Chapter 29
SORA
I never thought I’d hear Leo say he loves me, and what it does to me is beyond any feeling I could begin to express. But feeling his response when I tell him I love him is the single most euphoric sensation of my life.
His kiss is like a brand against my lips, molten and filled with a possessive desire that positively melts me.
His cock hardens, swelling impossibly inside me, and I know the second before it happens that he’s going to come.
The thought that I could drive him to this point—that telling him I love him could make him lose himself inside me—that launches me into my second explosive orgasm of the evening.
Hot cum floods my body as I fall apart around Leo, my walls gripping him like a vise as I urge every last drop of his seed deep into my depths.
I never knew love could feel like this. Like my body and his have become one, like all the barriers that have separated us have just vanished and all that’s left is raw, unconditional devotion.
Leo saved my life today.
But this, tonight, being wrapped up in his powerful arms, this is what makes my life worth living.
We breathe heavily together as he stills inside me, his cock twitching in response to my throbbing aftershock as I cling to him, holding him on top of me.
He’s heavy, nearing two hundred pounds of solid muscle, but the weight feels deliciously satisfying.
The firm mattress beneath me reassures me that I’m not dreaming—I’m actually here, safe in his embrace.
Leo presses a soft kiss to my forehead, and slowly, softly, he eases out of me. “Let’s get you home,” he suggests, his voice warm and raspy.
Nodding, I sit up and glance around the room.
I don’t entirely want to put my swimsuit and kaftan back on, but I didn’t bring a change of clothes.
As if reading my mind, Leo smirks and goes to the closet near the bathroom to pull out a fresh fluffy terry cloth robe.
He tosses it to me, then rummages through the drawers to find a fresh pair of swim trunks and a T-shirt that he shrugs into.
“Ready?” he asks, leaning in as if to scoop me up.
“I can walk,” I insist, warmth pooling in my cheeks.
“You sure?”
I nod, then slip my hand into his, silently telling him what I want. His fingers close around mine, warm and reassuring, and he walks me toward the door, keeping a close eye on me, like he thinks I might collapse at any minute.
“I’m fine, really,” I insist as we reach the edge of the yacht.
Honestly, the thing I’m worried about most is my baby.
That nightmare has left a haunting fear that something’s wrong, but I don’t want to come right out and say it.
Not when it finally feels like things between me and Leo are in a good place.
If he finds out I knew I was pregnant and was keeping it from him, I can’t imagine how far back that might set us.
I’ll get a doctor’s checkup in the morning and tell Leo after I’m sure the baby’s okay.
Leo wraps an arm around my waist as we step onto the dock together. God, it feels good to have my feet on solid land again. I don’t know that I’ll ever get back on that damn boat.
A car is waiting for us at the entrance to the boatyard, and Leo opens the door for me before following me in.
He’s being a perfect gentleman—like he always is.
But something about it feels much more intimate now.
Like the stiffness in his gestures has vanished.
It feels like there’s been a major shift in our relationship. Suddenly, and in the best of ways.
As the car rolls out of the parking lot, Leo wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to his side so he can press a kiss to the crown of my head.
Giddy butterflies erupt in my stomach, sending a tingle up my spine.
If dying is what it took to bring us together, I can’t say I regret what happened.
This is the feeling I hoped for the very first time I met him—a connection that doesn’t account for the resentment between our families, a chance to find true, honest happiness despite the conflict threatening to keep us apart.
Still, I haven’t addressed the elephant in the room.
Despite the progress Leo and I might have made today, if anything, what happened between me and Kenji has only hurt the alliance.
“I couldn’t do it,” I admit, glancing down at my hand resting in my lap. I lean a little harder into Leo’s side, hoping he won’t pull away once I tell him.
“Couldn’t do what?” he asks softly, his deep baritone sending an electric current through my body.
“Reason with Kenji. I tried. Really, I did,” I insist, turning my head to plead up at Leo with my eyes. “He just… has a way of getting under people’s skin.”
Leo chuckles, the sound triggering a rush of excitement to my core, and I press my thighs together as I become intensely aware of the fact that I’m not wearing any panties—I’m not wearing anything—beneath my robe.
“You don’t say?” Leo jokes, relief flooding me as I realize he probably already knows I failed, and he isn’t mad. “You want to tell me why he decided to throw you overboard?” he suggests, an edge creeping into his tone.
My stomach quivers nervously, and I lick my lips, swallowing forcefully.
Leo’s eyes track the movement, sending my heart into a sprint as they linger on my mouth.
Maybe near-death experiences make a person hornier.
