Page 14

14

LEONA

I clicked the door to our room shut. “Cas.”

It had been a day since we made our plan and discussed the LA trip. Cas had spent the entire day tight with tension, barely saying a word since the meeting. He had even ignored Ryuji’s normal barbs during dinner, choosing to glare at his plate like it insulted his mother. Then he’d tried to excuse himself to hide out in here by himself, but I’d immediately known what was happening and pushed away from the table to follow him.

We were alone now. We needed to get this out before he blew up at the Shadows or he had a meltdown when I left.

“Cas,” I repeated as he ran his hands through his hair and paced the room. “Talk to me.”

A breath of air whooshed from his chest. “I can’t, Leona. I tried, but I can’t let you go.”

My heart broke at the look on his face. Desperation. It was gnawing at him from the inside out. He paced in front of the bed, nervous energy practically bursting from every pore on his body.

He was terrified, and I couldn’t blame him. We’d been through hell and back. And now I was asking him to let me leave for days. It had to be eating him up—and it was to me, too. The thought of being on an entirely different coast, leaving him here in the same city as Max , was tearing me apart.

But as much as it broke my heart to see him unraveling, we both still knew this was the best way to move forward with our plan.

Debating it wouldn’t matter. Discussing it wouldn’t make a difference.

And he didn’t need logic. Neither of us did.

I opened my arms wide without another word.

He stomped across the room, snaking his arms around my waist while I wrapped mine around his neck. He buried his face into my neck, and I squeezed him back like my life depended on it.

He needed my love.

“Cas,” I murmured as I cupped his cheeks and guided his lips to mine. The kiss was fierce and claiming. His lips burned. His whole body lit me on fire.

His shoulder was still fucked, and he still wasn’t putting full weight on his knee, but I didn’t think I could wait to be with him any longer. My body and soul cried out for him. It needed him.

There was too much between us right now to stop, too much to communicate and feel . Still on my tiptoes, I pushed his body backward until the backs of his knees hit the bed and he collapsed, pulling me down on top of him. He touched every piece of skin he could get his hands on.

“ Leona .” His voice was full of reverence and awe as I straddled him. I could already feel the hard length of him pressing against my inner thighs. My core ached for him.

We’d been barreling toward this moment for far too long.

I whimpered into his mouth while his hands sunk underneath the fabric of my shirt and trailed upward. With a simple flick of his fingertips, he had my bra unhooked, and I wiggled the straps over my shoulders to toss it behind me. He didn’t waste a second to plaster his hands back to my chest, exploring every bare inch of my breasts. His hips jerked up under me with a groan.

Skin. I needed to feel his skin. The heat of his body and mine, the fire spreading between us. Consuming us. It was the only way to work through this tension, to let him know how much he meant to me and that everything was going to be fine.

“Is your body okay for this?” I asked, yanking up his shirt. Every night when we went to sleep in this bed, I dreamed of this, but I was terrified I’d hurt him and make it even harder for him to regain his old strength. “You’re not too injured, still?”

“You let me worry about my body, all right, princess,” he growled, pulling it off, and then leaning up to capture my mouth in another searing kiss. “Is this what you want? Me?”

The night he confessed he loved me, he also confessed he didn’t believe he’d be enough for me. It felt like a small part of him was asking if he was now. My heart swelled. He was everything to me.

“I want this more than anything. I want you more than anything, Cas.” I grabbed his chin between my thumb and forefinger. His growing scruff made him look drop-dead gorgeous. “You are mine and I am yours. We are two halves of the same soul. Don’t ever forget it.”

His eyes darkened, and I watched, rapt, as his tongue ran across his bottom lip. His hands cupped my ass, pulling my hips tight against his cock.

“ Cas,” I groaned.

We needed to get these clothes off. Immediately.

With his hands still firmly on my ass, he flipped us to put himself on top. My stomach swooped as his fingers hooked into the waistband of my pants and yanked them off, panties and all. In another blink, I tossed my shirt somewhere against the wall near the bathroom.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for you?” he whispered, gaze hotter than lava as his eyes roamed over my naked body. Tentatively, like he was afraid to even touch me—or maybe too reverent —his fingertips brushed against the bare skin of my stomach. “How many times I’ve dreamt of sinking inside your tight heat and making you scream my name?”

