“Xivin.” He moved inside me with his face above mine, breathing with me, eyes locked on mine with the same intimacy we shared whenever we stared at each other. He started to thrust harder and faster, our bodies desperate for each other when our hearts wanted it to last forever.
“Callum, I love you.”
He moaned when he heard me bow to him. “I love you, Lily.”
I grabbed on to his hip and tugged him into me, wanting more of him than I could handle, wanting his heart and his soul inside my ribs. No matter how close our bodies and our minds were, I couldn’t get him close enough.
So we rocked into each other, our lovemaking looking harsh and rough like it was fucking instead. But we couldn’t control our desire for each other’s flesh, couldn’t dull the high fromthe reunion of our hearts. Our bodies smashed together, and we moaned and ached as we continued to demand more from each other, more than either of us could give.
I slept on and off through the rest of the night, and every time I opened my eyes, he was there, his enormous mass keeping me warm under the sheets, his hair messy from where I fingered it, absolutely breathtaking.
I tried to keep my eyes open to watch him, but the tendrils of exhaustion closed them against my will. I grabbed on to him a little harder, as if someone would take him away while my guard was down.
I woke up sometime later, feeling his kiss brush my shoulder before the bed shifted at his exit. Inexplicable panic struck me when I felt him leave, like he was leaving me for good rather than using the bathroom or getting a glass of water. But I lay there, frozen in exhaustion, and seemed to fall back asleep for a while before I stirred once again.
Callum wasn’t there. “Callum?” My quiet voice came out croaky and raspy.
His voice sounded from the other room. “Everything’s okay,Xivin.” He knew me so well that he could recognize my distress with just one word.
I left the warmth of the bed and put on the shirt that he’d left behind when he’d moved out of my villa. It didn’t smell like him anymore, not when it’d been stuffed in my drawer where I couldn’t see it…only think about it.
I walked into the dining room and found him sitting there, an empty plate in front of him that only had crumbs left behind. There was also a mug of coffee on the table, like he’d brewed some himself with what he found in my kitchen.
The sight of him shirtless with rested but tired eyes immediately dispelled my anxiety. I was so grateful that he was there, that he was sharing my space with me again, looking at me like I was still his whole world.
I came around the table and wrapped my arms around his neck to kiss him, tasting the coffee in his mouth, smelling his scent as it rubbed all over me.
His hand automatically slid up my thigh and underneath the shirt to my ass before he slid it farther up my back. “Sit. I’ll make you something to eat.” He rose to his feet and then immediately towered over me, a behemoth compared to when he was seated. He headed into the kitchen and returned to the pan on the stove.
I took the seat across from him and listened to him work in the kitchen, listened to the sizzle of the pan and the crack of the egg. I rubbed my eyes as I slowly started to wake up, living in a dream when reality was a nightmare at the moment.
Minutes later, he came out and placed the mug of coffee and the plate of eggs and toast in front of me before he returned to his seat.
“I’m still not used to being hungry all the time,” he said. “I eat six meals a day, and I’m still hungry.”
I had some of the eggs and a bite of toast slathered withbutter, slowly coming awake as the food nourished my body. “We’ll be making a lot of trips to the market.”
“And I’ll need to sell a lot of wine to pay for all of it.”
I knew we were getting ahead of ourselves here, planning for a future we might never have, not when we might both die or be trapped in the underworld forever. But it was fun to pretend, to think about the beautiful life we would have together. “You don’t need to work there anymore, Callum.”
“I need to earn a living.”
“You’ll be Prince of the Southern Isles.”
Now that we were together, that permanent depression had been chiseled away from his sternness. Even a hint of a smile came through. “You’ll be princess and one day queen. I’ll be your husband and your guard—and nothing more.”
“I just mean we can earn our living with royal duties.”
“I will not accept payment for protecting you, and I will not take a handout from anyone—especially not my wife.”
“It’s not a handout.”
“I will always earn my own living, and that’s not up for debate.” He said it with authority but not anger, looking at me like I was still the sun in his sky.
I decided to respect his wishes and let it go. “Alright.”
Once I caved, he relaxed noticeably, resting one arm over the back of the chair next to him, a large man who took up a lot of space. And he was my man, all mine, for as long as I lived…even if I only lived a short while.
