“You’re beautiful,” I tell her, voice rough with need. “Perfect.”
She reaches for me, fingers fumbling with my belt, and I help her, shedding the rest of my clothes until there’s nothing between us but air and intention.
When I settle between her thighs, the heat of her against me makes us both groan. I want to take my time, worship her the way she deserves, but I don’t know how long we have before the world intrudes again. Before we have to move, to run, to fight whatever’s coming next.
She’s slick and ready, and when I slide one finger through her wetness, testing, she bucks against my hand with a broken sound.
“Inside me,” she demands, nails digging into my shoulders. “Now, Thane. Please.”
I position myself at her entrance, the head of my cock pressing against her, and pause one last time. “Look at me.”
Her eyes find mine, hazy with desire but clear enough that I can see the truth in them.
“I’m yours,” she says simply. “Always have been.”
The words hit like lightning. After everything—the distance I kept, the corruption I couldn’t explain, the year she spent trapped while I searched—she’s still mine. Still choosing me.
I push inside slowly, giving her body time to adjust, and the feel of her—tight and hot and perfect—makes stars burst behind my eyes. She gasps, then meets my gaze and nods, drawing me deeper with the leg still hooked around my hip.
“Move,” she breathes. “Please.”
I do. Starting slow, letting her body adjust, but she’s having none of it.
A quiet laugh escapes me—the first time we did this, I led and she followed, uncertain but trusting. Now she knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid to demand it.
She rocks against me, urging me faster, deeper; I follow her lead—driving into her with steady, powerful thrusts that make her cry out with each one.
Her hands roam, anchoring me until there’s no space left between us. Our bodies move together, finding a rhythm that feels inevitable, like we’ve returned to something we’d only begun to discover.
I can feel her tightening around me, her breathing becoming more erratic, her moans pitched higher, and I reach between us to circle her clit with my thumb. The additional stimulation makes her keen, her entire body going rigid for a heartbeat before she shatters.
She comes with my name on her lips, her body clenching around me in waves that push me right over the edge with her. I bury my face in her neck, breathing in her scent as my own release crashes through me, leaving me trembling and emptied and more satisfied than I’ve been since the first time we were together.
The air tastes different—lighter, like the world’s been reset.
We stay like that for a long moment—both of us breathing hard, bodies still joined, hearts racing in tandem.
Finally, I pull back just enough to look at her. Her eyes are soft, sated, and when she smiles up at me it’s small and real and utterly devastating.
“Then we start from here,” she whispers.
I nod, pressing my forehead to hers.
The quiet that follows isn’t emptiness; it’s the sound of everything we stopped running from.
Footsteps echo in the hallway outside—distant but deliberate enough to pull my attention toward the door. My instincts flare, protective and sharp even in the aftermath.
But I don’t pull away from her. Don’t move except to shift us both so I can tuck her against my side, her head on my chest, my arm wrapped securely around her.
The world can wait a little longer.
Chapter 26
Seth
The bar smells like coffee and burnt toast when I make it downstairs. Light cuts through the dusty blinds, catching on the bottles stacked behind the counter. It’s quiet enough to hear the clock on the wall ticking.
Zira’s behind the counter flipping something in a pan, humming under her breath. Steam rises from a pot of coffee that smells strong enough to wake the dead.
