.”

He shook his head, anger flashing on his face. “I gave you a choice, one you didn’t have before ... and you chose to stay with the Outfit.”

I huffed. “That’s ridiculous. You traded me like a piece of cattle. Why would I return to you? I’m not in the habit of thrusting myself upon someone who obviously couldn’t wait to get rid of me.”

Lord Erik leaned even closer. “Did you really believe that I didn’t want you? Or did you tell yourself that because you didn’t want to leave your family?”

I frowned. “You could have ...”

“What?” he growled. “I could have what? Kidnapped you again? Asked your uncle to send you back?”

He had a point and it annoyed me.

“When were you planning on telling me about our babies? Would you have told me at all if Ades hadn’t gotten himself captured?”

“You sent me away, back to my fiancé. I didn’t think you’d care what happened with me, much less wanted kids,” I muttered, but something in his eyes made me continue.

“I wanted to tell you. The moment I saw them, I knew I needed to tell you, but I didn’t know how. I was ... a coward.”

His hand came up, cupping my cheek, his dark eyes impossibly possessive. “I was sure you’d return to me.” His lips brushed mine.

“You aren’t a coward. You saved me. You went against your family to protect our children. You gave up everything for them ... and for me.”

I deepened the kiss, couldn’t keep the distance I so desperately wanted to keep. Lord Erik ’s lips, his tongue, the feel of his rough palm against my cheek awakened a deep longing, a desperate need I’d kept buried since he’d set me free.

My core tightened as his familiar manly scent flooded my nose, and memories of how Lord Erik ’s hands, his mouth, his cock had felt came to the surface ...I drew back, coming to my senses, and slipped out from under Lord Erik ’s arm. He gave me a knowing smile before I hurried away. But I had seen the proof of his body’s reaction to me in the bulge of his sweatpants.