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It’s all I can do to stay on my feet.

“How could you do it?” he growls as he rocks himself rhythmically, his thrusts intensifying.

“Do what?”

“Deny yourself all these years. Your body begs to be fucked.”

I rest my forearms against the wall for better leverage to push back against him. I need the friction. I want to feel every perfect ridge of his cock as he rubs against me.

“Didn’t deny myself,” I pant wantonly. “Never wanted it.”

He rumbles with satisfaction, his movements becoming more frenzied. “You want it now.”

“Yes,” I hiss. “God, I need it.” I use one hand to pinch my nipples—they ache so damn badly, desperate for release.

“What changed?” Every word is strained to the brink of rupture. “Why now?”

He’s so close.

I’m so close.

I’ve never known anything like it. Never felt this crippling need like I do when I’m around him. As a supernova of pleasure sweeps me into its blast zone, I know there is only one explanation…

“Because of you.”

CHAPTER 37

ELIO

Twenty years, and she wasn’t interested in sex until I returned. That has to be proof that deep down, she knows she belongs to me, and no one can convince me otherwise. My Isa is in there, somewhere, waiting for me to find her.

The predator inside me rattles his cage and roars with anticipation of the hunt.

“My turn, pet,” I growl while her body absorbs the aftershocks of her orgasm.

Feeling my balls pull impossibly tight with the need to release, I grip my cock in my hand and savagely pump myself. My eyes stay trained on the knife inked on Isa’s neck—my knife—until jets of cum line her back.

So fucking beautiful.

The words resonate in my mind, despite the torrential force of my release. My ears may ring, and my vision may go dark, but my thoughts will always remain on her. My buttercup.

I pull Isa back against me and hold her body flush with mine. When her head lolls gently to the side to rest against my chin, some of the broken pieces inside me mend themselves back together.

This woman is the pulse that keeps me breathing.

Always has been. Always will be.

“That was magical, thank you,” she says in a sated purr.

That was merely an appetizer to stave off my hunger. One of these days soon, I’m going to fucking feast on her. I’ll thrust my cock so deep inside her, I’ll imprint on her soul, and neither one of us will be able to stand afterward.

I want that moment so damn bad, but I want it with my Isa. When I finally sink inside her, I want her to remember me. It may not play out that way. Her memories may never return, but I want to give it a little more time. I have the self-control, and she’s worth waiting for.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” I soap my hands and wash the cum from our bodies before we bathe ourselves. She tells me about her day with Evie and asks about my trip into the city. I give a PG version of events and watch as she finishes rinsing conditioner from her hair, envious of the water tracing the curves of her luscious body.

When she’s done, she steps out of the spray of water but doesn’t turn it off. Instead, she bites at her lip and peers up at me.

“Elio?” She clearly wants to ask something but is nervous.