My breath hitched when his hands trailed lower. He was exploring my body like I was a treasure. I gasped and arched off the bed as he swiped one finger through my soaked folds.

“Too many times.” I smiled, then I hooked my heels around the back of his thighs and yanked him forward. “Do what you want with me, Caspian Di Salvo. I am yours.”

“ Mine ,” he groaned, dragging his nose up my neck, peppering that sensitive skin with dozens of tiny kisses that sent electricity straight to my core. I was drenched and so needy I could feel my pulse between my legs.

“Yours,” I said, allowing my hands to find the waistband of his jeans. My fingers fumbled on the metal of his belt. “Off. Now.”

He laughed, the sound vibrating through my entire body. I needed more of Cas laughing. Cas laughing made my body feel as light as champagne bubbles.

“As you wish, princess,” he said, eyes crinkling as he shucked off his pants and underwear. God, he was huge . Thick and perfect and absolutely mine . I wanted my mouth on that cock. I wanted him inside me. I wanted him here, there, and everywhere .

He climbed back over my body, meeting my outstretched arms before slanting his mouth against mine. Our hands explored one another; our bodies plastered together. His skin felt hot and flushed. My thighs spread even wider to accommodate his weight.

This was so right. So perfect.

My hands skated over his chest, exploring him just as he explored me, but I froze as I touched damaged flesh. Gunshot wounds. Knife wounds. Pink, scarred skin.

Tears welled in my eyes. Every single injury was evidence of how much he loved me.

I didn’t deserve him.

“Hey, hey, princess,” he murmured, eyes wide as he paused. He smoothed my hair out of my face. “What’s wrong? Do you want to stop?”

“Absolutely not. Nothing, it’s nothing.” My thumb brushed over the scar tissue. “I just love you so much.”

He sucked in a breath, staring down at me with those ocean blues. I’d spend the rest of my life getting lost in them.

I loved his strength and determination. I love his selflessness. I loved the look on his face when he realized I was teasing him. I loved how protective he was. I loved how he made me feel safe. I loved how, underneath his grumbly exterior, he was romantic, and kind and devoted and loyal. I loved how he could see the little girl I used to be and love the woman I had become.

“I love you, Cas,” I repeated, voice breaking. “I love you. I love you.”

It was the first time I’d said it aloud, and based on his reaction, I would never stop saying it .

His breath hitched. He pressed his lips together, eyes roaming over my face. Here we were, holding back tears. It had taken us so long to get here.

“I love you so much, princess,” he murmured, pressing his cheek to mine. “I love you always and forever.”

“Cas,” I breathed as I turned both of our heads. Our lips crashed together, the heat and urgency returning to my hands.

I wasn’t sure how long these scars would trigger feelings of guilt. They were reminders of how blind I’d been for years and years. But I made a silent promise to us both that I’d spend the rest of my life rewriting the pain on his skin to leave only my love instead.

His hand moved to wedge between us, and I groaned as he teased my clit. Cas was touching me. Cas was between my legs. Cas, Cas, Cas.

His name ping-ponged around my head, the only thing I could think, with how he drug his middle finger through my wetness.

“You want me,” he whispered, leaning back to watch my face while I whimpered and moaned. “I can’t believe you want me.”

“I want you. So much. But if you don’t stick a finger or a cock in me right now, I think I might scream.”

He grinned and pressed his finger inside. My nails clutched at his chest, my eyes fluttering shut. He sucked on my neck, sliding his finger in and out of me, already building those sweet waves of pleasure. I was going to come so fast. Every brush of his skin on mine, his chest pressed to me, his finger pumping inside me was like a wildfire blazing out of control. As soon as he added a second, I came apart, coming on his fingers while I gasped his name over and over.

“I knew it,” he said with a grin.

“What?”

“That you’d be so fucking beautiful coming for me.” He crashed his lips against mine again, and I bucked my hips to get his cock lined up, but he pulled back, hands skating down my thighs. Lazily, his eyes drank me in, from the flush of my chest to my glistening, needy pussy.

“Caspian Di Salvo. Put your dick in me right now.”

“No.”

I propped myself up on my elbows. “Excuse me? No?”

He grinned. God, he was so gorgeous. “I’ve been waiting years for this. I will take my sweet time enjoying every fucking second.”

The moment the words left his mouth, his head ducked between my legs, and he clamped down on my clit. My body jerked with a cry, my hands threading through his hair.