Eternally North (35 page)

He pulled back and made
me look into his eyes before letting out a snort of light laughter.
“And then you came along and blindsided me. When you barreled into
the restaurant that night I couldn’t look away. I was hooked from
the get-go. I fought our attraction for so long, put you through hell
and never once told you why. In the end, I was weak and selfish and I
couldn't
not
have you in my life. That coffee date with Gage
pushed me over the edge.

“I told my mother and
brother about what was happening, what I was resisting and they told
me that I shouldn't – no –
couldn't
live like that:
miserable and on my own forever because of him, because then he would
win. So I gave in, and you completely changed my life, I finally
lowered my guard to someone.”

I smiled shyly at him,
and he smiled softly in return, before kissing me once more. His face
fell when he ended the kiss.

“About a week before
you left for Christmas, my agent received an email with your picture
attached. It was from him; you were coming home from school. I nearly
had a heart attack when I realised he'd found us again, found out
about you, and right after things had been going so well for us. I
felt like we had barely been given a chance to make it work…”
Tudor trailed off.

Fuck-a-duck, he was
after me too? My God!

Tudor saw my face pale
and hugged me tight. “The police were always ringing, telling me
where he had been spotted, and I could see you were getting
suspicious and I knew you were thinking the worst, but how could I
explain my past without risking what we had? I needed you, but I just
couldn’t tell you anything.

“His picture had been
circulated to local businesses and private eyes. The sightings
indicated that he had made his way to Calgary, that he was here
somewhere, and I decided not to tell you even then as I didn't want
to scare you – I needed to protect you, protect my family. I knew
though, I knew deep down that I'd lose you. Who would willingly stay
in this fucked up situation?

“When you broke up
with me, I felt like he'd won. He took you away, the only thing to
ever make me truly happy. That paparazzi picture must have clued him
in to where we were.

“The police have been
looking for him for the past week, he was lying low. I thanked the
Lord every day that you were in England and he couldn't get to you.”

He brushed kisses onto
my neck. “I was outside taking the Christmas lights down this
morning when I heard Bee scream. He had gotten in through her window,
which was usually always locked, but she’d opened it to let in some
fresh air, and he’d seized his opportunity. When I reached the
room, he was already hitting her, tearing clothes off her body while
she tried to push him away. I flipped at seeing him again, attacking
my sister…
again!
You turned up just after the police came
and dragged me off him. If they’d let me I think I would have
killed him, Tash. I fucking
hate
him!”

He sucked in a ragged
breath at his admission, and I simply nodded and held him. He took my
hand and played with my fingers before he grabbed them tightly in his
grip.

“He mentioned you,
said that he'd gone for you this morning but you weren't home.”

His eyes squeezed shut,
tears spilling from their corners. “Jesus, Tash, what if you had
been there? What if–?"

I cut him off by
putting my hands on his face. I leaned in and kissed him
passionately, showing him without words what he meant to me. He
didn't break away. He instantly responded and pushed me back and down
onto the sofa, never leaving my lips. I could feel and taste the
dried blood on his mouth but I didn’t care.

He groaned and lifted
his head and smiled down at me, the first genuine smile since I had
found him alone in
that
room. I moaned in complaint at the
interruption of our reunion kiss. "Just checking you’re real,"
he murmured and then crashed his lips to mine once more. He stroked
my head with his hand as he moved to lay soft caresses on my cheeks,
my closed eyes, my neck and my nose.

This was home; this was
where we were meant to be, with each other, honest and open. He
pulled back his head, cupped my face, looked me deep in the eyes with
a serious expression and whispered, "I love you, Sunshine. I
actually can't believe how much I fucking love you."

My heart melted. I was
utterly speechless at the strength and conviction of his words. I
gripped him as tightly as possible to compose myself. I was shaking
from the soul-shattering adoration I was feeling towards this man.

I pressed my hand to
his cheek. "I love you, too, babe.”

“You do?” he
sighed, as though he doubted my returned affections.

