Page 29 of Absolution (Favorite Malady Trilogy #3)

DANE

T he warm water grows cloudy as I carefully wash the soot from Abigail’s hair and face. She does the same for me, her slender fingers gentle on my scalp. My head aches slightly from the blows her uncle managed to inflict, but the pain is nothing when she’s blessing me with her tender touch.

We linger in the shower until the water starts to go cold, simply holding one another. The feel of her safely in my arms calms me like nothing else, and panic has ridden me hard for hours.

When I finished burying Billy earlier this afternoon, I’d checked her location and realized that she was at Elysium. I’d known that she wouldn’t go there of her own accord, and every second it’d taken me to get to her had been an agonizing eternity.

Her uncle tried to inflict yet another psychological wound when he locked her in the darkness of that cell. He tried to scare her into cooperating with his demands to retract her statement about his crimes against her.

Now, he’s paid the ultimate price.

No one touches my wife.

I turn off the cool water in our shower and wrap her in a fluffy white towel. She leans into me, allowing me to take care of her.

Her trust in me is a miracle, and I’ll never take it for granted.

“You were so brave back there,” I praise as I run a brush through her damp hair.

She turns to face me, and her glowing eyes pierce my soul. “I did it for you. He was going to kill you.” Before I can reply, she admits more quietly. “And I did it for myself.”

I cradle her delicate jaw in my hand. “Never feel guilty for killing that bastard. The world is a safer place without him in it. What you did was justice. He deserved far worse.”

She blinks up at me. “I don’t feel guilty. I’d do it again if I had to.”

“Good,” I say with savage approval. I don’t want her to lose so much as a moment of sleep over that motherfucker’s death.

“All I want is to be with you,” she declares with the weight of an oath. “I want a future with you, just like we promised on our wedding day. Nothing will stop us from having that.”

I grin. “I promised you the world, Abigail. You will have everything you desire.”

“I desire you .” Her voice takes on the breathy quality that goes straight to my cock.

I hum in consideration. “I think you deserve more than that. I never did give you a proper honeymoon. How does Whitby sound?”

Her eyes spark with excitement. “Really? I’ve always wanted to go there.”

I chuckle. “I remember your fascination with Dracula . I remember everything you tell me.”

I’m still greedy to know everything about her. I don’t think my maddening craving for this woman will ever abate, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

She leans into me with a happy sigh. “I’d love to go to Whitby, but I know you need to focus on work. And I have my gallery now. We can’t just leave Charleston for a honeymoon.”

I fix her with a stern stare. “We’re leaving tomorrow. Your gallery will wait for a week.”

“But Meadows?—”

“Will make do without me,” I cut her off. “We’re partners. He can’t tell me what to do, and he can’t run that practice without me. I went private so that I have the freedom to set my own schedule. I choose to make time for my wife. No one can tell me no. ”

She giggles. “I can.”

“But you won’t.”

Her chin tips back. “Won’t I?”

Fuck, that challenging stance and impertinent tone stir my darkest urges.

But my hand is gentle when I stroke her hair. “Don’t goad me, little dove.”

“Why not?”

I trace the shape of her pretty pout. “Because you’re not ready to face the consequences. You’ve been through enough.”

Those aquamarine eyes flash like gemstones. “That’s not solely your decision to make. When I remembered what Uncle Jeffrey did to me, I felt robbed of all agency. Well, I’m not going to let him take one more thing from me, much less my intimacy with my husband.”

I search her expression and find nothing but determination and defiance in every sharp line of her stunning features.

“I don’t want to do anything that will hurt you,” I confess.

“I like the pain,” she reminds me. “And I trust you completely. I want you, Dane. All of you. Even the dark parts. They match my own perfectly.”

“Abigail…” Her name is a warning. I’m clinging to my control by my fingernails.

“Dane,” she replies evenly. “I want to be with you. I need to feel you inside me.”

I bite out a curse, and my control snaps.

I scoop her up in my arms and promise, “I’ll be gentle with you.”

Her eyes flare. “I don’t want gentle. I want you . My dark god.”

The reverent endearment goes straight to my head, and I capture her lips in a desperate kiss.

I set her down on our bed and immediately cover her naked body with my own.

I grab her slender wrists and pin them above her head with one hand.

My free hand dips between us, finding the tight buds of her nipples.

She mewls into my mouth and tugs against the shackle of my firm grip, but I show no mercy.

I pinch and tug at her nipples, tormenting them in the way she likes best. She grinds her hips against me, wantonly seeking stimulation against my thigh.

I wedge it between her legs, welcoming her to rub against me like my needy little pet.

My tongue plunders her hot mouth, savoring every desperate whimper and low, sensual moan. With each cruel pinch on her nipples, her willowy body coils tighter beneath me. She presses her clit against my thigh and cries out.

I don’t rebuke her for the orgasm. I love how greedy she is, and seeing her embrace her sexual nature after everything she’s been through is the greatest satisfaction I’ve ever known.

This strong, brave woman has chosen to give herself to me.

And that makes me the most powerful, luckiest man in the world.

“Please,” she pants against my lips. “I need you. Fuck me.”

“How can I deny you anything?” I rumble, dropping tender kisses down the column of her throat.

“You can’t,” she says in a smug, breathy whisper. “You’re mine, Dane Graham.”

“Oh yes,” I agree, lining my hard cock up with her slick opening. She’s already wet and more than ready for me. “All yours, little dove.”

As I declare her ownership of me, my fingers wrap around her neck, squeezing gently. Her lovely lips part on a soft, erotic gasp, and her aquamarine eyes shine with devotion as she looks up at me.

“I love you.” I seal my promise with a harsh thrust, spearing her to the hilt.

My love for her makes my heart ache with a throbbing beat. It’s so strong that the vital organ threatens to burst, but I would gladly ruin every part of myself just to be with her.

“I love you,” she promises in return.

I increase the pressure on her arteries, restricting her blood flow to grant her the ecstatic high she craves. She begins to soften beneath me, and I claim her pliant body in ruthless, deep strokes. Her legs lock around my hips, her heels digging into my ass to spur me on.

Pleasure gathers at the base of my spine, and I release her throat.

Oxygenated blood rushes back to her brain, and she flies apart on a blissful scream.

Her cunt contracts around my cock, and I surrender to the torrent of my own pleasure.

My rough shout fills our bedroom as I pump my cum deep inside her, marking her.

Before I met Abigail, I didn’t think I possessed a soul. But now I know that mine belongs to her. It might be black—selfish and more than a little cruel—but it’s hers.

And she’s offered me all of herself in return.

My miracle. My wife.

My Abigail.