Page 156 of Wicked Empire (Knight's Ridge Empire 3)

Daemon flips him off before stealing his coffee and perching himself on the arm of an empty chair as Calli reappears down the hallway.

Her footsteps falter a little before she nods at something, or more so someone behind me.

Twisting around, I find my girl standing in the doorway, wearing just my shirt from last night and a lazy, sleepy smile on her face.

“Stel,” I breathe, my heart tumbling in my chest as I take in her beauty, her strength, her fucking resilience.

Pushing from the sofa, I make my way over to her, taking her face in my hands and staring right into her eyes, searching for any signs that the effects of her panic attack last night might still be lingering.

“I’m okay,” she whispers so that only I can hear her. “I promise.”

“Sorry I left you. These arseholes turned up.”

She smiles at me before looking over my shoulder at our visitors.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Come and get your coffee before it gets cold, Princess,” Theo says, pride evident in his tone.

Taking her hand in mine, I turn away, ready to lead her toward the guys, but she tugs on my hand, pulling me back.

I crowd her against the wall, pressing the length of my body against hers, resting my forearm beside her head.

“I think you forgot something,” she purrs.

“Fucking hell, not again,” someone complains, but I’m too lost in my girl’s eyes to acknowledge who it is.

“Yeah, I think I did,” I murmur, dropping down and brushing my lips against hers. “Morning, baby.”

She arches into me the second I claim her lips, grip her hip in my hand and hold her tighter against me.

Someone wolf whistles as my tongue plunges into her mouth, and I flip whoever it might have been off as I drown in her.

The temptation to drag her back down to the bedroom is strong, but she makes the decision for me when our kiss ends.

“Come on, I need that coffee.”

With my arms around her waist, I hide my raging hard-on behind her body as we make our way back to the sofa, a move that none of the guys miss. Calli just looks at us through soppy, teenage girl eyes. Something tells me that sometime soon, she’s going to really experience what being a part of this life entails, and that innocence that lingers in her eyes, the one Nico has tried to protect for so long, is going to shrivel up and die. I hope for her sake it doesn’t, but I know that realistically, it’s inevitable.

Stella settles herself on my lap and accepts her coffee from Theo and a pain au chocolat from Alex, and we all settle into our new normal in our new home, while they all look at her with pride and awe in their eyes—but no one more than me, because none of them can truly appreciate just how fucking incredible the woman in my arms is, how she brings me to my knees every single second of every fucking day.

Leaning forward, I press a kiss to the soft skin behind her ear and breathe in her addictive scent.

Turning away from Calli, who she’s having a conversation with, her eyes lock on mine.

“You okay?” she asks.

“Yeah. Just needed to…” Her brows pinch as she waits for me to finish. “I love you, Hellion.” Her face softens, a content smile pulling at her lips. “I can’t wait to burn the rest of hell down together.”