The sound he makes is gratifying. A groan that seems to comefrom somewhere deep in his chest. His hands fist in the sheets, knuckles white with restraint.
I learn the taste of him, the feel of him, the sounds he makes when I do something he particularly likes. For all his control, all his centuries of discipline, he comes apart under my mouth with gratifying speed.
"Enough." His voice is strained. He pulls me up, flipping us so I'm beneath him. "I need to be inside you again."
"So romantic."
"I'll give you romantic later." He slides into me in one smooth thrust, and we both groan. "Right now I just need to feel you."
"Then feel me."
Afterward, we lie tangled in the ruins of his bed.
The sheets are destroyed. Torn in places where we gripped too hard. Neither of us cares.
My head rests on his chest. His arm wraps around me, fingers trailing lazy patterns on my shoulder. The silence between us is comfortable. Full of things that don't need to be said.
"Thank you," he says eventually.
I lift my head. "For what?"
"For not giving up on me. Even when I made it difficult."
"You were worth the fight." I settle back against him. "You still are."
His arms tighten around me. A shudder runs through him.
"I'll spend eternity proving you right."
"I'm counting on it."
He loves me. Really, truly loves me. I felt it in his blood, deeper than words could ever reach.
And I love him. Whatever comes next, whatever Konstantin throws at us, that doesn't change.
The last thing I feel is his arms around me, holding on like he'll never let go.
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
The knock comes sharp and insistent, cutting through the comfortable silence.
Marcellus. I'd recognize his knock anywhere.
Celeste tenses against me, her head lifting from my chest. "Trouble?"
"Probably." I press a kiss to her forehead before extracting myself from the tangled sheets. "Stay here. I'll see what he needs."
"I'm not hiding in your bedroom while you deal with a crisis."
"I wasn't suggesting hiding. I was suggesting you get dressed before facing my second-in-command."
She glances down at her naked body, then back at me. A smile tugs at her lips. "Fair point."
I pull on pants and cross to the door, opening it just enough to see Marcellus's face. His expression is grim, which tells me everything I need to know about how the rest of this night is going to go.
"What happened?"
