Page 264 of Legacy

She huffs a soft, almost defiant laugh, but her fingers curl tighter into the collar of my shirt.

“Is that your way of telling me to stay out of it?”

“No.” My thumb drags along her bottom lip. “It’s my way of saying I’ll handle the war, Scarlet. You handle the future.Ourfuture.”

Her lips part, but whatever she was going to say is lost when I drag my mouth along the line of her collarbone, sucking lightly until her breath stutters.

“You’re distracting me,” she whispers, hips shifting against me, heat flaring between us.

I smile against her skin, biting back a groan at the way she moves for me. “I plan to.”

She hums, her nails scraping lightly along my collar as she leans in, her lips brushing my ear like she knows she’s already won.

“You know,” she says, soft and a little sly, “before I made her hate me, Vasilisa said she wanted to paint us… through descriptions.”

She tilts her head, a challenge glinting in her eyes.

“So, tell me,Sinner… how would you describe me?”

I smirk. But my next breath is slow, steady becausefuck,she doesn’t know what she’s asking.

“Dio, Adriana Scarlet Castillo…” My hands tighten on her thighs, thumbs brushing slow circles into the soft skin. “You really want to wreck me with that question, don’t you?”

She grins like she knows exactly what she’s doing. Maybe she does. Either way, I’m already lost.

“I’d tell her you’re the kind of beauty that steals breath quietly,” I say, voice low, my hand cupping her face. “The kind that doesn’t hit you all at once, because the universe knows if it did, you’d be on your knees. Praying. Or begging.”

My thumb grazes her jaw as I let myself look at her—reallylook. “You’re the kind of beautiful that makes men ruin themselves, Tesoro.The kind that makes them believe in God, just so they have someone to blame for loving you.”

“Your eyes…” I pause, meeting them again. “They’re not just brown. They’re warm honey poured over dark chocolate. Sweet, rich,deep.”

My thumb drags across her cheek. “Soft, but sharp. Eyes that see everything, and still choose tenderness.”

I let that settle before I continue.

“I’d tell her to start there. To paint your eyes like they hold galaxies behind them—because they do.”

My hand trails lower, tracing the line of her jaw.

“Your face? Heart-shaped. Elegant. But it’s your mouth that ruins me. Lips that speak fire and surrender in the same breath. That smirk? It says you know something no one else does. And you do.”

I let my gaze linger on hers for another breath before my fingers slip into her hair.

“Your hair? The kind a manachesto touch. Soft, effortless, wild. Falls like a sigh, like dusk settling over the earth.”

I tuck a strand behind her ear. “It’s your crown. Innocence when it falls loose. Power when you tie it back.”

My fingers trail down the strand, slow and reverent.

“It’s not just brown. It catches light in hidden tones—shades of warmth you don’t notice until you’re close. And by then, Tesoro, it’s too late. You’re already lost.”

My hand slips to the back of her neck. “And the texture? Makes a man want to bury his hands in it. When you’re on your knees. Or asleep against his chest, breathing soft like you do when you dream.”

I pause, just long enough to make her heart beat louder.

“You still sure you want me to keep describing you? Or are you ready to admit you’re trying to destroy me?”

She doesn’t answer. Just watches me like I’m the only voice in the world.