He scowls. “I’d much rather be lounging with you, watching our shows.”
Our shows.
“Me too. This will be over soon.”
His next breath shudders, and he trails his hands up my side, fingers barely caressing. He reaches my back, comes around my shoulders, and stops to fiddle with the veil before his fingers link into my waves. He tilts my head up, controlling my every movement, my every breath.
“Second row, closest to the aisle. That’s where I’ll be. When you’re walking down the aisle, that’s where to find me.”
I would have found him no matter where he sat.
“Zeno—after he finishes walking you down the aisle—Vanessa, and Nero will be in the front row,” he adds. “Anastasia and I, along with Dimitri and Katya, claimed the second row behind them. Do you have everything you need?”
“Three knives, one on each thigh, one on my hip. Vanessa gave me the drugs. They’re in my bodice.”
His eyes dip to the crevice. “Don’t miss, Fina. I swear to fuck, if anything happens to you, I’ll slaughter him myself, consequences be damned.”
“I’ll be fine.” Hopefully, that’s the truth.
Our limited time remaining taunts me with the truth also swelling within me, right alongsidethatemotion I think I’ve known for a while. If, for any reason, tonight goes badly, he has to know.
“Lev—” I swallow, dabbing my bottom lip and reaching for his hands, for something to hold. “Lev, I have to admit something. Something you should know before the wedding begins. I lo?—”
His hand presses against my mouth. He shakes his head, a touch of a smile gracing his frown. “Don’t say it. Youcan’t. If you do, you won’t leave this room. I’ll kidnap you, hide you, protect you from this. And we can’t do that to our families, so please don’t put this on me.”
“Maybe you should,” I whisper. “End this another way. Maybe I’ve been a hopeful idiot.”
“Believe me, I wish I had.” He grasps the side of my face and slashes his mouth against mine, tilting my head as he walks me backwards, hitting the wall. He pins my hands against the wall, limiting how much he touches while robbing me of the same ability.
He breaks away from my mouth and, with a playful wink, drops to his knees, lifting my dress and tossing the massive skirtover himself as he ducks beneath. I watch us in the mirror right before the room fades, the promise of pleasure shutting my eyes.
His touch trails up each thigh, where he checks the holsters. He dips between my thighs and lifts one over his shoulder before sliding aside the lace Alessio insisted I wear, sinking his tongue deep inside.
“Lev—” I bite the edge of my hand, ensuring my moan doesn’t carry out of this room. What we’re doing is unholy—according to the priest out there, anyway—but fuck, if his mouth isn’t taking me to Heaven.
“Watch us,” he orders. “Open your eyes and watch us in the mirror. Watch yourself come, Fina. This is what I want you to remember. This is your reason to return to me.”
As though I needed another. His tongue sinks back inside, and my eyes open to obey his command. The woman in the mirror lookshappy, all things considered. Not because of the man whose ring she wears, but because of the one on his knees.
His tongue skirts around my clit once, twice, and pleasure uncoils inside me. It’s appropriate that the silk Alessio bought as part of my wedding attire will be wet after this, from actions by another man.
The pleasure, the heat, it keeps building and building until exploding and keeping my eyes open isn’t possible.Sanityisn’t possible as the orgasm bonds me to him in yet another way. Recalling where we are, I muffle my moan by biting my hand again.
When my lungs function once more, he ducks from beneath my skirt but stays on his knees, peering up at me. His lips are wet, and his tongue traces his bottom lip. “Fucking divine.”
I want him to fuck me, to ensure that when I walk towardhim, it’s with another man’s cum dripping down my leg. A silentfuck youto Alessio for trying to rob me of this.
But the door opens, and Anastasia pokes her head in, hand clamped over her eyes. “Hey, um, please tell me it’s safe. You should know that Zeno looks seconds away from coming to collect you, so you two may wanna wrap this up.”
Lev gets to his feet and smooths my curls and fixes my skirt. He takes my hand—my right hand, the one without the ring—and presses his lips to my knuckles. “Until next time,printessa.Your lipstick is slightly smudged. I’ll get you something for it.”
“Leave it. Let him assume what he wants. I don’t care.”
“Two minutes,” Anastasia singsongs from the door, earning an acknowledging grunt from Lev as he crosses the room, only to stop in the doorway.
Gripping the edges of the door, he glances back. “That thing you started to tell me earlier… Me too, Fina. Me fucking too.”
Then, he leaves, and Anastasia’s glancing between us, but I’m stuck on the fact he admitted his feelings, something I know to behugefor Lev.
