Her heart twisted. “You ended her suffering.”
“Some would not see it that way.”
“I am not some.” Her gaze dropped to his hands, still gloved. “Isthat why you keep your hands covered?”
“They have her death on them.”
“They have mercy on them,” she countered. She placed the ribbon back inside. “You are a good man.”
He arched a brow. “As good as a monster can be?”
“If you’re a monster, then I’m the daft girl who keeps wandering into your lair.”
His mouth twitched. “Not daft. Brave.”
“Brave enough to love a monster? Does that make me one, then? I don’t believe that. You’re not a monster, Maxen. A beast perhaps. My beast. My Beast in Brighton.”
He pushed back from the door, and with slow, deliberate steps, he closed the distance between them until nothing remained between them but clothes.
He kissed her, softly at first, testing, then deeper, his fingers weaving in her hair as if it were their most beloved place. He pulled away slightly. “I love you.”
Stars, the man knew how to stun a woman senseless! “I love you, too.”
“You can’t just say it,” he pressed, eyes burrowing into hers. “I’m not a man who lets things go. I can’t bear to lose you.”
“Fortunately, I’m not a thing. And you won’t lose me. Ever.”
His smile was slow in coming. But when it came, it stole her breath.
And her knees.
And her sanity.
Maxen reached out, brushing his knuckles against her cheek. “You’ve no idea how dangerous you are to me.”
“Likewise.” She suddenly chuckled. “So, I belong to myself, heh? You don’t own me?” She wouldn’t mind being owned every second by this man.
He nodded. “I don’t own you, love, but you very much own me.”
“Such a silver tongue! Kiss me again, this time...” she grinned, “just a little longer.”
He kissed her again, and while this was certainly not the first time, he’d never kissed her with the whole of himself pressed into the space between them like their souls were merging, never with every vow he’d never dared speak sliding from his mouth to hers.
He picked her up and carried her to bed.
A laugh tumbled from her throat. “It is broad daylight, Maxen! Entirely scandalous.”
He laid her down, covering her with his body. “I’ve found myself rather partial to daylight recently.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks, though her heart throbbed sweetly. Once, she had loathed darkness. Now—even in the blaze of noon—she felt safe in the shadows he cast. She realized something she had never thought possible.
Calliope loved the night.
*
Maxen stood withhis palms braced upon the counter in Calliope’s shop, sleeves rolled, jaw unshaven, some candles lit to give some light. casting enough light over his brothers who gathered around, every single one of them restless. Upstairs, Calliope was sleeping, Prince had joined him downstairs.
“Only you would simply move in with a woman in such a fashion,frère,” Reaper said.
