When she finished, the rose bloomed raw across my chest, jagged petals carved into my flesh. My blood stained her hand, and I smiled through the wreckage. Because now she could never pretend I wasn’t hers. This was evidence that she was my forever.
If death took me tomorrow, this would remain—the rose cut into my heart. Whether I meet my fate at her hands or another’s, it was a vow written in blood.
I belonged to her until the very end.
Chapter 66
CEZAR
Dorin’s hands worked steadily over my back, the alcohol biting through mangled flesh. I gritted my teeth because I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that it hurt like a bitch. Every muscle quivered with exhaustion.
Then she glided across the room, and I felt her intense gaze.
My Petal.
The one I trusted more than anyone.
She lingered in the doorway.
“Some of these lashes are deep,” Dorin muttered, winding the bandages around my ribs. “Don’t move too much. If the cuts reopen—”
“Then they reopen,” I snapped.
My eyes stayed on her.
When Dorin packed his supplies and left, I leaned against the headboard, shirtless and wrapped like a present, all for her. She didn’t move closer, just stared at me, contemplating.
Don’t hesitate, Petal. Take me. I’ll crawl if I have to.
“Come here,” I growled.
She stepped forward gradually. I closed a hand around her wrist before she could change her mind and pulled her between my thighs. Her gaze fixated on the rose carved into me.
“You shouldn’t…” she mumbled.
“I want this,” I murmured, guiding her hand up, pressing her palm flat to my throat. Could she feel it? That frantic, uneven thrum of my pulse begging beneath her fingers.
“Cezar…”
“I want it with you,” I breathed. “He took this from me. Every breath. Plastic bags over my head. Water forced down my throat until I thought I’d drown. He made air something I had to earn, made me pray for death.”
Her hand tensed, and I pushed harder into her grip, savoring the fear.
“But you…” My voice staggered, heat searing along my scars. “…if you take it from me, it’s because I asked you to. If you give it back, it’s because you chose to. I don’t want safety. I want you. I want to choke on you and know it was my choice. My life is yours to decide.”
The rose stung with every inhale. “With you, I want to be scared again. Because I know you’ll let me breathe.”
She has to. She’s the only one who ever can.
Her hand faltered. I smiled against her palm, dizzy with pain and desire. When her fingers tightened, my cock twitched against the bandages wrapped around my waist. A jolt ran through me. It should have hurt. Instead, it only left me wanting.
“More,” I begged, bursting at the seams. “Take it further, Petal. Until I can’t even choke on air.”
Her palm still pressed to my throat, I tilted my chin up, forcing more pressure. Offering myself as a sacrifice.
This should feel the same. The same panic. The same fire in my lungs. The same scatter of stars at the edge of my sight. It didn’t. Because it washerhand. Her fingers. Her power pinned me to the mattress.
The rush washed over me. My chest swelled, ribs screaming. “Do it,” I barked. “Take more.”
