He didn't wait for me to finish. His pace increased, his thrusts growing deeper, more forceful. The sound of flesh against flesh filled the room, punctuated by my moans and his grunts of pleasure.
He shifted his angle, and suddenly, he was hitting a spot inside me that made everything go white. I screamed, my nails raking down his back, and felt him shudder in response.
"Yes," he said through gritted teeth. "Just like that. Let me hear you."
I couldn't have been quiet if I'd tried. Every thrust pushed a sound from my throat—gasps, moans, his name repeated like a prayer. The tension was building again, impossibly, a second peak rising even higher than the first.
"I'm close," I managed. "I'm so close—"
"Come for me." His hand slipped between us, finding my clit, rubbing in tight circles that matched his thrusts. "Come with me."
The orgasm hit us simultaneously. I felt him pulse inside me as my own release crested, both of us crying out, both of us clinging to each other as the pleasure crashed through us in waves.
He collapsed beside me, pulling me into his arms, both of us breathing hard. I could feel his heart hammering against my back, keeping time with my own.
"That was—" I started.
"Yeah."
"I was going to say intense."
"I was going to say necessary." He pressed a kiss to my shoulder. "I needed that. Needed you."
I turned in his arms to face him. His hair was disheveled, his eyes soft in the afterglow, his expression more open than I'd ever seen it.
"I needed you too," I admitted.
We lay there in the darkness, tangled together, neither of us speaking. Outside, the city hummed with its endless energy. Somewhere out there, our enemies were planning, waiting, circling.
But here, in this bed, with this man, I felt something I hadn't felt in years. Maybe ever.
Safe. Wanted. Home.
"Rodion?" I said quietly.
"Hmm?"
"Kirill's operation. The one against Cormac. When is it happening?"
He was silent for a moment. "Two days."
"Is it dangerous?"
"Yes."
"Will you be involved?"
"Not directly. Kirill and Demyan are handling it. But—" He paused. "Things could go wrong. They could retaliate. The Petrovics might see it as an opportunity."
I pressed closer to him, my hand resting on his chest. "Then let's not waste whatever time we have."
He pulled me tighter, his chin resting on top of my head. "We won't."
I closed my eyes and let myself drift, his heartbeat steady beneath my palm.
Two days until the operation. Two days until everything changed again.
I didn't know what was coming. But I knew one thing for certain: whatever it was, I wasn't facing it alone.
