Page 40

Morgana

L eon’s still giving me a questioning look as I slip into the bathroom. I’m quick putting my plan into place. If I linger too long, I might start second-guessing myself—and I’m not letting that happen now.

Not when this feels right, each thud of my heart drawing me toward him.

I emerge from the bathroom in the red dress I was wearing last night. I watch him watch me, his eyes taking in every inch—from the places the sheer lace clings to my thighs to the strip of skin where the neckline scoops downward.

“You said you wanted to rip this thing off me. I thought I’d give you the opportunity,” I say.

My knees go weak at the look he gives me, like a starving animal salivating over its next meal. He rises from the chair and stalks toward me in a way that makes my breathing go shallow.

Instead of pouncing, he circles me, examining me from every angle. I shift my weight from one foot to another and try not to be impatient.

“Changed your mind?” I ask finally.

He smiles hungrily. “No, I’m deciding where to start. Some presents are too good to unwrap quickly. There’s such a thing as savoring it, princess.”

Hearing him call me that again, in that voice, makes something coil tight in my stomach.

It tightens further as he steps up behind me, his breath ghosting across my neck.

I want him closer. I need him to touch me.

I’ve missed it, missed him . Not just his body or his touch, but the way he made me feel.

He’d become the steady thing in my unstable world, the rock I could lean on.

I want that back, and I know I have to risk letting him in again to get it.

I lean on him now, my back resting against his chest as he brushes lips across the point where my neck meets my shoulder. Then he reaches around and slides a hand across my stomach, up over my ribs, to slide beneath the loose material of the dress.

I inhale sharply as his fingers encircle my breast, and he pulls me fully against him. I feel the hardness of his erection pressed against my backside, and my mind spins away from me. I ache to have that hardness between my legs.

That thought stops short when I hear the whisper of metal being withdrawn from a sheath, and the cold tip of a knife comes to rest gently at my side. I shiver and go tense, not relaxing even when Leon kisses my neck again.

“Relax, princess, and stay still.”

The hand still inside my dress caresses my breast, lightly pinching my nipple.

“It’ll be hard to stay still if you keep— ah —doing that,” I say, caught off guard by another pinch that sends a spark of both pain and pleasure dancing through me.

He just laughs—a deep, low chuckle—removing his hand, and I feel the metal of the knife ease under the section of lace that starts just below my arm.

I inhale, nervous, but in one swift movement he slices the fabric from top to bottom.

It springs back, exposing half my body. Before I can even make a noise of surprise, the knife is sliding down the other side, splitting the dress apart.

A few more knicks and he’s pulling the fabric off me until I stand completely naked.

He tosses the knife aside and spins me around. His eyes are almost black with desire as I straighten. I may be completely exposed, the air gently stroking my skin, but it’s impossible to feel self-conscious when he’s looking at me with such want.

That’s the other piece I’ve been missing—the way Leon makes me feel strong, not vulnerable. Invincible, even.

“How long I’ve waited to see you like this again,” he says, his voice so low it’s almost a feral snarl.

I step up to him, and his hands are instantly on my body, stroking across my waist and backside. Meanwhile, my hands start tugging at his leather tunic and shirt.

“Now let’s be fair,” I say teasingly. “You need to start taking things off too, or we’re never going to get to the good part.”

His hand dips lower to squeeze beneath my ass, and I gasp.

“I thought this already was the good part,” he grins, but lets me remove his clothes until my bare skin presses against his. Then he locks me in another searing kiss, lifting me to lay me out on the bed, guiding my arms up above my head. I obey. At this moment, I’d do anything he asked.

I feel safe with Leon. Even as he pins my wrists to the bed, even as he sinks his teeth into me and I start to come undone, I don’t fight my helplessness. It’s not scary to let myself fall as long as I know he’s there to catch me.

And giving in feels so good . Leon seems intent on worshipping all of me, working his way from my neck down across my breasts and stomach, licking and sucking until every inch of my skin feels alive.

When his mouth stops to linger between my legs, I can’t keep my arms pinned above me any longer; I drop them so my hands can twist in his hair as he devours me with a ferocity that leaves me shaking.

