“How they treated you. What you had to stand there and endure.”
A wide grin spread across his face. “It was fucking awesome.”
“It… what?”
“Yeah. Holy shit, I knew you had some sort of Machiavellian plan coming into all this, but what you put out there was way beyond what I even imagined. And you fucking annihilated them.” He licked his lips, which had my cock thickening, a jolt of potent need rolling through me. “All the stuff you put in place is beyond impressive, then… then calling for that special vote.Andthe way you did it…fuck me.”
“That’s certainly an interesting take.” I shifted my weight. “But what about their dismissiveness toward you, their—”
“Oh, that just rolled right off me. After the first time. Because they don’t actually see people as people, do they? That’s their deal? So once I realized that, it had no effect on me.”
“That’s… highly impressive.”
“I guess.” He beamed at me. “By the way, I like you calling me that new nickname.”
“Darling little Ifrit?”
“That’s the one. Fucking love it.”
“Mmm, then I’ll be sure to speak it often going forward.”
“Do you still like yours?Insanely intoxicating, mouthwatering snake prince.I mean, I know it’s a mouthful, but you enjoy a good mouthful as much as me, right?”
A growl rumbled in my throat, that need intensifying, especially now he’d painted such a vivid erotic picture.
But there was something… first I needed to…
I eased back, because the continued physical contact wasn’t exactly making it easy to focus, to think straight.
And I needed to for this.
“Zayn, I… I considered telling you on the way here but I…” I cleared my throat. “The thing is—”
“You love me, huh?”
I jolted. “What?”
“That’s what you were gonna say, isn’t it?”
“It—wow. Can I actually utter the words?”
He bounced on the balls of his feet. “Yeah. Yeah, you absolutely can. Say them, please. Say them, Vax.”
He was truly adorable.
We’d certainly come a very long way.
I leaned in and breathed at his ear, “I. Love. You.”
“Loveme. You really love me.”
“Yes, that I do, my darling little Ifrit.”
His eyes sparkled at me. “I loveyou.Big time, Vax.”
He threw his arms around me, holding me to him so very tightly, breathing me in, feeling me against him, and reveling in it just as much as I was.
After a few moments of savoring it, he eased back and said, “I wasn’t gonna do this… say this… have this exchange. I stopped myself with Evira, because I thought it would be tainted by all this awfulness happening right now.”
