James stares at me in shock.
He moves towards me then. I move towards him and he crushes me against his chest, pulling me into a tight embrace. I wrap my arms around his waist and I can feel the warmth spreading through me.
He pulls away enough to look into my eyes, giving me that rare, genuine smile. "I love you too."
I might be good at denying my feelings but I've known for a while that I was falling for him.
But I wasn't sure he would feel the same way. I knew he had feelings for me, but I didn't know to what extent.
"You do?" The question slips out in a soft whisper before I can stop it.
He reaches up, caressing my cheek with his fingers. "Oh Erin, I started to fall for you the moment you fell off that bookcase and into my arms," he tells me with a little laugh. "I just didn't realize that's what it was until yesterday."
Then he kisses me.
As if Mother Nature was waiting for this exact moment, lightning cracks across the sky.
There is lightning crackling through my veins, too.
A loud boom of thunder echoes in the distance and we are showered in cool spring rain.
We kiss over and over in the rain, unaware of the fact that other people can probably see us. Unaware of the time, or the weather. Just each other.
Lightning splinters across the clouds again and James finally pulls away from me, looking up. "We should get inside," he says, offering me his hand.
I nod, shivering as I take it and we walk towards the manor hand-in-hand. Once we're inside, James turns on the heater so we can warm up and he fetches two towels from the bathroom, tossing one to me.
I dry my exposed skin and wring my hair out. James does the same while I slip into the closet to change my clothes. Once we're both warm and dry, James sits down on the sofa, while I take a seat on his bed, brushing the tangles out of my hair.
There's a moment of comfortable silence until James lets out a heavy sigh.
"Erin, are you sure you want this?" He asks me seriously.
I set the brush on his night stand, turning and meeting his gaze. "Yes," I tell him without hesitation. "I'm sure."
"I just want to make sure. I don't want you to feel forced, or coerced, or manipulated into anything," he says.
I shake my head at him. "I'm not. This is what I truly want," I say.
He nods. "I don't ever want to force you into something you don't want. Not ever again," he says, his words quiet and drenched with regret.
"If at any time you decide you don't want this anymore, I will pardon you. And you should know that I'm not going to make you sign a life contract, either," James adds.
My jaw falls open in shock. "But our agreement," I start, letting my sentence fall.
James waves my words off. "To hell with our agreement. We made that the first day you were here," he replies, standing up and coming over to the bed. He sits down, his body turned towards me.
He takes my hand in both of his, turning it over and tenderly tracing his finger along the lines of my palm. The gesture sends tingles racing through me.
James lifts his gaze to mine. "I'm not that person anymore, Erin," he says softly. "Couldn't go back to being that person if I tried."
"I've changed. Because of you," he says, reaching out and tucking a strand of my damp hair behind my ear.
"I see everything differently now. Debtors... I see how badly all of you are treated, and I hate it," he says.
"In this world, there are good people who do the right things, and bad people who don't," he tells me, and I can hear all the confliction and self-hatred in his words.
"I want to be one of the good ones, Erin." He stares into my eyes for a long time before speaking again.
"Until I met you, I never had to think about other people's struggles. Never cared about them," he continues.
"All my life I've gotten what I wanted when I wanted it because I was born into this family. But that's not enough anymore. It's not enough to be a privileged rich kid anymore," he adds, pressing a kiss to my palm.
"Because I want something my status cannot give me."
"What is it that you want?" I ask him curiously.
He takes a deep breath. "I want to fight for fair treatment for debtors. Not just you; all of them."
Oh. Every word he speaks fills my heart up more.
"I was raised to treat debtors as less my whole life. By my mother, by my stepfather, all my relatives and friends. But that is no excuse. Cycles can be broken, but somebody has to have the courage to stand up and say 'enough'."
"I want to do better. I'm going to do better. For you," he adds, cupping my cheek in his hand. I rest my hand over his, tears welling in my eyes.
"I have real influence and power and wealth. It's time I started using those things for the right reasons."
He's so fired up about this.
If I wasn't so completely endeared by his words, it would be comical.
And so, I have discovered another hidden side to the mysterious James Harrington:
The Activist.
I guess I didn't have to talk to him after all. He figured it out on his own. My heart is so full that if he says anything more, I think it'll burst.
So I grab fistfuls of his t-shirt, pulling him into a kiss.
My bold gesture catches him by surprise and he throws his hand out to steady himself and prevent him from falling on top of me.
When I pull away, he's smiling. "I love you so much right now," I tell him, grinning from ear to ear, letting his shirt go.
He laughs, then quirks his eyebrows at me in confusion. "Just right now?" He challenges, folding his arms over his chest.
I tilt my head to the side, giving him a flirtatious shrug. "Opinions can change," I remark, teasing him with his own words from the Dalton's party back at the beginning of February.
James gives me that devilish smirk that sends my heart fluttering. "I thought your opinion of me was as solid as titanium?" He teases, throwing my words back at me too.
I laugh. "Yeah... well, shortly after coming here I discovered that titanium is actually a very bendy metal, so," I admit.
James chuckles. "So, you admit that opinions can change then?" He demands.
"For the right people," I reply, giving him a sheepish grin.
"Such as?" He asks me.
I give him a knowing smile. "Thank you," I tell him genuinely. He only smiles in response.
After a moment of silence, I decide to ask the one question that's on my mind.
"Since you said to hell with our agreement, now what?" I ask him. Our contract is technically legally binding.
James smirks, taking my hand in his. "Well, we accept that we are both deeply flawed people with fucked up pasts and we agree to love each other in spite of everything," he replies, only half joking.
"That sounds pretty good to me," I agree, wrapping my fingers around his.
Then, he gives me that absolutely wicked grin and before I realize what's happening, James pushes me back on the bed beneath him, pinning me down so I can't fight him.
Heat rushes through my core. God, I love when he takes advantage of me like that.
"But you're still my slave," he growls, his words dark and commanding as he leans in close. "Do you understand me?"
I bite back the moan lingering on the tip of my tongue.
"Yes, Master," I reply eagerly. "I'm your slave, always and forever."
James stares down at me for a long moment, lust burning in his eyes. "Good girl," he whispers, keeping me pinned down.
The knot in my stomach grows tighter, making it hard to think.
"There is one part of our agreement I am going to hold you to," he says sensually, his words dripping with devious intentions.
"But not until you're ready," he adds reassuringly.
I roll my eyes. He seems to have forgotten that I wanted that very same thing just this morning, before the whole mess of lies and deceit got in the way. God, what a strange day we've had.
I smile up at him, wanting nothing more than to be that close and intimate with him. I've wanted it for a while. I think we both have.
"I am ready," I tell him tenderly, giving myself to James Harrington completely.
A/N: Don't worry, I'm not going to jip you guys out of the chapter you've all (truly) been waiting for lol. But, I am going to need some time to make it just perfect! Also, I'm curious if anyone would care to weigh in: how graphic/dirty do you want the next chapter? Let me know!
Also, I am supposed to be going on vacation for a few days but there are some complications so we'll see if the trip happens or not. But it's going to take me a few days to get the next chapter up, so thank you in advance for your patience!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know I enjoyed writing it, though something tells me I'm going to enjoy writing the next one much, much more lol. Thank you for continuing to read His Slave! 🤍