“Mmm-hmm. All the way
to the moon and back."

He pulled a playfully
shocked expression. "That much?"

I shrugged. "No,
probably more." It was the truth.

I lifted his head
closer to mine, I wanted him as near to me as possible. "Thank
you for telling me everything. You don't know how much it means to me
that you trust me enough to tell me all that you have been through. I
will never tell another soul."

He pressed his forehead
against mine once again. “Thank you for not running far away from
me when I did."

"Never, you would
only catch up with me anyhow. I’m not exactly what you’d call a
sprinter." I whispered, jokingly.

He shifted, rolling me
on top of him. He was quite content to just lie there looking at me,
but after a while he pulled a frown.

"Hey, what's
wrong?" I asked, worried, smoothing the creases on his face with
the back of my hand

He glanced away, his
face torn with sadness. "I'll never forgive myself for
endangering you like that. I-I just couldn't not have you in my life.
Please say you forgive me?"

I kissed his eye where
a huge bruise was forming. "There is nothing to forgive.
Crazy-evil Dad is going to be locked away for a long time, meaning we
get to start afresh, yes?"

He pulled a timid
Tudor-smirk and nodded. "If you'll have me?"

I scrunched up my face
in mock contemplation. "
Ah
, what the hell. I'm a sucker
for muscles and tattoos!"

He laughed out loud and
tilted his head, gazing at me in unguarded affection. "God, I
love you."

Now that's something
I'm not going to get tired of hearing!

Tudor cleaned himself
up and calmed down considerably once his father’s blood was no
longer polluting his skin. When we returned upstairs, the police were
there to take his statement. Tink was in the living room with Tate,
who looked like he’d been put through the wringer, to say the
least.

We all waited tensely
in the living room whilst Tudor spent an hour with the police. As he
came back into the room, I made my way to him as he took a swig of
the hip flask Henry had produced.

He shrugged. “Just to
settle the nerves.”

“Ah, okay!” I
answered in return and winked.

He took my hand in full
view of everyone else, and I felt loved, publicly loved. Despite
everything else that had happened that day, I adored that we could
now be open with the rest of the world. Something within him had
changed – calmness had settled on his usually guarded countenance
and it made me so happy to see.

Henry gestured that it
was time for them to head to the hospital, and I turned to my big
guy. “Call me when you are done, let me know how Boleyn is doing,”
I said, going in to kiss him on the cheek, but he pulled back,
effectively making me kiss the air. “What?” I asked confused.

“You’re coming with
me,” he stated, as if there would be no other option.

I flashed a look at
Tink who put up no resistance – he was anxious to get Tate home to
our condo. I don’t think Tate was really of the disposition for
coping well with what had happened and had as yet been unable to
untangle himself from the security of Tink’s hold.

“No, Tudor, honestly
it’s fine. Just call me when you get back. You need to go and be
with your family. I fully understand.”

He nodded in agreement.
“I do need to see my family,
and
my girlfriend is coming
too, to support
me
.”

He leaned in and
whispered for my ears only, “Tash, I don’t do well in hospitals,
my mom was always there because of him. Henry and I received our fair
share of broken bones too, and Bee… Bee had to go there, that
night… I’ll explain everything to you another time but I have
issues with those places and I need you to be with me. You make me…
I don’t know… calm.”

I stroked his cheek
with my hand and he pulled it to his mouth and laid feather-light
kisses on my palm. “Plus, I want us there together, out in the
open, for everyone and their mothers to see.”

I pecked him quickly
but shook my head and told him, “Babes, you’re strong on your own
– just look at today, how you saved your family. I shouldn’t be
there at the hospital, it’s time for just you guys to be there for
Boleyn – just family. I love how you want me to be with you, but I
think tonight is much too soon for everyone else. It’s a bit
inappropriate.”

I headed to the door.
“I’ll see you later, go with your brother, you’ll be okay, I
promise. I’ll see you tonight when you get back.”

