Page 114 of Unveil

“Oh myGod,” I growl my frustration, leaping up and off my seat with all the angry energy thrumming in my veins. “I’m gonna shoot that messenger right in her dainty little damn foot.” I’m pacing the fire’s edge when I turn on him. “What could she have possibly said that would make you think you?—”

I stop, my blood running cold. All the fight leaves my posture, and my voice softens. “She told you about the lowered sexual inhibitions part.”

He nods once, eyes still on the ground.

I round the fire slowly and kneel in front of him, taking his hands. They tighten around mine like his been desperate to hold me, and he finally meets my gaze.

“Orion,” I murmur, keeping my tone careful but firm. “Listen to me loud and clear. And if there’s ever something you need to trust me on, it’s this, alright?”

His multicolored eyes blaze in the light like a forest fire, begging me to tell him he’s wrong. I lick my lips nervously,hoping what I say next resonates so he never, ever has that question again.

“Everything…everythingwe did, I wanted. Do you understand?”

Hope glimmers across his destroyed expression as the tightness around his eyes and jaw eases.

“My inhibitions might be lowered, but they’re stillmyfeelings.Mydesires. I’ve tracked my disorder like my life depends on it. I know the difference between being impulsive and unsafe and being run-of-the-mill reckless Luna,” I joke, but it lands flat, so I squeeze his large hands, brushing my thumbs along the glossy scars. “What we did together was none of those. I haven’t regretted a single thing with you. Ever.”

A hard swallow trails down his throat as he leans forward, silently hanging on every word.

“I wanted you last year when you gave me my first kiss on my birthday and I was totally healthy.”

His eyes glint with memory, and I smile.

“I wanted you the night you asked me to dance, before any symptoms even showed.”

His face darkens now with the same hesitant hunger burning in my lower belly. My heart pounds as I release his hands to place mine on his hard thighs, sliding closer to the heat radiating from him.

“I wanted you when you came inside me under the waterfall…”

“Fuck, Luna,” he mutters through clenched teeth. His hands fist on his knees, but he lets me keep exploring.

I breathe deeply, getting my nerves under control. His gaze flicks to my breasts nearly spilling out of my bodice, then back to my lips, landing on my eyes with reverent softness.

“And I wanted you when Ibeggedyou to claim me in the forest.”

He growls low, and his hands slip beneath the jacket, finding the curve of my waist.

“And I want you right now.”

Closing the gap between us, I kiss him without hesitation. My nails dig into his jeansas I bite his lip then soften the nip with my tongue. A curse rumbles from his chest, vibrating the air between us as he pulls me into his heat, flush against his hardening cock. He lifts my face to deepen the kiss, curving around me for a better angle, his tongue dancing with mine in a pas de deuxof sexual tension and need.

I sneak my fingers under his shirt, willing them not to tremble despite my excitement and anticipation. My nails scratch his abs, and he groans as I follow down the light trail of hair leading to his waistband.

He kisses me like my truth healed his soul, and maybe it did. His singular obsession with consuming me means he doesn’t even register when I unbuckle him. Not until I drag my lips from his. He tries to move with me, but he seems to finally realize I’ve already unbuttoned his jeans, and he starts as I slowly draw his zipper down.

I whisper against his lips, and he shudders when I repeat a version of what he said a lifetime ago in the dressing room.

“Let me show you. Just. How.Fucking. Badly. I wanteverythingwith you, Orion Fury.”

This is a bad idea. Right?

But with Luna looking up at me like this? For the life of me, I can’t remember why.

My wife kneels before me in the firelight, every bit a sinful angel worshiping her devil. Embers cast her silhouette in gold and smoke. Her full pout glistens, tongue peeking out to lick her lips, and her cherry cola hair burns in a hellfire halo around her flushed face. My leather jacket drapes over her shoulders, its shadows darkening her stained, feathered bodice, while her dirty tulle skirt spreads around her. She’s my black swan on her knees for her black-hearted Fury. I don’t deserve it, I don’t deserve her, but somehow she sees me for the villain I am and still finds me worthy.

Fuck, I’m about to lose every ounce of good, goddamn, gentlemanly sense I’ve ever had.

She told me to trust her, and she does seem better, the symptoms having eased before my eyes since the graveyard.