“Oh, God! Arranged marriage,” she chokes out.
I bite the spot where her neck meets her shoulder. I slide a finger inside her, wet and tight. “The dowry would be steep, Lexie. Because I’d accept nothing less than every inch of ye.”
The game continues, a train of confessions and pleasure which fogs the glass just like I promised. I unravel her until she’s a throbbing, dripping need in my arms. Sweat coats her curls to her cheeks. Anytime she thrust her hips back to rub my cock, I spanked her, turning her ass a lovely shade of red.
But I need to know. I need to break the last wall between us.
I slow my hand, letting the tension coil tight in the room.
“This is important now, Elexia Carter.” My voice drops to the low register of the grave. “I need to know your thoughts…your feelings…on thevirgintrope.”
She stiffens. In the mirror, I see the blood drain from her face. Tears well up in her eyes instantly, turning them into liquid glass.
“Liam,” she whispers, wistful emotion pouring through. “You know I’m not?—”
I cut her off. With one hand, I grip her jaw, forcing her head back, and crash my mouth onto hers. I don’t give her a chance to spiral. I pump three fingers inside her, hard and deep, claiming her moan in one strike.
I pull my lips back just an inch, my fingers still buried in her heat. “I didn’t meanyou, Lexie.”
Her expression shifts with raw emotion. She turns to stare at me in the reflection, her chest heaving. “L-Liam…you?”
“Disappointed?” I furrow my brows.
“No.”
I test her. Malice forms in my expression. Deepening my fingers, twisting my wrist, I harden my tone to ice. “Then why did you believeIwould be disappointed byyourlack thereof, Lexie?”
“I didn’t.”
I tighten my grip on her jaw. I add another finger, stretching her, steepling my spine until my muscles feel like granite against her back. I don’t believe her lie.
She whimpers, taking a few jagged breaths. “Sir…forgive me, please, for the unintentional implication. It was not a reflection of my perception of you. It was an expression of my loss and regret that I could not save that part of myself…for you. Liam.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. Cruel. Beautiful. Shattering.
I retrieve my fingers, stepping back just enough to scrub a hand down my face. “Fuck, Lexie. Fuckfuckfuck.” When will I stop underestimating her?
I spin her around. I don’t care about the mirror anymore. I trap her against the glass, boxing her in with my arms.
“Elexia Claire Carter,” I growl, seizing her throat, gentle. “You are my savior. My salvation. And therefore, you have saved everything that could ever matter to me.”
I kiss her then. Hard. Fierce. Desperate. I take her hand and guide it down, forcing her to cup my length through my trousers. I throb against her palm, heavy and aching.
Flushed and quivering, she tightens her hold. Christ, my balls draw up.
“The only lips that have ever touched this dick,” I rasp against her mouth, “have been theuppervariety…until that night in the library.”
Her swollen lips part. “You mean when I…?”
She trails off, her eyes flicking down before snapping back to mine.
I nod firmly. “God, Darlin’. When you pulled me closer until your entrance sucked me in…fuck, I knew I saw God that night. Except it was a Goddess. Feminine Divine made flesh. The same Goddess standin’ before me now.”
Pulse hammering, I lean my forehead against hers. “And this mortal husk of a man, with his dark past and his bloody hands…he knows he could only ever worship at one sacred church. The one right between these thighs.”
I cup her mound, feeling the heat radiate through her.
Tremors shudder her limbs. Cocking my head, I let a small, dangerous smirk curve my lips. “Well now, Luv. What do you think of the trope of worship?”
