Claire: The Forced Virgin Of The Billionaire
Chapter 77

Clearly it’d affected him. He had huge anger issues. He had to know this had something to do with it. I felt disdain for his uncle and sorry for his father’s demise. Maybe things would’ve been different if his father were here or maybe not. What would Azriel be like if he’d had a normal upbringing.

“I’m sure your life experiences have taught you a lot, too,” he said.

I nodded.

“You haven’t had the easiest life,” he added.

“Yeah, true, but nothing like yours. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the constant threat, the violence.”

“It’s not always this amped. And I have plans so that when I take over things will transition and eventually most of the risky stuff will be phased out.”

I felt a spark of hope but it quickly extinguished as I recalled a scene in the Godfather when Michael Corleone’s wife talked about how the more legitimate he’d become, the more dangerous he’d become. I’d seen the movies so many times.

What’d been apparent so far was that Azriel Clarke did, definitely, have demons and that he had major mood swings. He was violent but he was also fiercely protective.

“You threw yourself on top of me this morning,” I said, “to protect me from the gunfire.”

“Of course I did.” He was staring at the river.

“You came to Mexico yourself. You rescued me and then avenged me, well avenged yourself but I think me, too.”

“Yeah.” He looked across the river at kids skipping stones directly across from us, “I’ll always protect you. I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.” He glanced at me quickly and I saw something flash in his eyes, pain, maybe.

“With everything so far, that you covered me this morning surprised me. You keep surprising me. You’re not very predictable.”

“I’m a bit like this ice cream,” he said, twirling the cone and assessing it, “A lot going on here with the berries and the chunks of white chocolate and dark chocolate each bite is different from the last.”

I giggled, “And I’m all vanilla, every lick exactly the same as the last?”

“No way,” he tugged my ponytail playfully, “You’re exactly the flavor I want. You’re delicious.”

I blushed.

“I’m serious,” he said, “I’m new to the whole relationship thing. I never bothered with the whole dating or relationship thing and to go from not doing them to being engaged sounds huge, it is huge, but I’m ready. I never had time for that. But now I know it’s because I’ve been biding time waiting for you, baby. I just didn’t know it until I laid eyes on you.” He reached for me, about to k**s me but I stopped him and blurted, “Azriel, I need my friends. I need Lily and her family to know I’m okay. I need…”

He cut me off, “All in time.” His lips touched mine gently, sweetly.

“Really?” I felt something twist in my gut.

“I’ll give you everything you need.” He let that sink in for a beat, and then continued, “Let’s get a few things cleared up and it’ll have to be handled delicately but you can invite them to the wedding. In fact, if you do, I’m sure it’ll settle them down.”

“The wedding?”

“We’d might as well start planning it. Uncle offered to let us do it at his house. The girls can help you. We can have whatever you want. Sky’s the limit. It’d be good to be there for security reasons. How about a month away? Tomorrow you and I can stop by Lily Pattinson’s place and talk to her and her family. Together. Think about where you want to honeymoon. Sky’s the limit there, too. But you won’t be able to tell anyone. We will need to keep the location quiet until we’re back,” He leaned over and kissed me quickly.

I gulped, “We’re still there? This is fast, it’s —”

I gulped, “We’re still there? This is fast, it’s —”

He cut me off, “Your ice cream is melting.”

I licked all the way around the cone quickly.

“Oh my god.” He said under his breath.

I looked over at him and he was looking at me, his eyes filled with fiery l**t.

I licked the ice cream off my upper l*p with the tip of my tongue, “We’re having a serious conversation, here, Mister.” I poked his chest playfully.

He chewed his lower l*p, “Lick it again.”

I did. I twirled the cone slowly and lavishly licked the circumference and then slowly licked my lips.

He shook his head, “Mmm.”

“What were we saying?” I asked and he let out a little laugh. I felt my belly dip but a simultaneous internal wince as I wondered if I could do that to him without remembering that horrible man.

“You were saying this was fast and then distracting me with that tongue. I know it’s fast but it’s right. I feel it. I’ll protect you; no one will hurt you ever again. I’ll give you everything. I’m a lot to take on, my family, all of that, I know, but I need you to be mine in every way. You’re already mine. You know you are. Let’s just make it legal.”

“Legal? You care about the law? Really?”

He winked, “Selectively. Lick, baby. Your ice cream is melting.”

“It’s not, you perv. But…” I turned serious, “about all that. The thing with my father, I…”

He waited for me to finish but his jaw tightened.