He’s quiet for a moment, his thumbs brushing away the tears on my cheeks.
“I’m scared,” I whisper.
“Of what?”
“That this isn’t real. That I’m going to wake up in that house, and I’ll still be expected to kill you, and none of this will have happened.”
“It’s real.” His voice is fierce. “We’re real. And I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“I promise, doe. You’re stuck with me now. For better or worse.”
A smile spreads over my lips despite my tears. “I’m so happy to hear that.”
“Good.” He starts working on the buttons at the back of my dress, his fingers deft despite his healing hands. “Because I plan to remind you you’re mine. Every single day, for the rest of our lives.”
The dress pools around me, leaving me in nothing but white lace lingerie and my wedding jewelry.
I reach up and start unbuttoning his shirt, my fingers steadier now. He helps me push the shirt off his shoulders, and I trace the faded bruises on his ribs, his jaw, the still-healing marks from Dashamir’s torture. The evidence of everything we survived to get here.
“I can’t believe we made it,” I whisper, my fingers tracing the ink on his chest. “I can’t believe we’re really here.”
“I can. You’re stuck with a killer who’s obsessed with you, doe. And I don’t share.”
He lays me down on the silk sheets, and I look up at him, my beautiful, dangerous man.
“No one’s taking you away from me.” He settles over me, his weight warm and solid and real. “You’re mine, Adora. Always and forever.”
I pull him down into a kiss, pouring everything I can’t say into it. All my fear and hope and desperate need for this to be real.
He kisses me back with matching intensity, his hands sliding into my hair, down my throat, tracing the line of my collarbone.
“I need you,” I whisper against his mouth. “We said we would wait until we were ready. I’m ready. I want you now. Do you want me?”
“Want you?” His voice drops to something dark and possessive. “Doe, I’ve wanted you since the moment you walked into that laundromat. I’ve wanted you every second since.”
Heat floods through me. “Then make me yours.”
His mouth moves to my neck, teeth grazing the sensitive skin there. “First, I’m going to unwrap you like the gift you are.”
His hands slide around to my back, fingers deft on the clasp of my bra. The lace falls away, and cool air hits my heated skin. He pulls back just enough to look at me, and the hunger in his expression makes my stomach flip.
“Beautiful,” he breathes. His mouth closes over my nipple, and the sensation shoots straight through me, a direct line from my breast to the ache between my legs. I thread my fingers into his hair, holding him there, and he takes his time. He sucks hard enough that I feel it everywhere, then soothes me with his tongue. His teeth scrape over the sensitive peak, and I gasp. He releases it with a wet pop, and I can see it’s darker now, swollen from his attention.
When he finally releases me, I’m panting.
“These need to come off.” His fingers hook in the waistband of my panties. “Lift your hips. Good girl. Now spread your legs for me. Wider.”
I obey, my face burning. “That’s it. Let me see what’s mine.”
He slides them down torturously slow, and when I’m completely bare, he doesn’t just look, he stares like he’s memorizing every inch.
“Fuck, Adora. Look at you.” His hand grips my thigh, pushing it open further. “Your pussy is glistening and pink and perfect. I’m going to ruin you for anyone else.”
“There won’t be anyone else.”
“Damn right there won’t be. If you even look at another man, I’ll kill him.”
