Chapter 28 #3
I didn’t even have to ask myself if I would have done the same. Deep down, I knew I would have wanted to hurt him too. Hell, I’d spent the last three months thinking I’d wanted to hurt him.
“What exactly did you plan to do?” I asked, lifting my head to look at him. “To ‘excise’ Valor from me?”
“Nothing you wouldn’t like. Nothing you wouldn’t beg for more of.”
Heat rolled through me at his words. “Do you still want to do it?”
Cipher shifted beneath me, one hand sliding up to cup the back of my neck as he pulled me down for a kiss. It was slower than before, but no less intense.
“I want to,” he murmured against my lips. “But not as the punishment I intended.” His eyes locked with mine, dark and serious. “And I sure as fuck won’t walk away from you afterward like I threatened to do.”
I nodded. The thought of him walking away after touching me, after being inside me, made my chest ache. I was glad he’d reconsidered that part of his plan.
I grimaced as a particularly uncomfortable grain of sand made itself known in an intimate location. I scowled down at him. “I’m game, but I want to shower first.” I shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not doing anything with sand everywhere.”
Cipher chuckled. “Fair enough.”
He sat up, bringing me with him. His arms stayed locked around me as he rose to his feet, lifting me.
“I could fly us back,” he offered.
“I need to walk for a bit. I need a minute to recalibrate.”
He nodded, setting me gently on my feet.
I looked down at myself and laughed. My gown was hiked up around my waist, the silk creased beyond salvation and coated with damp sand. My underwear was gone, probably somewhere in the fog behind us or fallen into the ocean. Cipher’s tie still bound my wrists, the silk now wrinkled and stretched.
“I’m a disaster,” I muttered, trying to smooth down my dress with my bound hands.
Cipher’s eyes raked over me. “You’re fucking perfect.”
I flushed at the raw appreciation in his voice. He reached for my wrists, gently untying the knotted silk. The tie fell away, leaving red marks that he immediately soothed with his thumbs.
I hesitated, chewing on my lip as Cipher started to lead me away from our impromptu lovemaking spot.
“Wait,” I said, tugging on his hand. “The ring. I need the stupid thing back.”
Cipher stopped, his expression darkening. “Why the hell would you want that monstrosity?”
“Because I have to return it to PR.” I sighed, running a hand through my hair and attempting to work some of the tangles out. “It’s Alliance property. Part of the engagement package they put together.”
“Let it rot in the sand.”
“I can’t. Even though it’s probably insured, they’ll put the burden of the cost on me to replace it.” I looked out at the dark beach, dreading the search. “I have money but covering an eight-carat diamond ring isn’t exactly in the budget right now.”
Cipher squeezed my hand. “You are not digging through the dirt for another man’s collar. I refuse to let you pay the Alliance a single dime.”
“Cipher, I have to find it.”
“I’ll handle the cost.” His thumb dragged across my bare ring finger. “I’ll buy them ten of those ugly rings if it means this hand stays bare when you’re with me.”
“They’ll ask questions,” I murmured, the fight draining out of me.
“Let them ask.” He pulled me flush against his chest. “The ring stays buried.”
“Okay.” I let out a shaky breath, knowing that he wouldn’t take anything else for an answer.
Cipher’s eyes darkened with satisfaction and he took my hand again, leading me further down the shoreline.
I studied his profile against the night sky. The fog had lifted enough to reveal a scattering of stars, their cold light illuminating the sharp angles of his face. His jaw was set, eyes fixed on some distant point ahead of us.
He looked like he could belong up there among those stars. Beautiful, cold, and dark. A celestial body with its own gravitational pull, dragging everything into his orbit whether they wanted it or not.
Including me.
I leaned my head against his arm as we walked. My body ached pleasantly, muscles remembering the shape of him.
“Take me home,” I sighed, suddenly exhausted. The emotional rollercoaster of the evening, from fake fiancée to Cipher’s midair fucking, had left me drained.
“Home home or with me home?” Cipher asked.
I smiled, tilting my head to look up at him. “Wherever it was you were going to take me after the beach.” I paused, remembering his earlier promise. “To excise Valor from me.”
His eyes darkened at my words, pupils expanding until only a thin ring of color remained. “You sure about that, Sparks?”
“Very.”
Without another word, Cipher scooped me into his arms. My body molded against his chest, sand-crusted dress and all.
The ground fell away beneath us, my stomach dropping with the sudden ascent.
The wind whipped my already-tangled hair into a frenzy as we shot upward, the beach shrinking below.
I pressed my face into Cipher’s neck, breathing in the scent of him as we sliced through the night sky toward whatever delicious punishment he had planned.