Page 114 of Hart's Redemption

"It was safer. I didn't start reading in the library until after Mother moved out."

"Fuck, Josh," he huffed, confusing me. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to you saying things like that, and I hope I never do. Anyway, that's how I knew which one was your door. Because I'd seen it. I meant what I said before. I didn't go snooping. While I saw some bad things—horrible things," I shuddered, "I didn't want to invade your privacy anymore than I had to in order to get you to turn back."

He tilted his head and considered me, his vibrant green eyes sharp. "So would I be correct in surmising that I'm still a mystery to you?" His lips twitched into a smile.

I laughed and planted a kiss on his lips. "You, Joshua Hart, will always be a mystery to me."

His smile turned unexpectedly shy. "In that case, do you think we could get to know each other the way normal couples do?"

"Moonbeam, if you want me to take you on an awkward first date, I will take you on the most awkward date I can concoct." I laughed and snared him in a kiss, easily getting lost in the contours of his mouth.

"Maybe not quite that extreme," he added, following it up with a sweeter press of lips. "Hmm we could do it tonight. Perhaps we could even discuss what to do about the pack?" Unlike when he'd asked about getting to know each other, there was no shyness or uncertainty. He arched an eyebrow in challenge.

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's bad enough that I've run from the challenge my whole life. Doing it again after I'd won the challenge for Alpha isn't right. The pack doesn't deserve that." I paused as it truly sank in that the pack wasn't the only ones it was unfair to. "And neither do you, Josh."

His brow furrowed again. "What do you mean? What do I have anything to do with the Klamath Pack?"

"I never should have expected you to leave yours as well. At the very least, I should have talked to you before deciding for both of us. I'm sorry. What wouldyoulike to do?" It took me a moment to place the delicate, honey-like smell of sweet pea. Then it hit me. Delight. Josh was positively delighted at being asked. "Well?" I pressed with a grin when he still hadn't responded. "We're in this together. So what do you think?"

"I think we should go back. We could give them the option to stay in Adler Springs, or we could come back here. I've made sure there's plenty of land to accommodate a full pack. And as for any that don't want to be part of the pack at all, we could help find them a new pack where they could be happy. Oh joy, the rambling is back," he added with a grin and a shake of his head.

This man would never cease to amaze me, and I didn't even mean the cavalier way he accepted his uncontrollable words. Though that was damn impressive. "That reminds me, my ridiculous playboy billionaire—"

"Not a playboy." He gave me a crooked smirk. "At least not anymore."

"Like I was saying, when did you decide to buy up so much woodland?"

"After the bond, when I realized you would eventually either have to challenge Conrad or leave. I wanted you to have somewhere you and anyone who followed you could go. Somewhere biased laws couldn't touch you." Doubt slowly clouded his face as I waited too long to respond.

Finally, the sudden tightness in my throat eased. "You truly are the most thoughtful man I've ever met. Even when I was horrible to you and kept pushing you away, you still did everything you could to care for me."

"Of course I did. I'm in love with you. Everything I've done since the bond has been in pursuit of taking care of you."

"You. Are. Killing. Me," I said with a mock groan as I wrapped him in my arms and deposited against the nearest table.

His laughter filled the library, igniting a joy in my heart that had me leaning into him and claiming his mouth mid-laugh. As his laughter faded, smoldering lust filled his gaze. I used my grip to hoist him up onto the table, and he automatically wrapped his legs around me. I would literally never tire of feeling those insane things squeezing me, never tire of him. The sound of something small hitting the plush carpeting snagged my attention. I tore myself away from the bruise I was currently pulling on his neck to see what had made the sound. As my gaze fell on a small bottle of lube, I barked out a laugh.

“Hoping to get lucky in the library?”

He met the taunt with a roguish grin. “Doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

A growl rose out of me in response, and his eyes darkened further. I closed my mouth on Josh’s while he scraped his fingers over my exposed back. I ground against him and his head fell back to gasp out a deep-rooted moan.

I moved my attention to his neck and chest, planting wet kisses as I went. He writhed beneath me, trapped between the mahogany desk and my burning body. I dug my fingers into his thighs as he bucked off the table in pursuit of more. He let out a sharp cry when I closed my teeth around his nipple and arched into me. I released my hold on his vice-like legs and curled my fingers around the waistband of his lounge pants, determined to have him every way I could think of.

Suddenly, his hand clamped down hard on my wrist, preventing me from shifting his pants any lower. I let out a strangled grunt of frustration at being halted and looked up at him. Instead of lying on the table at my complete mercy, he’d propped himself up on his elbows and was looking towards the library entrance. Gone was the lust in his eyes. In its place was a severity that gave me pause.

“What?” His legs loosened around me, and my anxiety ratcheted up another level. "What is it?" I hissed more forcefully.

“Shh, do you hear that?”

All thoughts of claiming my sexy as sin mate in the mother of all libraries evaporated as I held my breath. Then I heard it.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

I turned wide, fearful eyes on Josh. “They can’t have you. I won’t let them take you again.” It shouldn’t have made any sense that anyone would come looking for us, but that’s exactly where my mind went.

Josh shook his head and slowly straightened up, making next to no noise as he settled his feet on the carpet before me.“Lombardi and I have worked very hard to make sure no one knows where this place is. Not even the government.”