I release her hair and step back. “I know. But I also know that you will never be the woman that is going to bend to me completely. If you don’t bend, then my existence is wrong. I don’t know any other way.”

“That’s not true,” Moira says quickly and reaches out to take my hand. Her fingers lace in between mine. “You keep your ways, Zach. But you can learn new ways too, if you want. That’s how you should treat everything in life.”

I’m silent for a moment as I look at our fingers intertwined. Her touch is warm and caring, and it gives me a measure of peace. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I tell her honestly. “I always feel like I’m getting ready to lose control when I’m with you. I want to possess you so thoroughly, and I’m afraid I might hurt you in the process.”

“But you haven’t yet,” she assures me.

“Because I was in control the entire time, Moira. If I give that up, who will protect you from me?”

Raising our joined hands up, Moira kisses my knuckles so sweetly. “You won’t hurt me. I trust you. But let’s talk about this after dinner… later tonight. They’re expecting us now.”

I nod at her, and she releases my hand. Heading toward my door that opens to the hallway, Moira looks back at me. “And Zach… I don’t think Randall should know about us. I mean, about how close we’ve come… in an intimate way.”

“I prefer him not know anything about me at all, so you don’t have to worry about me sharing.”

“It’s just… what I did… having sex with you. It’s inappropriate from a standpoint of where Randall is coming from. He wouldn’t understand.”

I smile at her. “Our secret isn’t going anywhere. So don’t worry.”

She breathes out a sigh of relief and smiles. “Thank you.”

When we reach the bottom of the stairs, Sam is waiting for us. “Everyone is in the library if you’d like to join them for a pre-dinner drink.”

I give the man a nod and motion for Moira to precede me. I follow her in, steeling myself against the futility of this evening. I don’t want to know this Randall Cannon. I want to go home… back to Brazil, and back to my people.

Except, for the first time since I’ve thought of home, I’ll admit that the thought of leaving Moira causes a tightness to form in my chest. While I have no clue where our relationship is headed, I’m most certain I’m not ready to be parted from her yet.

Moira enters into a set of open double doors and when I follow, I see Randall standing there with a man and a woman that look roughly my age. Both of them are tall and have golden blond hair. The man wears his in a similar hair length to mine, and the woman’s hair is long but wrapped up in a knot at the back of her head. She’s quite beautiful actually, with wide, blue eyes and delicate features.

“Ah, there you are,” Randall booms and, with a beckoning arm, he says, “Come in. Come in. I want to introduce you to my niece and nephew, Cara and Clint Cannon.”

I follow Moira in, keeping slightly behind her. She smiles at the man and woman and holds her hand out to each in turn for them to shake.

“Hi. I’m Moira,” she says. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She then steps aside, so I can shake their hands. Clint steps forward and gives my hand a mighty pump. With a dazzling, white smile, he says, “It’s so good to meet you, Zach. Uncle Randall has told us all about you. We’re going to have so much fun together this summer.”

I don’t know what to say to that because Moira said we were leaving in two days, so I just give him a halfhearted smile and turn to the woman.

I hold my hand out to her, but she steps forward and wraps her bare arms around my neck, pulling her body in flush against mine. She gives me a tight hug, pressing her pelvis against mine, which stuns me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Zach.”

She releases me slowly and looks at me intently. “My, my… Uncle Randall… you didn’t tell me how gorgeous Zach is. Such secrets.”

“Honestly, Cara… give it a rest,” Clint says.

Unsure of what to say, I go ahead and let the first thing that comes to mind out of my mouth. “What are these terms… niece, nephew, uncle?”

Randall gives a bark of a laugh and claps me on the shoulder. “My younger brother, Stanley Cannon, is Cara and Clint’s father. So I’m called their uncle and they are called my niece and nephew.”

“They’re titles,” Moira supplies, “to denote blood relations.”

I nod my head with understanding. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.” I cut my gaze to Clint, who looks as happy as a puppy to have me there, and then over to Cara, who looks like she’s undressing me with her eyes.

A quick glance over at Moira, and I see she hasn’t failed to notice Cara’s look. She’s staring at her as if she wants to pull her hair out, and I smile internally. Now Moira understands perhaps what I was feeling when that guy Michael put his hands on her. Maybe I’ll get to see two women fighting over me… although I wonder if I could get them to agree to do it naked. No clue why, but that idea appeals to me immensely.

“What would you like to drink?” Randall asks. “I’ve got a variety of wines and beer. Maybe some bourbon?”

“I’ll pour,” Clint says, walking over to a wooden bar filled with various bottles and glasses. “Cara… you want a glass of bourbon, right? And a vodka tonic for Uncle Randall. What about you, Moira?”