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Julian shrugged out of his shirt and spread his wings. They’d healed since Dmitri mangled them, though it had taken longer than usual. He held out his hands, and Leah stepped into his arms.

“We’re going up?”

Without replying, Julian took them up with a powerful beat of his wings.

Leah’s breath escaped her as they rose into the sky and Vegas came into view. To the east, the desert spread out all around them, immense and beautiful.

She snuggled into Julian’s chest, his strong and steady heartbeat music to her ears. He took them high, all the way to the top, where the surprise was laid out for her.

The tower, when viewed from below, ended in a sharp tip like a needle. What she couldn’t see before was the wraparound balcony only a few feet below the building’s highest point. The railings slanted inward to follow the slanted outer wall.

A small round table with a picnic basket sat in the middle of the balcony with two chairs on either side. Next to it, a thick checkered rug lay on the ground with a few pillows atop it. Fairy lights intermingled with honeysuckle vines wrapped around the ceiling and the railings, perfuming the air with the flower’s heady and sweet scent. In the back corner was a black speaker playing romantic piano music.

Julian landed next to the table and set her down gently before retracting his wings.

At a loss for words, Leah looked from the picnic table to the widespread desert around them to Julian and swallowed.

“You didn’t have to do this,” she said, even as her heart swelled to bursting with gratitude and love.

“I don’t have to do a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do them.” Julian placed a light kiss on her head. “Our life—it won’t be easy. It won’t be simple. There will be times when you’ll think back to this day and wonder if you’ve made the right choice. I’ll do everything in my power to ensure you never regret your decision.” He nudged her around until she faced him.

“We are forever, Leah.”

God damn him. He was making her cry. Annoyed, Leah wiped away the tears that came unbidden.

“If you’re trying to scare me away, it won’t work,” she whispered. She put all the conviction of her heart and soul into her next words. “Julian Blackmore, you’re mine. Mine to love. Mine to protect. I won’t leave you or let you go, no matter what life throws at us. Dmitri. The Organization. Let them come. Nothing will tear us apart.”

She kissed him, no longer willing to hold back the need within her. Boldly, she stroked him, and he hissed.

“Wait.” He pushed her back.

“No. No more waiting.”

Julian lifted her, carried her to the rug, and pulled her on top of him. Leah straddled him and explored his mouth with her tongue. She adored touching him and tracking the corded muscles of his chest, his shoulders, his arms. The heat of his erection seared through their clothes, and she ground against him. The desperate need for him drove out all other thoughts.

Two days were too long without his touch.

His hands reached under her shirt. She shivered at his fiery touch as he pulled it off. They broke apart for breaths as his hand traced the lacy edges of her bra.

She reveled in the utter admiration and lust on his face before he sliced apart the bra. Her breasts spilled into his waiting hands. Their moans intermingled. The flick of his rough thumbs and the cool air hardened her nipples and sent jolts of pleasure through her.

This lust would kill her if she didn’t have him now.

Hating to move away even for one second, Leah stood and wiggled out of her pants as fast as humanly possible.

Except Julian watched her with hooded eyes from the blanket and made no move to take off the rest of his clothes.

What was wrong with him? Did he not feel the hunger and need that tore at her heels, as if the world would end if they didn’t join?

Leaning on his elbows, his slow, wicked smile sent a tingling thrill up her spine. “I’m all yours.”

Leah licked her lips, remembering their shower, the heavy weight of him in her mouth and her hands. Wetness pooled between her legs.

She crawled back down over him, unzipped his pants, and pulled them off him. It was difficult to not become distracted and explore the rest of him, but she was a woman on a mission.

Her gaze dropped to his thick erection. Her heart stuttered, then picked up the pace.

Would she ever do this without her heart going crazy?