The first orgasm hit hard and fast, and I scream my throat raw. Afterward, Leon straightens up with a smug, satisfied smile, stroking a possessive hand over my thighs.

“I’ve missed those sounds,” he says. “The ones you make when you finally let go, the expression on your face when you drop the mask.”

He pushes the backs of my thighs up, locking my knees by his sides, and meets my gaze. His eyes reach inside me, tugging on something deep in my soul.

“I see you too, Ana,” he says. He’s been using that name for me for days now, and I haven’t argued—but now, today, hearing it feels overpoweringly right, like something essential has slotted back into place.

But what feels even better is him entering me at just the right angle, my body stretching around his cock as it presses deeper inside me. I throw my head back, gasping when he withdraws and then slowly pushes into me again, the rush of sensation setting my nerve endings on fire.

That’s how it continues. He takes me in long, deep thrusts, my moans growing more intense as his pelvic bone hits my clit, creating delicious friction.

My vision starts to darken as I’m pulled toward my climax, and I wrap my arms around Leon to ground myself, feeling like I’m riding out a storm I don’t want to end.

When that end comes, everything vanishes except for the pleasure burning through me.

I dig my nails into Leon’s back, needing something to cling onto, feeling his muscles ripple beneath my fingers as he finishes me with a few strong, firm thrusts.

It’s almost a relief when the intense ecstasy ebbs and I settle back against the bed.

I’m utterly spent, and my limbs feel like liquid.

But he’s not finished. Though I’m panting, coming down from my high, Leon is still rock hard. With a dangerous smile, he pulls out and flips me over, lifting my hips up so my hands drop to support myself, and I’m left displayed in front of him on my hands and knees.

“Leon,” I say, breathless and still hazy. “I don’t know if I can go again.”

“Nonsense,” he says, dragging the head of his cock across my clit. I instinctively lean into it, feeling a renewed tension blossom. My treacherous body bucks to satisfy it. “I didn’t wait this long for you to quit on me now, Ana.”

He pulls back anyway, and I make a shameless whimper of disappointment.

“But I won’t go on unless you say so,” he says. “In fact, I won’t touch you again until you say please .”

“Pretty please,” I say instantly, so fast that he chuckles, but the laughter gives way to a deep groan as he sinks into me.

I know this time neither of us will last long.

The pace grows more frantic the closer he gets to climax.

His hands grab my waist, pulling me into him as he takes fast, even thrusts.

I let myself get lost in the motion of our bodies. Nothing compares to this. I wonder how I could have ever denied myself this for so long. But I can’t dwell on that. Instead, I’m just grateful we were able to get here again, joined in this bliss.

Leon’s hand drops between my legs to bring me over the edge with him. My cry is drowned out by the roar he releases as he spills inside me, holding me tightly against him so I can feel every shudder of his body as we collapse onto the bed together.

Sweat cools on my skin. I’m exhausted, and yet at the same time, I’m completely content.

I find Leon’s arms, pulling them around me until they squeeze me tight.

I wanted it to be perfect, and it was. But this is the last, essential part of it—Leon wrapped around me, holding me in a way that makes me believe he’ll never let go.

It’s here that I find the tantalizing pocket of peace I can’t find anywhere else, and I soak it up as the most wonderful, gentle sleep comes for me.

Leon

I wake with Ana still nestled in my arms. I never want to move again. I want this forever—her beside me, looking perfectly ethereal even with her chestnut hair tangled about her face. I lower my head to breathe her in, the scent of jasmine mingled with something more primal.

That, even without everything else, would’ve been enough to undo me. All she had to do was walk out in that red dress and let me catch a whiff of her—smell the way she wanted me—and I was hers.

But then, Ana usually gets what she wants when it comes to me.

I hadn’t meant to tell her about how I became the King’s Sword, for example. After all these years, it’s not something I spend much time thinking about. Yet her simple questions pulled it out of me, and I found myself talking about things I haven’t discussed for half a century.

I’m still not sure what she took from it—I’m just grateful it was enough to forgive me. I’ll never forget what it was like to come together again. I watch her eyelids flutter against her cheeks, soaking in the feel of her soft, warm body still curved against mine.