Arranged: An Array Series (Book #1)(85)

“She would never leave me,” I said confidently.

“Oh? And why is that?” Mama scanned me, looking for clues.

Because I just made her mine. And I would chase her down to the ends of the Universe.

“Because I’m going to ask her to marry me,” I babbled.

Wait…what?

I’d never thought of marriage before. I didn’t want to be bothered with a woman’s fretting and complaining for the rest of my life. I would just give my lands to Hara’s children and be a good uncle to them. But marrying Ava didn’t seem bad at all. It actually sounded amazing. I could take her travelling, something she always spoke about; introduce her to new cultures and foods. Shit, I really wouldn’t mind her in my bed every night. Her hair sprawled across white sheets, in a new country we’d just arrived in. Just me and her; everything else would be left behind.

Hara squealed with delight, scooting over the large blanket to hug me.

“Oh Garr!” Hara exclaimed. “I’m so happy!”

“That is wonderful news!” Mama praised. “But you don’t expect her to stay here, do you?”

“Uhh...no. Of course not,” I replied, taking a bite of my sandwich.

“Have John start looking for a home for you two,” Mama put in.

“But what about Father? He will never have it,” Hara said, her forehead puckered.

Mama nodded. “You’ll have to disappear for a little while. Edward will be furious.”

“And what about her father? She would never leave him behind,” Hara mused.

“She’ll have to,” Mama continued to my sister. “Only for a little while. You, my dear, we’ll need to hide you away too.”

They both continued to talk about their grand plan, but my mind stuttered at the idea of marrying Avie. It would make sense. I’d thought of her dozens of times in the past. She was the only woman that had ever held my interest and without her life wouldn’t seem complete. I just didn’t know how she’d take it. She’d been arranged to marry twice already, to my lucky bastard of a brother, and I knew she craved her freedom. Marriage might seem like a prison sentence to her right now.

I needed to know where her head was at.





Ava





Chapter 31





“You scared me!” I chided, as Garrett wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. He pressed his mouth against my neck, using his expert tongue to plant long, soft kisses along it.

“Let me make it up to you,” he rumbled, making his way up to my ear, causing me to shiver.

As I reached over to grab my red riding cloak off my bed, Garrett pulled me back against him.

“I have a ride scheduled with your brother this morning.”

“And I took it upon myself to send a note to George, delaying that for a little while. On your behalf, of course.”

I turned around to look at him. “How considerate of you.” The corners of my lips quirked as I shook my head. “Now you’re making my plans for me?”

He chuckled. “I know better than to order you around, Avie. That’s a suicide mission.”

I ran a finger down his shaved cheek. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

He lowered his mouth to mine, clearly ignoring any guff I had about him sending letters on my behalf. I didn’t mind the sneaking into my room, but I wouldn’t be disregarded when it came to what I wanted.

I broke away, furrowing my brows. “Are you always like this?”

He bit my lower lip. “Only when I’m around you.”

“Well, that’s all fine and—”

“Quit talking, Avie, and kiss your man already.” He took my lips again, advancing on me as I followed his lead to my bed.

My man?

While my body warmed up to his, warning bells alarmed in my head. I didn’t regret giving myself to Garrett; I’d enjoyed it immensely. But we were still figuring this…whatever this was, together. Giving your heart and soul to someone was an important and dangerous thing. While I was extremely attracted to him, was that all we’d ever have? He wanted to go back home to Aruna; I had a business to run with Papa. Then there were always those lovely assassins to think about.

We are on two separate pages.

Feeling the back of my knees hit the side of the bed, he gently pushed me onto it as he removed his shirt. My eyes scanned his tan skin, his chest hair, and the tight muscles making up the fetching man in front of me.

I looked up to find him watching me stare like an idiot, and a smile graced his lips.

“Garrett, I think we should talk about all this.”

He stepped closer. “I don’t feel like talking.”

I pushed myself further toward the middle of the bed, away from the distraction of wanting to touch his skin.

“I think we have two different views of this situation.”

Garrett leaned both arms on the edge of the bed, quirking a brow. “Oh?”

“While I enjoyed…what we did, I—”

“Shit, I hope so.” Bringing his knee up on the bed, he began to crawl toward me, his eyes devouring me. “Now I’m ready for round two.”

I held up a hand. “Now hold on, Garr. You can’t just start making decisions for me and sending out notes on when I will be somewhere.”