Chapter 24 #3
Before Cora, that had never felt like a burden.
Tonight, though? Well, tonight he almost believed he would throw duty and honor to the wind if that was the price of being with her.
“Chase?”
He heard the hint of shyness in her voice, and he brushed a kiss over her lips.
“You’re perfect,” he murmured. “And I’m never letting you go.”
He lay her back on the bed, following her down, settling between her thighs, relishing the heat of flesh against flesh as he claimed her mouth with his.
The kiss was wild. Deep. And full of all the passion in the universe.
He thought that he could live off her kisses for the rest of eternity, but realized he was wrong when she whispered one simple word—“please.”
He groaned, knowing what she was asking, and craving it too. Every cell in his body begging for that most intimate of connections. “Yes,” he murmured, losing his mind from nothing more than the feel of his skin against hers. More, and he’d surely go mad with pleasure.
But as her hands explored his body with growing boldness, he knew that was a risk he was willing to take.
That was his last thought. After that, there was only Cora—her taste, her touch. Her.
His body went even tighter with desire as he slipped his fingers between her legs, finding her slick and needy, and the way she widened her legs for him completely stole his reason.
So much that he had to force himself not to thrust inside her right then.
“I need to tell you something,” he said instead. “About what I am. What I’ve done.”
Her hands slid up his back, nails digging in just enough to make him groan. “Later,” she murmured.
He should stop. Should say the words that would shatter this moment but give her the truth she deserved.
But when she looked up at him, her face flushed and her eyes wanting, the words died in his throat.
He kissed her again, deep and claiming, and let himself forget everything except the feel of her beneath him.
“Please,” she begged, and so help him, he took her, his cock filling her as she cried his name.
As she begged him to go slow—then soon begged him for harder and faster.
As they moved together in a timeless dance, becoming one.
Becoming. And then, finally, shattering in the most magnificent of ways, as if all the eons spread out behind him had existed only for the purpose of bringing him and this woman together.
If only that were true.
He shook his head, banishing the thought as he pulled her closer, closing his mind to everything but the feel of her.
“Chase,” she whispered as they lay twined together. She lifted her head, her smile devastatingly sweet. “I’m really glad I came.”
He tried to fight his grin but failed. She smirked. “To your apartment,” she said. “But, yeah, like that too.”
“I’m glad you came too,” he said. “To my door,” he added with a grin.
What he meant was that he loved her. Fully and completely.
He’d said he was falling for her, but that was a lie.
He’d already fallen hard. But though his love for her burned through him as hot and vibrant as fire, he had no right to say those words aloud. Not until she knew the truth.
Not until she was fully informed and prepared to decide if she loved him too. Or if she despised him beyond all measure.
So he held his tongue and took stolen affection, spooning against her, holding her close and cherishing this last gift of intimacy.
He hoped they could withstand what would come, but he didn’t know.
Couldn’t know. He was an immortal creature.
A man who’d seen everything—literally. And yet he still had no idea how she would react after he told her about all her ancestors who’d died by his hand.
He had to tell her soon. If she learned the truth some other way, the trust between them would shatter and everything would fall apart.
Not only could he not bear the thought of losing her, but he couldn’t risk her running to Adric.
Especially not now that she’d confessed to kissing his brother.
A confession that proved she still didn’t understand the danger that Adric posed.
Not just to her, but to reality as a whole.
His brother was a craftsman, able to spin a web of lies that looked like a beautiful, twinkling star in the moonlight. And by day looked like a trap for the unwary.
Cora didn’t understand, but he did. And he’d keep her safe from his brother, who had betrayed not just his emperor’s memory, but each and every one of the realms.
He stroked her hair, watching her sleep, planning how he would reveal what needed to be revealed. Tomorrow. He’d tell her the truth at the first wink of morning. Perhaps she would understand. Perhaps he wouldn’t lose her.
The hardest lies are the ones you tell yourself.
He sighed, then drew her close, content to hold her until dawn.
He couldn’t know what she would do in the bright light of day and the dark haze of his secrets.
All he knew for certain was that for tonight at least, she was well and truly his.