Everything had been stripped from me. My titles, comforts, freedom, and nearly my life, all to be restored ten-fold, then stripped away again.
But here, tangled up in the weight of Dommik’s muscled limbs, I didn’t feel like I needed much else. The only title I wanted was to be his. And I would choose him every day, if he would have me too.
“We have to leave soon?” I whispered against his lips.
His stubble tickled my chin and cheeks as he nodded softly.
“What’s next for us?” I asked, lifting my gaze to meet his.
“Resettle. Rebuild,” he said through a heavy exhale.
“They’ll follow you,” I said, brushing a strand of dark hair from his forehead.
“And I’ll come back for you,” he said, and my heart threatened to crack in half. We hadn’t talked about a plan, but one had already been decided on. And it didn’t include me.
My muscles tightened beneath his embrace, but before I could retreat entirely, he explained, “Reyva. Wait. I’m not going to abandon you.”
“Then tell me what you mean,” I pleaded softly as my vision blurred.
Dommik’s hands captured my cheeks and he pressed a long, deep kiss to my lips.
“Feel that? That is what I want with you forever. Hear me, Reyva? I want forever with you.”
“But—”
“But we can’t have that if Eryx gets what he wants.”
I sniffled and wiped an eye as the pieces started to come together.
“There are things I have to do so we can have that future.”
I nodded, still not understanding what he meant, but I knew why he felt he needed to do it.
“I want forever with you too,” I whispered. Frantically memorizing every detail of his painfully handsome face. “I want…I want to be bound to you.”
His stormy eyes flicked between mine, searching for any sign of hesitation or doubt. “Reyva. That is no small thing.”
“I know. I’ve spent months thinking about it. I was scared then. I’m not scared now.” I bit my lip and smiled through my tears. “I’ve never been more sure.”
“Reyva.” His hand traced my face and his tone carried measured hesitation.
“I’m sure,” I repeated, silencing him. “I want forever, too.”
We collided, melting into each other like two burning candles.
“Take off my clothes,” I whispered into his mouth, not wanting to wait another second to feel him inside of me.
His fingertips set to work undoing the excessive amount of buttons on my nightgown.
I let out a satisfied exhale as he kissed each new inch of exposed skin. The cold basement air washed over my naked body.
His eyes followed his hand as it traveled from my knee, to my thigh,across my navel, and up between my breasts until it met my chin. I imagined the color of his traces drawn across my skin and relished in the idea of being marked by him.
I moaned as his lips roamed over a peaked nipple and his hand descended to the wet center of me.
He growled in satisfaction at what he found there.
Piece by piece, he explored and claimed me until I thought I was going to shatter from the torturous pleasure.
