My Stepmother Sold Me to the Alpha Who Hates My Father's Name, and the Child He Wants Is the Proof That Clears It novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: Her Yes

I went up to his room at two in the afternoon, in daylight, with my boots on.

I did not knock.

He was standing at the window with his back to the door, in a clean shirt, looking down at the orchard.

He had slept four hours on a bench in the bunkhouse, because I had told the housekeeper I would not have him on the porch again.

He turned at the sound of my step.

I watched him see me, and I watched him not move.

"I said I'd tell you when," I said.

"You did," said Ned.

"It's now."

His throat worked.

He did not say a word.

I shut the door behind me and turned the key.

I had never in my life locked myself in a room with a man.

I leaned my back against the wood and looked at him.

It came over me how big the room was, and how bare.

It held a high iron bed, a chest of drawers and a rag rug.

The winter sun came in low across the boards, and there was nowhere to hide in it.

"Take off your shirt," I said.

He unbuttoned it with hands that were not quite steady and let it fall.

The light lay along his chest and showed me every scar.

I crossed the floor and stopped in front of him.

"I'm not going to give you orders," I said.

He frowned.

"Not today. I'm going to tell you what I want, and you can say yes or no, and either one is fine.

That's the only rule."

"Yes," said Ned.

"You haven't heard it yet."

"I don't need to."

"I want you to touch me," I said. "Everywhere. Any way you like. I want your hands, for as long as it takes."

He stared at me.

I saw it go through him, the wide quiet shock of being let.

He had spent three months with his hands at his sides.

His fists opened.

He lifted one hand, and it hung in the air between us, shaking.

Then he laid it against my cheek.

I turned my face into his palm.

It was rough and warm, and it smelled of cold air and woodsmoke.

I shut my eyes, and my breath came out of me in a long ragged sound.

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