Soft, unspoken words of a love I wanted to earn, of emotions I’d spend the rest of my life trying to wring out of Cole one touch at a time…
“Fuck.” He surged up, nipping at my shoulder and collarbone, sucking on my skin and then groaning when he pulled back and realized he could leave marks. My free hand shifted, and I grabbed his hip, finally moving beneath him and catching his rhythm.
I was already so close—close when the sweat started to drip from his body, mingling with the water from his hair.
Close when he thrust back down against me and bit my chest, sucking hard enough to tear a cry from my throat and leave another mark.
Close when he finally rocked back, his head tilting and his eyes narrowing to slits. “Fuck… Sephtis.” His voice was ademand, and I knew I was going to give in before he even said it. “Let me feel you.”
I came with a low cry, thrusting into him harder as he dropped his hand to mine on his cock, fucking into both of our fists as he rode me through my orgasm so he could chase on its heels. I’d never felt anything so good—never thought I belonged anywhere the way I belonged here, caught up in the heat of him and dying in one sweet breath, from one heartbeat to the next.
He came on a cry, the hot spatter of his cum spilling over my chest as I filled him. Cole dropped so I was buried inside him to the hilt, and used our joined fingers to wring out the last bursts of pleasure that he painted my stomach and chest with. With one final roll of his hips, he shifted forward and collapsed against me.
The soft press of his smile against my throat was almost as sweet at the little aftershocks of pleasure still rippling through my body.
“You know,” he purred, tracing his lips over my pulse with a soft sigh. “I think I might get addicted to you showing me how you feel.”
I let out a contented hum, threading my fingers through his hair so I could lift his gaze to mine. His expression was sex drunk and exhausted—we’d been through so much, and it was finally over. It really was like today was the first day of our lives, the first day of forever.
“Cole?”
“Mmm." He turned his head, kissing my palm sweetly.
“I love you.”
His gaze softened. His fingers were gentle when he brought them up to trace my lips, the curve of my jaw, the sweep of my brow.
“I know I said you had to earn it, Sephtis… but can I tell you a secret?”
My heart picked up in my chest, and I didn’t know if it was his nerves or my own when I nodded. “Of course.”
He leaned in, pressing his lips to my ear to breathe in a husky voice. “I'm pretty sure you had it all along.”
Chapter 35
Cole
A sound wokeme the next morning. I’d been so lost in the feel of Sephtis’s warmth, the beat of his heart, the inhale and exhale of hisbreathing, that I’d fallen asleep.
Growling.
His stomach was growling.
My head lifted, and the smile that crossed my face was probably ridiculous. He looked sleep rumpled and confused—it was the first night he’dslept.
“You need to eat.”
Human. He washuman. For me. I’d spent so long thinking I wasn’t worth caring about… but he’d shown me I was wrong.
So wrong.
“I… suppose I do.” The smile that crossed his face was sweet, almost… innocent. “Are you going to feed me again?”
I pushed up from the bed and nodded, holding my hand out to help him up. “Yeah, come on.”
We pulled on pants and headed into his kitchen. I was rummaging in his cabinets when I heard the soft intake of Sephtis’s breath.
It wasn’t hard to track what he was staring at. When I saw it, the pan I was holding clattered to the counter, slipping from numb fingers.
