Page 37 of Under His Command
The scent. And the warm breeze that carries it from the garden through the open sliding doors, wrapping around my body like a second skin.
I inch toward it, shaking my head in disbelief for what I know to be true even without seeing it yet.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of peonies must be waiting on the other side of this curtain that’s flapping above the glass doors. That’s the only possible way you get a naturally sweet scent that is this strong to fill the air.
“Oh my God,” I exhale when I step through the doors into Rowan’s garden.
The field is literally filled with peonies as far as my eyes can see, stretching around the tall willow trees, the pond, and the lush bushes. It looks like a huge cloud of pink and white silk, and I rush toward them, my skirt swirling around me when I spin in place, taking it all in.
My phone rings again.
“Whatever you need to feel at home in this house, I’ll bring it to you. All you have to do is ask,” Rowan says.
“Still want me to move in with you, huh?”
His voice lowers. “I want everything with you.” I’m taken aback by the confession.
“How… how can you know for sure, when you’ve just met me?”
“One day, I’ll show you everything. Everything I am, and everything you mean to me. Until then, I want to come home to my entire house smelling like my perfect angel and nothing else.”
“Would that make you happy?”
“Feral is more like it.”
I pause for a few moments, taking in the view as I clutch the phone with both hands.
“Rowan?”
“Yes, angel?”
“I know you said not to worry about you. But I do worry. It’s hard not to, knowing the kind of job you have. You seem a bit… different today. And I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
He sighs, a hint of a smile audible through this breathing. “I never realized letting someone in would mean that they too would start reading me well. I’ll tell you, since you’ll hear it on the news anyway. There’s been an attack on the Ridge. One that doesn’t make any sense. In fact, it’s almost as if they’re trying to distract us from something else. It’s why I can’t come home tonight, like I wanted to. Even so, is there a chance you’ll agree to spend the night in our bed?”
I take in what he’s telling me but I don’t press him on it. Even my brother wasn’t allowed to tell us much about the war, and he wasn’t as high up in the ranks as Rowan is.
“If I say yes, does that mean I’ll wake up in your arms tomorrow?”
“I hate to spoil part of the surprise, but yes, there’s something important I need to do tomorrow. And I’m taking you with me.”
“What is it?” I walk across the porch, watching a wild duck land in the nearby pond, a few soft waves cresting in the wake of its flapping wings.
“We’re meeting the President and the First Lady in the Oval Office for lunch.”
THIRTEEN
The first thing I sense is heat. Rowan is pressed against me from behind, his hot flesh covering my ass and thighs. His hands roam over my body and I feel myself quivering under his touch. My dream is so vivid—similar to the ones I used to have after meeting him for the first time.
My face is pressed into the bed, my moans being smothered by the mattress as he slides his hard cock up and down in the crack of my ass. The sensation of his massive erection feels so real that I’m starting to think this is not actually a dream at all.
Slowly I start to become more aware of sounds filtering into my awareness. The sleek echo of my arousal fills the silence, tangled with the heavy, sexy-as-fuck breathing of the man I’m obsessed with.
I wake up to strong arms pinning me down, fingers digging into my hips. My body hikes up and down, rumpling the sheets under my naked skin while Rowan’s cock slides in and out of my pussy from behind.
“Row-ah—” His name barely rolls off my tongue as all my senses come back to life. How long has he been fucking me? What time is it?
“Shhh, angel. I’m not done using your pretty holes.”
