Warmth flooded into the hollow places inside me—the ones I'd stopped believing anything could reach. Jagged edges finally finding where they fit.
His hot breath tickled my skin as he planted slow, deliberate kisses down the curve of my throat, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.
I slid my fingers between his legs, feeling the weight and warmth there, and a moan escaped my lips. “ And you’re mine, Darius Acosta—the Mad Hatter.”
He arched his back, muscles tensing beneath bronze skin as he joined our bodies in one fluid motion. I gasped, frozen by the sharp sensation that radiated through me.
But I followed his lead. The heat of his palms branded my hips as flesh slid against flesh, slick and wet in the flickering torchlight.
He claimed me with a branding kiss that I answered in return.
I gripped his shoulders tight as he rode me hard, a wild ride. Our hips rocked into a frenzy—fast and furious—as if desperate, desperate to mark each other. A stream of pleasure crashed over me with each movement.
I cried out, “Harder.”
He thrashed his hips forward with renewed intensity, his muscled thighs tensing against mine. His cock plunged deeper with each thrust, the ridge of him dragging against that perfect spot inside me. White spots bloomed in my vision like stars being born, and my fingers clawed at his slick back. The orgasm built from somewhere deep and primal before gripping me entirely—a pleasure so intense it bordered on pain, shattering me to the core and leaving me gasping his name into the hollow of his neck.
Darius slammed his hips harder against mine, his muscled body glistening with sweat in the dim light. “I claim you as mine,” he growled. His release came in hot pulses as he collapsed onto me, his weight a delicious pressure, his hips still moving in shallow, involuntary thrusts against my trembling thighs.
Tears burned behind my eyes. Not from pain—from the unbearable rightness of it. He was mine. I was his. After a lifetime of belonging nowhere, I finally had somewhere to be.
I wrapped my legs around him, feeling the hard planes of his hips under my calves, my fingers digging into the taut muscles of his back. “And you belong to me,” I whispered against his ear, tasting salt on his skin before capturing his mouth in a deep, languid kiss that spoke of possession and promise.
Every inch of me tingled from my scalp to my toes, like champagne bubbles fizzing under my skin. His stubble branded my neck, my collarbone, the tender hollow between my breasts—rough velvet that left a trail of pink where he’d been. No one had ever cherished me like Darius, whose touch made me feel like a treasure discovered after years of searching. This was the belonging I’d always craved, now mine to hold.
I vaguely thought about Grump and the others walking in on us—the open cavern with its jagged stone walls and echoing ceiling offering no real privacy. But I was tangled in his arms, my fingers tracing the scar on his shoulder, his breath warm against my neck. And for the first time in my life, I was drowning in love—not the timid, hesitant kind, but the overwhelming, breathless sort that makes your heart pound so loudly you’re certain everyone can hear it.
Darius lifted his head, his silver eyes soft. “I love you, Alice.”
My heart forgot how to beat. Three words. Just three small words, and they undid me more completely than anything his body had done.
“And I love you,” I whispered.
I opened my mouth to say more, but he pressed a finger to my lips.
He shook his head, his body going rigid. “Someone’s coming.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Darius
Footsteps approached outside. Muffled voices. My pulse spiked. Back so soon?
Alice. I was already moving. I rolled out of bed and snatched up the blanket, holding it up so she could dress. I didn’t give a damn about my own nakedness—but Grump would have my head if he walked in and saw his daughter like this.
“Oh no.” Alice’s voice was barely a whisper.
The cavern door ground open—then stopped. Frozen mid-swing.
I spun around. Alice stood with her palm outstretched, trembling violently. Her face had gone from flushed to pale in seconds, beads of sweat forming at her temples. The bracelet on her wrist glowed faintly, the medallion pulsing with heat.
“Alice—”
“Get dressed,” she gasped. “Hurry.”
I grabbed my pants and yanked them on, shooting a glance toward the cavern door before my eyes snapped back to Alice. She was shaking so hard her teeth chattered. The hand holding the magic aloft wavered, dipping slightly before she forced it back up.
She’d barely recovered from saving the harpy. This was costing her everything she had left.
