Page 51 of Revenge (Warriors of the Drexian Academy #6)

Chapter

Fifty-One

Deklyn

I carried Sasha through the door of our fantasy suite, her arms wrapped around my neck.

Despite the furor throughout the station, despite the Earth delegation preparing to depart, despite Serge’s insistence that we had more details to sort out before the wedding took place the next day, I’d stolen Sasha away and snuck back to our fantasy suite.

There was nothing that mattered more than my taking care of my real fiancée, and that meant removing her from all the fallout and drama.

It also meant showing her just how real my feelings were for her.

Every time we’d fallen into each other’s arms before, it had been with the understanding that it wasn’t real and that it was only for fun.

I’d told myself that we were burning off energy and that it didn’t matter, but now I knew it mattered more than anything.

Sasha mattered more than anything to me.

“You don’t have to carry me over the threshold,” Sasha said. “We aren’t married yet.”

“Why would that matter?”

She laughed and fluttered a hand in the air. “I forgot you don’t know all the Earth wedding traditions.”

“I don’t, but I know people are required to leave the bride and groom alone.”

“That’s after the wedding,” she teased, though her eyes sparkled with mischief. “And it’s so the couple can get it on, especially if they’ve waited until their wedding night.”

“Then that doesn’t apply to us.”

“Hardly.” She laughed as I dropped her onto the enormous bed, watching as she bounced once among the silk pillows.

“On Earth, couples stay apart the night before their wedding,” she continued, propping herself up on her elbows. “And we’re getting married for real tomorrow.”

I began peeling off my formal jacket, my gaze never leaving her face. “Then consider this another rehearsal for what is it your humans call it? A honeysmoon?”

“Honeymoon,” she corrected, though her voice was already getting breathless as I continued undressing.

“Honeymoon,” I repeated, savoring the strange Earth word as I finished stripping down and climbed naked onto the bed beside her.

Her gaze raked over my body as her breath quickened, and her pupils flared.

As I began working at the fastenings of her dress, my hands gentle but insistent, I marveled at how differently things had ended than I’d ever expected.

When I’d first agreed to help Sasha with her quest for revenge, I’d thought we were embarking on a dangerous endeavor that could end badly for both of us.

But I’d also thought that we would go our separate ways once we were done.

I’d never imagined that the fake engagement would become the most real thing in my life. I’d never guessed that the woman I’d rescued from a Kronock prison would end up rescuing me right back.

“Deklyn,” she whispered after I’d undressed her, and she lay on her back with her dark hair spilling around her face.

There was something in her voice that made me pause.

“What is it, sweetheart?” I asked, searching her face for any sign of hesitation or regret.

She reached up to cup my cheek with her palm. “It’s just that I love you. Really, truly love you. Not because you saved me, although that was really nice, but because you make me feel like the best version of myself, even when I’m being impossible.”

“You are impossible,” I agreed, my voice rough with emotion. “And I wouldn’t change a single stubborn, reckless, beautiful thing about you.”

When I kissed her, it was with all the hope I’d been carrying since that first moment in the Kronock prison when she’d snapped at me, and I’d known I wanted to know everything there was to know about the headstrong woman.

This wasn’t about revenge anymore or even the heat that always seemed to spark between us.

This was about forever.