He growled under his
breath, dismissing my words, lunged forward and picked me up before
tossing me over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift, smacking my arse
with his cupped hand. “For the last time, you are coming with me!
Tink, take Tate home and don’t expect this one back tonight.”

I squealed. “Tudor
put me down!”

He ignored me and began
walking out of the door. I could hear Samantha giggling, a nice sound
considering she had understandably spent the majority of the day in
floods of tears. Tudor continued out to the car and plopped me in the
back seat of a huge red Dodge Ram. Henry and Samantha climbed into
the front seats and off we went to the hospital.

I sat in the large
seat, frozen and stunned, mouth gaping in shock, with Tudor holding
my hand as though he hadn’t just gone all caveman and carried me to
the car – all we were missing was a club to the head and an
obligatory grunt.

Henry looked at me
through the rear view mirror and grinned. “You had better get used
to being joined at his hip now, Tash. He no longer has to keep you
hidden. Believe it or not, he was keeping you at arm’s length
before – now, he has no barriers.”

I groaned dramatically
and rolled my head back to rest against the seat, but, deep down
inside, I broke out in a happy grin. Tudor eyed me from his side of
the truck, hiding his amusement at my pleased expression, causing him
to smirk.

Yes, it was lop-sided with an extra
dollop of dimple. What can I say? I’m a sucker for dimples!

Boleyn was being kept
in hospital overnight to assess her mental state, and although she
was heavily sedated her injuries were minor. Thankfully, it seemed
Tudor got to her quickly enough that their dad didn’t cause too
much damage, at least not physically. Pamela was staying the night
with Boleyn and only she could stay. So after a few hours of keeping
her company we said our goodbyes and headed home.

I had been apprehensive
about going to the hospital with Tudor, but the small smile that
arrived on Pamela’s lips when we walked in hand in hand made me
feel less intrusive. Tudor had sat me on his lap even though there
were plenty of seats around his sister’s bed, and he placed absent
kisses on my hands and neck for the remainder of the visit, making
the ogling nurses green with envy.

Pamela pulled me in for
a hug when we left and whispered, “Thank you, Natasha. He deserves
to be happy, he deserves you.”

I cast a startled look
at her, and she winked as Tudor took my hand and led me away out of
the hospital.

We arrived back at the
North residence around midnight, and I was cream-crackered. It had
been the longest and most emotionally draining day of my life. Tudor
led me into his large bedroom, complete with the biggest sleigh bed I
had ever seen, and began to undress me, grazing over my bare skin
with his fingers. I was fighting to keep my eyes open and he knew it.

He huffed out a laugh
and said quietly in my ear, “You are very cute when you’re
sleepy, Ms. Munro.”

If I had been more with
it, then I would’ve replied with a witty come back. As it was, I
couldn’t even be arsed to think, so just crossed my eyes and stuck
out my tongue.
That’ll show him cute!

He leaned forward and
took my tongue between his teeth before lifting me up and softly
laying me on the bed –
hang on, how did I get naked?

I crept under the
covers as Tudor headed to his bathroom.

Oh my God, this bed
is amazing!

I snuggled into the
pillows and inhaled. I took in the musky scent of Tudor from his
sheets and let my eyes fall shut.

The bed dipped, and I
was immediately encased in a set of huge, bare arms and pulled into
an equally naked muscly chest. I felt kisses being feathered down my
neck, and I arched to help Tudor take full advantage. He made his way
back to my ear and whispered, “I love you, Sunshine.”

I pushed myself back
impossibly close causing him to moan and bite my earlobe, his
breathing turning ragged.

“Tudor?”

His arm left my chest
and dusted its way down to my stomach. “Mmm-hmm?”

“Do you think
everything between us has gone too fast? It seems that we have got to
this serious place in our relationship very quickly. Have you thought
about that too?”

His hand stilled on his
journey down south. “I know it seems fast, but if we feel this way
about each other, why should we go slowly? Turn around, gorgeous.”