As we step back into the living room, Serena spots the t-shirt I left draped on an armchair before I started working out.
She grabs it.“May I?”
“Of course.”
She pulls it over her head, and it hits mid-thigh, and my cock stirs back to life.The sight of her in my clothes does something to my chest.It warms me all over.And all I want to do now is take the damn t-shirt off her perfect body and fuck her again and again.
The golden logo ofMuse of Darknessshimmers on her chest as she moves.We pass by a mirror on the wall, and she glances at the reflection, noticing the effect.“I like this logo,” she grins at me.
I smile back.“Me too.”
“This is Nick’s band, right?”
I nod, winking.“The black sheep of the family, aka the rockstar.”We laugh.“He gave it to me the last time they played in Boston.”
As we continue down the hall toward our bedroom, Serena’s hand is warm in mine, her skin still flushed, her breathing still uneven.I don’t want to let her go.Not even to sleep.
The master bedroom is done in different shades of white and gray, all modern lines and floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the city and the harbor.The massive California king-size bed dominates the space.The soft gray Egyptian cotton sheets shine under the amber lights.Serena tugs me toward it, and I don’t resist.I never would.
“Come on,” she murmurs, crawling into the center of the mattress and pulling back the duvet.“We need to get some sleep.”
She’s right.It’s past midnight.My body is exhausted in that delicious, bone-deep way that comes from good sex.But I’m not ready to stop looking at her.
I slide in beside her.She immediately turns toward me, her head finding the hollow of my shoulder, her arm draping across my chest.Her fingers trace lazy circles over my ribs, and I pull her closer, breathing in the vanilla and sex and something uniquely Serena that’s become my favorite scent.
“Shelby,” she whispers into the darkness.
“Yeah,álainn?”
“Don’t run.”
I press a kiss to the top of her head.“I’m not going anywhere.”
It’s a promise I mean with everything I have.For the first time in weeks, I believe I might be able to keep it.
She falls asleep like that, curled into me, her breathing evening out within minutes.I stay awake a while longer, listening to her heartbeat sync with mine, feeling the weight of her against my side.This.This is what people kill for.What they die for.What they’re willing to lose their own life over while protecting.
To my surprise, the realization doesn’t terrify me.
Instead, it feels like coming home.
I’m finally where I was always meant to be.
And I intend to stay here forever.No matter what.
The warehouse smells like rust and desperation, making my skin crawl.
I’m in Moscow.Not the penthouse.Not in bed with Serena.I’m back in that godforsaken warehouse where things went deadly wrong, and my body knows it even as my mind fights the dream logic.
Nikolai is beside me, his Bratva operatives spreading out with mechanical precision.I can hear the echo of my own heartbeat in my ears, like it’s trying to hammer its way out of my chest.
Move,Nikolai’s voice sounds beside me and crackles through comms at the same time.
Weird dream reality.
But I can’t move.Won’t.Something in my gut is screaming wrong, wrong, WRONG, and I’m frozen in place, watching the breach team approach the door.
Then I see her.
