Page 87 of Vameer

“You are doing as the fates intended.” A thumb presses under my chin, and I lift my eyes back to his. “You will not regret me.”

His words feel like razor wire wrapped around my heart.

How could he ever think I’d regret him?

I don’t need his reassurance.

I shake my head as tears fill my eyes. “I could never.” The heat inside me fans hotter. “I need you.”

A contented purr reverberates out of Vameer as he stands back to his full height, lowering his hands to his sides.

My body rocks forward, my chest straining to stay close to his.

“I am a warrior.” Vameer says it like a warning. And as I trace the size of him, I believe him. “I am disciplined.” My eyes finally notice the sword at his side. The one from the cave. “I will control myself.”

I press my thighs together. “W-why do you have to control yourself?”

“Because you are so small.”

I focus on his large hands as his fingers unclench from fists.

My voice is an exhale. “Only because you are so big.”

He lets out a low sound.

Then I notice what’s wrapped around his waist.

I reach for it. “Why…” My fingers touch the thick metal, and I jerk my eyes up to Vameer’s. “Did someone do this to you?”

He shakes his head. “No one harmed me.” Then he reaches down, grips a link in the thick chain, and… breaks it.

Snaps it and bends it open, with his hands, like it was made from wet clay, not steel.

He pulls the chain from his body and releases it.

I watch it, and the sword, hover for a moment, before slowly lowering to the floor beside us.

Then his robe parts.

And my knees go weak.

“Sweet gods.”

Vameer shrugs his robe off and drops it on top of the chain.

My breath tangles in my lungs.

He’s… massive.

His muscles are… I didn’t know a body could have that many muscles.

He’s magnificent.

The ideal image of strength. And I want to memorize every amazing inch of him.

The sword at his feet. The body chiseled from marble. The long hair. The hard features.

Starting at the top of his right shoulder, carving down his arm to his elbow, is a long scar. It’s jagged. Wide.