The sounds of our bodies slapping together are loud, wet, perfect.
“It was the morning after you’d beenadmitted.”
As her tremors gradually ease, then stop, her body softens. The look she’s pinning me with isn’t furious. It’s intense and curious. It’s soLilithin essence.
Relief floods me at the sight, at knowing she doesn’t hate me.
“I kidnapped her. I ran my trials.” I won’t delve into the dark and ugly details. We’re sharing a moment Renata has no place in. “Then I dumped her in the Hudson River.”
“Mmm.” My fierce, bold woman whips her head to the side, and my grip over her mouth slips. “Thank you,” she whispers, voice hoarse. “Thank you.”
As soon as the words leave her lips, everything cracks open.
A thunderclap rolls under my skin. The feeling is powerful enough to lock my jaw and have my cock emptying deep inside Lilith’s pussy. Stroke after stroke, I drain myself of the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had.
Sadly, there’s no true relief in it when I see Lilith breaking down, her body shuddering as a new wave of sobs tears through her.
She isn’t the only one in pain. Her reaction shakes me to my core.
A part of me understands these might be cathartic tears, those of relief.
Then the part of me that’s terrified of losing her twists those tears into something devastating. Into visions of her recoiling from me.
Even so, I can’t keep her bound like I have until now.
Not being able to hug her is splitting me open. I’m so fucking done with this.
“Come here, little devil.” I pull out slowly. Carefully, I reach for the restraints, my fingers steady as I loosen the tie at one wrist and remove it, then another at her ankle. “Whatever it is, I’m sorry. So goddamn sorry.”
She doesn’t say anything, but when I perch at her side, she moves, wrapping her arm and leg around me.
Even through her tears, she holds on as tightly as she can, giving us both what we need, even if it’s wrong.
“It’ll be okay.” Before I let myself get lost in her embrace, though, the scarf, not my tie, goes back into place, between her teeth. I’m gentler this time, deliberate as I protect both of us from words we might not be able to survive right now. “I promise you it will.”
When she’s gagged, I guide my half-hard cock into her wet heat. This has nothing to do with sex. It’s about tethering her to me. About proving I’m present. Reliable. Hers.
“Somehow, someway, we’ll regain what we lost. What I ruined.” I gather her impossibly closer to my chest as her tears soak my shoulder. “It’ll all work out, you’ll see.”
One hand covers the back of her head. The other, I slide under her body, splaying it over the curve of her spine.
“Stay.”
She doesn’t nod. Doesn’t push me away either.
She needs me, and I’m not going anywhere.
If only she asked, I’d stay right here for the rest of my life.
36
LILITH
Enough is enough.
Earlier tonight, when I offered Alaric my body, I figured it might be what he needed from me. I hoped the intimacy between us, that deep connection, would ease the immense pain and doubt he couldn’t seem to shake off.
Of course I liked it. Of course I wanted it.