CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT #3
He bent his head, and his hazel eyes held mine as he said, “Fortuna Sworn, from the moment I saw your face on a piece of paper, nothing more than lines of charcoal and a vague idea, I have belonged to you. You are my first thought when I wake up and the one I carry with me into dreams every night. Decades ago, I set out to correct my father’s mistakes and wrongdoings, but now, all I want is whatever life allows me to be at your side.
I’ve made mistakes, I’ve been a fool, and you probably have more reasons to walk away from me than to stay.
But I love you, in every way one soul can love another.
When this world turns to ash, and all the stars are dust, and all the other worlds are gone, too, I will still love you.
So yes, I really want that. I want you, all of you, forever. ”
The way he looked at me made my entire body feel like a live wire. Part of me ached to say it back … but even now, doubt reared its ugly head. I opened my mouth to argue. To remind Collith of all the mistakes I’d made, too, and all the reasons we were bad for each other.
Then I thought of my conversation with Lyari. I remembered the shining pain in her eyes and how there were no guarantees or tomorrows.
I relived the sound she’d made as she’d watched the love of her life die.
Banishing Lucifer from my mind—he was the past, and I was keenly interested in the future—I cupped Collith’s dear, familiar face.
I knew it better than my own now. This beautiful creature had loved me from the beginning.
Through every fight, every betrayal, every straying.
Our story was long, convoluted, and damn near illegible at times.
All I knew was that, by the end, it was the two of us again. And I wanted him, just as he wanted me.
“Will you sleep in our bed tonight?” I asked softly.
For just a moment, Collith’s hazel eyes, framed by lashes so long and dark they almost looked fake, stared at me, taking me in, probably contemplating whether I was serious.
Instead of convincing him with words, I decided to show him.
I took Collith’s hands and led him into the bedroom he’d built for me, nudging the door shut behind us.
When we reached the foot of the bed, I reached for the top button of his shirt.
I slipped it free and moved on to the next, and the next, and the next.
Collith’s eyes never left my face as I worked, and the heat of his desire made me clench with need.
Once every button was undone, I opened Collith’s shirt and slid my hands down his taut stomach, landing on his belt.
I undid that, too, finally raising my gaze to look back at him.
A jangling sound floated through the stillness as I grasped the waistband of Collith’s briefs and used them to pull him closer.
My fingertips brushed against his hardening cock.
I tipped my head back in a silent invitation, but he didn’t move.
I knew he was tempted. Why was he hesitating?
“You haven’t answered me,” Collith murmured.
My only response was to kiss him. Collith made a brief, frustrated sound, but he stopped resisting.
His tongue entangled with mine and I moved my hands to his smooth, muscled back, exploring every inch of that, too.
Now that I’d started, I couldn’t seem to get enough of touching him. Luckily, the feeling was mutual.
“You drive me crazy,” Collith groaned.
I smiled against his mouth. “Prove it.”
Collith buried his fingers in my hair, tugging slightly at the roots.
I lost myself to his taste and his scent while he made short work of taking off my clothes.
I sat on the edge of the bed, then pulled away to move backward, putting my weight on my elbows.
Collith took off his jeans and briefs and leaned over me.
When he bent to kiss me again, I felt his hardness lodge between my thighs.
The tip slid through the folds of my clitoris.
I was already wet and aching. I moaned in Collith’s mouth.
The sound made his erection swell even harder against me, but he still didn’t give in.
Instead, he pinned my arms above my head and began to kiss the tattoos that only we could see, the tip of his tongue caressing and teasing my skin.
Finally I couldn’t take it anymore, and I ground against him. “Don’t make me wait any longer. Please,” I whispered.
“Fuck.” Collith claimed my mouth with another hard kiss, then he drove inside me with a strong, single thrust that filled me completely.
I would’ve gasped if my mouth weren’t already so occupied.
I made a deep sound instead, the vibrations of it moving through Collith.
He thrust his hips harder, his fingers moving between my legs, where he found my clitoris again.
He touched and teased me while we moved together in a perfect rhythm.
Moans and breathy gasps escaped me, floating through the blue-black dark. I felt a familiar heat building.
“I’m still not coming. Not yet. You first,” Collith growled.
He plunged again, roughly, and I threw my head back as the orgasm took over, a rolling crescendo that had me biting my lip to hold back sharp cries.
My thighs shook as Collith pressed into me one last time, and suddenly I could no longer see or hear, my mind filling with color and light.
A moment later, Collith groaned, the sound low and masculine.
It only heightened the intensity of my climax, and we finished together.
Long after our bodies had stopped quaking, Collith and I stayed there, clasped together. But his question still hovered between us, even after all we’d done. Will you come?
“Okay,” I whispered.
Collith drew back slightly. I could barely make out his expression in the dark, but I saw the cautious hesitation in the set of his brow. The barest glimmer of hope. “Okay?” he repeated.
I mustered a smile. “Okay.”
Joy lit Collith’s eyes, and he bent to kiss me. I’d never seen that look on his face before. Anything that could make him so happy had to be the right choice, I thought to myself, kissing him back fiercely.
It had to be.