My inheritance.
My world.
She wanted it so fiercely, it throbbed with every beat of her heart.
She was afraid I would cut her out again. Afraid I would ask more heinous things of her. Terrified that I’d once again put up my walls, sink back into snow, and fall under my father’s command.
Once upon a time, I would’ve. I would’ve reverted to what I knew because I’d been too chicken shit to believe I could be better.
But not this time.
Coming apart before her had changed me irrevocably. I hadn’t wanted to break. I’d tried to keep it together. But the moment she told me to leave; the second she said the part of her that loved me was dying—I’dfeltit.
I’d felt the ember of affection flickering its last breath. She told the truth. I tasted the end. And I shattered to have something so pure taken from me.
I knew what it was like to live alone. I knew what it was like to live with her loving me.
There was no comparison, no choice.
Not now.
And the honest to God truth was, she didn’t need to worry. I wouldneverhurt her again. I would spend the rest of my life ensuring I protected her like the fucking goddess she was. I would dedicate my days building a fortress, a shrine, an entire world for her, and it would all pale in relation to what she’d given me.
She was my number one.
Over everyone.
Even myself.
There was no turning back from this.
She is my salvation, my reason for existence, my queen.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Nila
“YOU’RE SURE YOU have to go?”
I looked down at my fingers, twisting, turning—never resting. We’d spent a blissful few hours together, but now the sun was at its zenith, and Jethro tensed with anxiety. I hadn’t asked why he slipped from sated to stressed, but I could guess.
If Daniel and Cut didn’t touch me last night, something had been done to protect me. And it was precarious.
“I don’t want to, but I have to.” His golden eyes glimmered with openness. After talking, we’d dozed in each other’s arms—perfectly content to let silence heal the wounds left behind by honesty.
I shuffled, digging my toes into the carpet. We stood by my door. I’d gone to escort him out, but in reality, I couldn’t stomach the thought of being away from him longer than a second. The connection we’d built throbbed with intensity.
I knew he had to leave to fabricate whatever tale Cut had to believe. I knew our very safety was at stake. But it was inconsequential when faced with saying goodbye.
“I’ll miss you.” My voice was sex-laden and a blatant invitation.Come back to bed, so I won’t have to miss you.
He sucked in a breath. His eyes flickered down the empty corridor behind him. He’d slipped back into his clothes from last night and the faint scents of cigar smoke and cognac clung to him. “Don’t tempt me, Nila...”
My nipples tingled. He was as reluctant to end this as I was. “I don’t want you to go.”
His lips parted as he leaned into me, planting his hand on the doorframe beside my head. “I don’t want to go, either.”
Sadness pinched. “Then don’t.”
