wall. Her
heaving chest overwhelms her tiny frame and she drops to her knees, clamoring
for breath.
“I'm
sorry,” I say as soft as I can. “I didn't mean to scare you. I know it must be
a shock.”
Her
already wide eyes double in size. “A shock? You're a
fucking ghost, Marcus. I watched Hestor strike you
down. You took your last breath in my arms. I curled around your cold dead body
all night.”
I
inch my way to her across the room. “I know.” Holding my hands out to her, I
soften my face, pleading for her to connect with my eyes. If she'll just look
into them, as she has over the last several nights, she'll reach my soul. For
that's where I keep her heart, and she'll know I'm real. “I don't know what
happened. Perhaps when you vanquished Hestor , it not
only broke his curse but brought me back to life?”
She
shakes her head, clinging to the wall behind her with trembling limbs. “But
what took so long? You were dead, Marcus. Dead. I laid next to you dead! What kind of crazy person does that?”
Her chest convulses as tears streak her cheeks.
I
reach her and slide my hand over her cheek. “One that, when
they find their other half, can't live without him.”
We
lock eyes and she crumbles into my arms like a broken doll. I pull her to me
and cling to her. She is my lifeline.
“Marcus,”
she chokes out through a barrage of tears.
I
run my hands through the tangled mass that is her hair. “Right
here. I promise you, I will never leave you again. That is, if you'll
have me.”
“Forever,”
she whispers, pulling back to stare into my eyes. Though strained and
bloodshot, her glassy green eyes swallow me, plunging my heart through my
chest.
I
will give this woman forever. My forever.
“ Hestor is gone.” Her lips tremble as the words leave her
mouth, as if she's unsure they are truth, until she trails her gaze over the
length of my body. “Marcus, it's daylight and you're
not a bear. You are finally free. My family is finally free.”
I
fight to find the right words, nothing seems fitting for this moment. “Thank you
for saving my life, Rose.”
“We're
even.” She gives me a sly wink. “How about you take me to your bed and show me
your appreciation. You died in my arms. I need you to fuck me, show me your
body is alive.”
I
shake my head. “No, Rose. Not tonight.”
Her
lips part in shock and sadness clouds her eyes. She starts to speak, but I
place a finger over her lips. “I don't want to fuck you. Because
tonight, I want to make love to you.”
Gripping
the back of her hair, I tilt her head up and splay my fingers along her cheek
as my thumb clutches her jaw line. I crush my mouth to hers. Salt from her
tear-slicked lips slides along my tongue and I kiss her harder, tasting the
tears she shed for me. She is mine. And tonight I give her all of me.
Our
tongues melt together, pressing until they're one. I hold onto her for dear
life, curling my fingers in her hair, fearing to let go. As I ease out of the
kiss, she punishes my tongue with her own, reclaiming my lips. A chuckle pops
from my throat, followed by a moan as I loosen my grip on her hair and cup the
back of her neck, bringing her body closer to me.
My
cock doubles in size as it presses against the folds of her skirt. I drop my
hands and grip her by the ass, pulling her thighs up my body until she wraps
her legs around my waist. Easing her onto the bed, I unlace her bodice, making
it painfully slow as I give her a devilish smile.
“Marcus,
your brother will be back to claim your body in a matter of hours. Just rip the
damn thing off already!” She squirms under my hands.
My
ever feisty Red will always be buried there under my Rose. And I'll love both
of them until my last breath. Again.
I
dive in and free her from her clothing and she arches in relief. Corsetgasm .
Her
body is perfumed in her lust for me, and I look upon her stunning form in awe
as if for the first time. With one hand, I pull her up to me. Pressing my