I hold her close against me as our breathing slows, but the hunger between us is far from sated. She shifts against me, and I feel myself stirring again, my body already craving more of her.
"Ready for another round?" she whispers.
"Always," I reply, rolling us over so she's beneath me. "I'll never have enough of you, Nikki. Never."
I trail kisses down her throat, tasting the salt of her skin. "Do you know how beautiful you are?" I ask against her collarbone. "How perfect?"
She arches beneath me as I worship her with my mouth, my hands. Every inch of her deserves reverence, and I intend to give it every chance I get.
"You're mine now," I breathe against her breast. "Completely mine. And I'm going to spend every day for the rest of our lives showing you what that means. I'm going to worship this body. Every curve, every perfect inch. I'm going to learn every way to make you cry out my name."
I enter her slowly this time, watching her face, memorizing every expression of pleasure that crosses her features. The connection between us feels sacred.
"You feel like heaven. Like you were made only for me."
Her hands frame my face, forcing me to meet her eyes. "We were made for each other," she says. "Everything we went through was to bring us here to this moment."
I increase my pace, losing myself in her warmth, her love. She meets me thrust for thrust, her body perfectly in sync with mine.
"I love you," I tell her again between kisses.
"Forever," she promises, and I sense her climbing toward release again.
Afterward, we lie tangled together, her head on my chest, her fingers tracing scars on my chest.
"So, this is married life," she says with a contented sigh.
"This is only the beginning," I promise her. "We have a lifetime of nights like this ahead of us."
She lifts her head to look at me, her eyes bright with happiness and mischief. "Promise?"
"I promise to love you, to protect you, to worship you for the rest of my days," I say solemnly. All the things I wanted to say at the chapel and didn’t. "You're my heart now, Nikki. My life."
She smiles and settles back against me.
Outside, the stars have appeared over the villa, but inside our sanctuary, we've found our own piece of paradise.
CHAPTER 38
RAFE
Two days later…
We're in Paris for our honeymoon. Not a safehouse, not a secluded villa, but a penthouse high enough to see the Eiffel Tower.
My ring's heavy on my finger. A simple, masculine gold band that matches hers. A constant, comforting weight that reminds me of her, of us. A symbol of the unbreakable tether that now binds me to her, a tether I willingly embraced.
And Nikki? She's on my lap. We're sprawled on a plush velvet couch overlooking the city, the afternoon sun streaming through the panoramic windows. She's curled against me, her body a perfect fit against mine.
"Don't you have work to do?" she asks, her voice muffled against my shirt. She runs her fingers through my hair, a soft, soothing touch that relaxes me in ways I never thought possible.
"Don't you have followers to disappoint?" I counter, pressing my mouth to her bare thigh, just above the hem of her silk robe. The taste of her is sweet, intoxicating. I want to spend the rest of my life here, consuming her.
She laughs against my chest and I feel the vibration of her laughter. "I already posted the wedding reel. Remember? Theone from Florence? The secret chapel. The vows. The kiss. It broke the internet. We're trending. #Rikki is a brand now."
I groan like it physically pains me. The truth? I love it. I love the distraction she creates, the new narrative that shields us both. But I don't move. I just tighten my arm around her, pulling her closer, burying my face in her hair.
She kisses my forehead, her skin soft beneath my lips. And whispers the truth only I get to hear, the truth she's finally, truly, brave enough to speak aloud, without fear, without reservation.
