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“I want you inside of me.” His tongue drags across my core, and I buck against his mouth. “Silas, give me this.”

He rises, taking more time than he should, more time than we have, kissing a trail along my neck. I push at the buckle on his pants, reaching for him with needy hands. The feel of him, hot and hard, sends a rush of sticky warmth between my legs. He doesn’t hesitate, hooking my leg around his waist and entering me with a thrust.

“Oh,” I breathe, loving the invasion—the feel of him thick and wide—pushing at my walls as they clench around him. “I’ve missed this.”

“I missed you.” He rocks back, punching in, and I wrap my other leg around him, wanting him deeper. “I dream of you at night. Of this. Being with you, being safe.”

My reply comes in a rush of air, panting from the way he makes me feel. Silas is a skilled lover—trained—and the way he touches me, strokes me, guides his cock into my body, sets every nerve on edge.

But none of that is what sends me to the precipice. It’s the look in his eye, the way his tongue licks hot against my lips, is the way he sees me—the way no one else in this place can. Silas and I are bonded in this moment, in the fear of being caught, in the struggle of being alone—our closest confidants ostracized.

His thumb grazes over my clit, making my walls clench around him. “Fuck, baby, you feel so good.”

Silas stifles his pleasure by biting down on my shoulder, teeth bared, hard and painful against my skin. That pain, so delicious and raw, triggers a shuddering orgasm. Warm and deep, a hard final thrust. We stay this way for a long moment—him inside of me—my body clinging to him inside and out.

He looks down at my shoulder. “I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be.” That pain is a sharp reminder I can carry with me long after he’s gone. I kiss his jaw. “You have to go.”

My statement comes out abrupt, but we both know it. Every minute he’s here is a risk we’re discovered.

Even with the pressure, Silas moves with care, making sure to wipe between my legs, removing any trace he’d claimed me.

“Have you seen him?” I ask, finally speaking his name. It feels even more dangerous than what we just did. “I only get glimpses from the window.”

“I saw him.” His eyes shift, not meeting mine.

“Is he okay?” A dark laugh rushes out. “Of course not. Anex wouldn’t allow it, and Rex—”

“He’s still stubborn. Defiant. He took a pretty severe beating. Thankfully, I was able to sneak in and treat him.”

“A beating? Why?”

This time his eyes meet mine and there’s no mistake.Me. He took a beating because of me.

I reach for Silas’s shirt, curling the cotton in my fingertips. “Tell him to stop. Tell him that there’s nothing he can do to save me. He shouldn’t sacrifice himself—”

“Imogene.” He smooths down my skirt. “You belong to him. To us. Telling any of us not to sacrifice for you is like asking for our hearts to stop beating. It’s impossible.”

Warmth fills my chest, but it’s also tinged with fear. “No, what’s impossible is Anex allowing it. The best thing for all of you, is to forget me.”

This was a mistake. Seeing him like this, feeling him, when I know that a future together is impossible. “He’s planning on me becoming his mate at the equinox. There will be a ceremony, and he’s waiting for me to begin menstruating again so that after the ceremony…”

I can’t say it, but I don’t need to, Silas knows. What I don’t expect is for him to say, “You’re not going to have a period, Imogene. Not if I can help it.”

A door slams in the hallway, followed by footsteps and voices. Our time is up.

“What are you talking about?”

His voice is barely a whisper. “I’ve been swapping your supplements. The ones he hopes will make you fertile for a compound that does the opposite. It’s not a guarantee, but the herbalists say the mixture will keep you from ovulating.”

I blink. “You’re why my period hasn’t returned?”

He cups my face in his hands, voice a whisper. “I mixed it myself. Something to buy us time.”

“Time for what? For them to come for us?” Uneasiness blooms in my chest just thinking about my men on the outside. “They can’t, and they shouldn’t.”

He presses his lips to mine and steps back, moving to the door that leads away from the hallway. “Never underestimate what the four of us can do. Especially when it comes to you.”