Page 73 of Dirty Game

"Breathe," he murmurs against my lips. "Just breathe. Your body will adjust."

It does, slowly.

The pain fades, replaced by something else—fullness, connection, the sense of being completely his.

When he begins to move, carefully at first, then with growing confidence as my body responds, I understand what Maria meant about giving and receiving.

"Varrick," I gasp.

"Say it again."

"Varrick. My Varrick."

The possessiveness makes him groan.

His movements become more urgent, and I rise to meet him, instinct guiding me.

When he slips a hand between us, finding that sensitive spot he discovered earlier, I shatter again, crying out his name like a prayer.

He follows me over, my name on his lips.

Afterward, he holds me while I tremble, while tears leak from my eyes—not from pain but from the overwhelming intimacy of it all.

"Are you okay?" he asks, concern clear in his voice.

"I didn't know," I whisper. "I didn't know it could be like this. That I could feel so... complete."

"Neither did I," he admits, pressing kisses to my hair. "Not until you."

"Was I... was it good for you?"

He pulls back to look at me, incredulous. "Good? Rosalynn, you just gave me something precious. Something no one else will ever have. You trusted me with your body, your innocence, your heart. Good doesn't begin to cover it."

"Will you tell me about her? About S.C.?"

He's quiet for a long moment. "Sienna Cross. I was cocky and a little stupid with it. Her father was an enemy of mine, and she was an assassin sent to kill me. Only, I fell for her, and she fell for me. It’s complicated."

"But you don't belong to her."

"No. I belong to you now, just as much as you belong to me." He traces my face with gentle fingers. "You've given me something she never could—genuine surrender, honest desire, real trust."

I curl against him, and he wraps an arm around me, holding me as close as ever.

Tomorrow, there will still be a price on my head.

Tomorrow, he'll still have to deal with the Corsinis and whoever else is against us.

Tomorrow, the real world will intrude again.

But tonight, I’m going to drift asleep peacefully in the arms of the only man who matters.

CHAPTER TEN

Varrick

The sheets are still twisted around her thighs.

My sweat drying on her chest, her own blood smeared in faint lines at the crease of her hip.