"I know this is stupid. I know we agreed to be careful. But I couldn't stay away." His hands cupped my face. "I needed to see you. Touch you. Make sure you're real and not some dream I've been having."
"Kai, if we get caught—"
"We won't. I checked. My father took sleeping pills. He's out until morning. Luca is doing perimeter checks. We have time."
His mouth found mine. Hot. Desperate. Hungry.
I opened for him immediately. My hands fisted in his hair, pulling him closer. His tongue swept past my lips, claiming every inch, making sure I knew exactly who I belonged to.
We stumbled toward the bed. He lifted me easily, laying me down gently despite the urgency burning between us.
His hands found the hem of my nightgown, sliding it up slowly. His mouth followed the path his hands traced. My stomach. My ribs. The valley between my breasts.
"I love you." His voice was rough. Raw. "God, I love you so much it's killing me."
"Show me." My hands pulled at his sweatpants. "Show me how much."
What happened next was both gentle and fierce. He took his time, worshipping every inch of skin, making sure I feltcherished. But there was desperation underneath. The knowledge that this might be our last chance for a while.
His hands explored familiar territory like he was memorizing every curve. His mouth followed, placing hot contact on skin that trembled under his attention.
When he finally entered me, we both gasped. Held still for a moment, just feeling the connection. The rightness of it.
Then he moved. Slow at first, then faster. Building rhythm that had me gasping his name. His hand covered my mouth, muffling the sounds that wanted to escape.
"I love you." He repeated it like a prayer. "I love you. I love you. You're mine. Always mine."
I couldn't respond verbally. But I showed him with every movement, every touch, every way my body responded to his.
This was love. Complicated and messy and desperate. Nothing like the romance novels. Everything infinitely better.
After, he held me. Our bodies tangled together, sweat cooling on skin, hearts gradually slowing to normal rhythm.
"I'm going to save us." His fingers traced patterns on my back. "I'm going to gather the evidence. Get Father Benedetto on board. Bring charges to the Council. And we're going to be free. You have to believe that."
"I do." I pressed closer. "I have to believe it. Otherwise, what's the point of any of this?"
"Exactly." He tilted my face up. "Five weeks. That's all we need to endure. Five weeks and then everything changes."
I wanted to believe him. Desperately wanted to think that in five weeks, we'd be together. That his plan would work. That somehow, impossibly, we'd get our happy ending.
But lying there in his arms, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were running out of time. That the clock was ticking faster than we could move. That five weeks might as well be five minutes.
I pushed the thoughts away. Focused on the present. On the way he held me. On the steady beat of his heart under my ear. On the warmth of his skin against mine.
This moment was real. This was ours. And whatever came next, we'd face it together.
Even if that meant walking straight into hell.
As long as we were together, I could survive anything.
At least, that's what I told myself as I drifted off to sleep in his arms, knowing that when morning came, we'd have to pretend this night never happened.
Knowing that in less than a week, I'd be living in Salvatore's wing. Under his control. Playing a role that got harder every single day.
Five weeks until the wedding.
Five weeks to save ourselves.