But since Leo brought me back to life, I’ve been overly aware of his presence, his touch.
Even his proximity is making my belly do flip-flops.
“Well, I—like I said, Kenji was trying to get under my skin. And I don’t know what came over me, but I just… snapped.”
“Snapped?” Leo presses, digging for details.
Heat floods my cheeks as I think back on what happened. Even if Kenji deserved it, I’m still embarrassed for losing my temper like I did. “I slapped him,” I admit, my face so hot I’m sure I’m blushing all the way out to the roots of my hair.
Amusement curls the corners of Leo’s lips, his dark eyes gleaming with silent satisfaction.
“You’re not… mad?” I ask, still feeling like the ground is shaky between us when it comes to the conflict between our families.
Leo chuckles. “No. I’m not mad. If anything, I’m proud of you for standing up to your brother.”
Relief eases the tension in my shoulders, and I smile as Leo’s hand comes up to trap my chin between his fingers.
“And I fully intend to teach Kenji a lesson for daring to lay a hand on my wife.”
Heat pools low in my belly at the way he says my wife. It’s dangerously possessive, and for the first time, I want nothing more than to belong to Leo, body and soul.
This new side to him is a distinct shift from before—when he was willing to use me to teach Kenji a lesson. Now, he feels protective of me, and that means more to me than I ever knew it could. I’ve never had someone look out for me like that. Not my mother, certainly not Kenji, not even my father.
And as I stare up into Leo’s eyes, I see a burning passion that lights my body on fire.
Slowly, gently, he lowers his lips to mine.
It doesn’t matter that he just made me come.
Twice. As soon as he kisses me, it’s all I can do to stay strapped in my seat for the car ride home.
The same would seem to be true for Leo as he unbuckles my seat belt and grasps my hips to pull me on top of him.
My robe falls open as I straddle his muscular thighs, the terry cloth belt no match for the passion with which he brings me to him.
I have to keep my head tilted so it won’t brush the ceiling of the car, but it hardly matters as I dive in for more, my lips ravenous to taste him.
His hands slide down my thighs to find the opening of my bathrobe, then travel slowly back up the way they came, his fingers pressing into my soft skin and raising goosebumps in their wake.
Then his big palms are cupping my ass, pulling me to him so I can feel how rock hard he is for me again already.
I could take this man inside me every day for the rest of my life and still not get enough of him.
Even when we were at our coldest and most distant, the chemistry was there.
But now, after hearing he loves me, after seeing the lengths he would go to in order to protect me, that attraction is on an entirely different level.
I don’t even care that his driver is just feet away from us as he sits behind the wheel. I’ll do my best to be quiet, for his sake. But I can’t keep my hands off Leo. And I don’t want to.
Rolling my hips, I grind against his hard length, shuddering as I feel him pulse against my clit through the thin fabric of his swim trunks.
Tangling my fingers in his hair, I press my chest to his, relishing the warmth that radiates off him.
I wish we were skin to skin, but I won’t go so far as to remove his shirt with someone else in the car.
Instead, I savor the taste of his lips, tangling my tongue with his as I kiss him deeply, fiercely, with a consuming kind of need that takes my breath away.
Leo’s hands explore me in turn, his arms sliding beneath the robe without removing it to give me a sense of modesty—even if we’re being completely indecent. But the feel of him exploring my flesh, pulling me closer as he kneads my body into putty, makes me pant.
It takes a few seconds for me to realize that the car didn’t just come to a stop for a light. The sound of a stick shift being put into park vaguely registers in my mind, and I freeze when Leo’s driver softly clears his throat.
“We’re home, sir,” he says, then opens his door to slip outside as subtly as he can.
Breathlessly, Leo and I share a laugh, our lips hovering inches apart.
“Shall we go inside?” he asks. “Or would you rather I make you come first?”
His eyes dance playfully as he rocks his hips up into me for emphasis, and I groan.
“Don’t tempt me,” I moan, releasing his hair and running my hand down his shoulders to his chest. “Take me inside before I completely lose my mind.”
Humming his amusement, Leo withdraws his hands from my robe, pulling it closed and securing the belt once more. Then he wraps an arm around my hips and pops open the car door.
“Leo, what are you doing?” I hiss, my arms and legs tightening around him as he dips through the doorway without letting me go.
“I’m taking you inside,” he promises, straightening.
My robe falls loosely around my hips but stays closed up top, meaning Leo is the only thing hiding the bottom half of my front, and he smiles devilishly as he hoists me higher in his arms and presses a kiss to my throat.
Christ, he’s going to be the ruin of me.
But if this is the path to hell, I’m more than willing to follow him down.