“I love you, Phoenix,” I whispered. “I love you, too.”
His lips crashed into mine with such force, suchneed, that my entire body went weak beneath the weight of it. The kiss was more than hunger—it was a vow, a claim. I knew in that moment—knew with bone-deep certainty—that nothing would ever be the same. This was the point of no return. The moment I stopped belonging to myself, and started belonging to him.
Phoenix Steele didn’taskfor a heart—hetookit. Fiercely. Entirely. And I gave it willingly.
I was his. Or no one’s.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
His fingers tangled in my hair, tilting my head, baring my throat like prey to a predator, and he kissed me again—harder, deeper—owning me with his mouth. His kiss wasn’tsweet. It was desperate. Wild. A consuming fire that promised everything. That dared me tofeelit all.
I fisted his shirt and twisted, pulling him closer, begging without words for more—more ofhim.
He got the message.
In a blur of motion, he tore my sweatshirt over my head, his rough hands searing a path down my ribs, then cupping my breasts with a reverence that made me gasp. He groaned—a deep, guttural sound that shot straight to my core—his thumbs brushing over my nipples until they were tight and aching. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel the slightest insecurity. Not under that gaze. Not with the way hetouchedme—like I was a gift. A reward.His.
The golden flicker of firelight danced across his face as he lowered me to the rug. My breath caught as I watched him, every muscle flexing with control he was barely holding onto. I was naked—fully, utterly bare—and I had never felt more wanted in my life.
He knelt between my legs like he was worshiping me.
Outside, the rain tapped gently against the windows, a rhythm in sync with the pulse thrumming between my thighs. His lips dragged along my jaw, down my throat, each kiss lower, slower, until his mouth closed over my breast and I cried out, clutching his shoulders, digging my nails into his skin. He gripped my thighs, yanked down my pajama bottoms in one rough motion, and threw them across the room.
I was completely exposed. To him. To the fire. To the moment.
And I loved it.
A giddy, breathless laugh escaped me as I looked up at him, this massive, brooding man who had every piece of me in his hands. There was no more hiding. No more fear.
There was only him.
Onlyus.
And as he kissed lower, spreading my thighs beneath him like a man starved, I knew my life would never, ever be the same.
He lifted his head from my chest and I watched him scan me from head to toe. He met my gaze, a small, cocky smile tugging at his own lips.
“You’re beautiful, Rose.”
I smiled, my heart skipping a beat.
Then a blaze across those blue irises. “And you’re mine.”
“Take me, then,” I whispered. “Show me. Show me what it’s like to be yours.”
His eyes twinkled—dark, hungry—before his face disappeared into my skin, trailing lower… and lower… and lower.
My pulse kicked like a drum beneath my ribs.
He grabbed the backs of my knees and pushed them up, folding me open for him, forthis.Lips pressed to the inside of my thigh, then my hipbone, then the soft, sensitive space between. I was trembling. Throbbing. Aching with anticipation. And he hadn’t even touched the most intimate part of me.
And then—God—he did.
Warm, wet lips sealed over me. His tongue parted me, slow and deliberate, sliding through my folds like silk over fire. My breath punched out of my lungs as my hands flew to his head, fingers diving into his hair and clutching—holding on for dear life.
My body melted into the floor.
Hedevouredme. Like I was his favorite thing in the world. Like he’d waited a lifetime for this moment and didn’t intend to waste a second of it.
