Handsome Devil

His Reasons

I woke up to a warm and heavy weight resting on my left hip. I sighed and snuggled into the warmth. The hand on my hip moved and rested against my breast and my eyes flew open.

Oh God! Last night we....we.. I sat up straight in the bed holding the blanket close to hide my breast and looked down at the beautiful man sleeping beside me.

He looked so peaceful, his dark eyelashes resting at his cheek, the lips which were always set in arrogant smirk were resting in a soft innocent smile and his dark eyebrows framed that beautiful face in a serene expression.

A lock of his dark chocolate brown hair was covering his forehead and I slowly slid it back with my fingertips, I couldn't stop myself as my hand touched his cheek and then his nose his soft breathing tickling my fingers.

I touched his lips and smiled. I pulled my hand back afraid to wake him up but he caught it before I could and stared at his face. His eyes were open and he smiled slowly.

"Good morning, sweetheart. I would give everything I have to have you in front of me everyday I wake up in the morning." He whispered.

My heart skipped a beat. I pulled my hand from his grasp and clutched the blanket to my body. He grinned. "I have seen you in all glory, Yna and I tell you I liked it very much." I blushed and shoved him away.

He just laughed and sat up his.muscles flexing and his skin glowing in a soft sunlight entering the room through window. I shuddered remembering the feel of his skin against mine.

Orland took one look at my blush and started howling in laughter but now I was red with anger and I stood up ready to make him regret his laughing at me with his mouth hanging open.

I looked down at myself and shrieked, in my anger I forgot the blanket and I stood there naked.

I made a frantic dash for the blanket and rushed into the bathroom. His eyes following my every move. I took a long cold shower to calm my nerves and came out of the bathroom in a bathrobe to find Orland sitting at the small dining table with our breakfast plates.

He didn't answer just sipped his wine

silently. "How long? Ashbourne." I asked again. He looked up and said in a sharp tone of command. "Forever."

I tried to breath and failed. A choking sound came from my throat and Orland was there beside me in a second patting my back and handing me a glass of water. "Drink up, darling. Slowly."

I drank the water and looked at his face ready to demand what he meant by forever. He opened his mouth to speak and closed it again and then in an steady voice he started to explain.

"My plan was just to torture your father by taking you away from him but I have come to...I have come to like your company more and more every hour I have spent with you and I really like you Yna. You are the first women with whom I feel a connection."

I sat there dumbly contemplating his words. He knelt down and took my hands in his warm hand. His eyes filled with emotion and longing as he made eye contact with me.

"Please Yna, I want you. I know I have

a rivalry with your father but I have a connection far greater than with you." He finished his voice filled with emotion.

"What happened to make you hate my father so much?" I asked, my voice quivering. He looke away and cursed.

"Tell me Orland. I need to know the reason behind this all."

He stood up and walk over to the window. His hand resting on the window glass as he stared out. "When, when your..." He hesitated.

"Please. Orland just say it." I pleaded.

What do you know about your mother's death?" He asked.

My heart ached as it always did whenever someone talked about my mother. Violet Carson was a very sweet and caring women and I loved her with all my heart.

"She died because she drowned in the lake nearby our house." I said my voice shaking.

He shook his head. "That day my father asked your mother for a boat ride in the lake. He wanted to show her skills at navigating a boat and she agreed because she loved the lake. Your father couldn't company them that day because he was away for some business. When—when my father was showing her the boat and they were standing on the deck simply enjoying the ride, the boat tilted and started shaking quiet suddenly which cause your mother to slip and fall into the water. My father jumped after her but—but he couldn't save her and he kept swimming in the lake till dusk without finding her and it was too late." He stopped and balled his hands into fist at his side.

And I noticed there were tears in my eyes. "But—but how is the death of my mother connected to your rivalry with my father?" I asked.

He looked at me, his eyes haunted and said. "This has everything to do with

it." And he continued the story. "They found her body floating near the shore and—and your father blamed—he blamed my father for your mother's death." I sucked in a deep breath.

"My father couldn't bare the shock and hurt, he too blamed himself and fell ill the same day your mother died,your mother and my father were best friends you see and he loved her like a sister. And I lost my father to grief the other day." He finished, his voice shaky and his eyes suspiciously misty.

"I vowed that I would make Edmund Carson pay for my father's death and I—I tried to do just that by taking you away from him." He looked at me his eyes determined.

I felt like someone had punched me, so everything, till now was a lie. "You, you faked everything to keep me here. Your interest in me, your kisses and what we shared last night?" I asked the hurt apparent in my eyes.

I willed myself to be strong but the tears couldn't be contained any longer. And I started sobbing miserably. He was beside me in a second.

"Everything I did and said to you was absolute truth. Please, don't cry Yna." He grabbed me to him as I sobbed in his arms.

I pulled away. "I want to go back. I want to go back this instant, Orland." I demand my voice surprisingly steady and strong.

He just stood there. His expression pained and filled with longing. "I can't stay with you a moment longer." I looked around. "What is this place and where have you taken me?" I asked.

He just gave me a blank look and left the room. I ran after him banging my hand against the door. "Open this damn door, Ashbourne!" I shouted at the locked door. I hated him at the moment more than anything. I slid down to the floor and cried silently.