Page 74

EVE

I didn’t know a kiss could feel like this. It was soul-crushing. The kind of kiss that didn’t just steal my breath but left an ache in its place—something deep and insatiable.

His lips were cool, a sharp contrast to the heat building beneath my skin. The way he kissed me—slow, deliberate—made my head spin.

I’d imagined this more times than I cared to admit.

In those stolen fantasies, he’d always been careful. Tender.

But this?

This was possession masquerading as restraint. His mouth moved like he already knew me—like he’d memorized every place I wanted to be touched and had been waiting years to get his hands on me.

Those hands didn’t just hold me—they explored.

One skimmed my waist, the other traced the curve of my spine, fingers splayed wide as if anchoring himself to the moment.

He dragged his palm up, knuckles grazing the underside of my breast before skimming back down again, deliberate as sin, like he couldn’t decide where to touch me first.

I couldn’t breathe.

Every pass of his hands sent a fresh flood of heat through me, pooling low and sharp. I didn’t just want him—I ached. My body pressed into every touch like it was starving for him, like it had been waiting for this exact moment to come alive.

I was done pretending—done convincing myself that I didn’t want this.

His name burned at the back of my throat—but before I could say it, his hands slid lower—beneath my thighs, lifting me effortlessly and pinning me between the door and his body.

A gasp caught in my throat as I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist. He was so close now—his breath cool against my lips, sending electricity tingling down my spine.

“Say the word, and I stop,” he said, hands skimming up my thighs.

I nodded, trying to roll my hips, needing more—needing him.

“I need your words, darling.”

A shiver tore through me. “Yes.”

His lips crashed into mine, and I met him with equal force. I bit his bottom lip, a sharp, hungry edge slipping out before I could stop it.

Xander groaned—deep, rough, like the sound had been ripped from his chest. His lips broke away, dragging heat along my jaw, down my throat, while his hands slipped beneath my shirt, grazing bare skin, catching the swell of my breasts.

“Do you know how many times I’ve thought about this?”

“Xander—”

“All those nights I held you… I could’ve had you. Gods, I wanted to. But I didn’t.”

His grip tightened at my waist. His voice dropped—darker now.

“I told myself I couldn’t. That I wouldn’t.”

His thumb brushed my nipple—feather light—and a jolt of heat tore through me.

“Because I knew,” he whispered, forehead pressing to mine, “if I started—I’d never stop.”

“I don’t want you to stop,” I said, not caring that it sounded like begging.

He caught my mouth again, but slower this time. Plunging his tongue deeper. Like he wanted me to feel every second. Like he was pulling me under with him.

Heat coiled low in my belly, winding tighter as I rolled my hips, chasing that sharp, aching need.

I wanted to see him come undone.

“Keep doing that,” he murmured against my lips, voice low, dangerous—unthinking.

A shiver tore through me. I kissed him again, pressing myself even closer, just to see if he would break.

Xander’s breath hitched—sharp, almost pained. He pulled back just far enough to meet my gaze, his pupils blown wide.

“You’re going to ruin me,” he said, the words quiet… reverent. Like a confession.

Then he moved.

One strong arm hooked beneath my thighs, the other around my back, lifting me off away from the door like I weighed nothing. I barely had time to gasp before he carried me across the room and lowered me to the bed in one fluid, heated motion.

His mouth reclaimed mine—hungry, claiming—pressing me into the mattress, slow and punishing with every touch. I arched into him with a breathless moan, fingers tangling in his hair.

But then, he pulled away.

I blinked, dazed. Chest rising too fast.

He stood at the edge of the bed, looking down at me like I was something sacred and half-forbidden. His gaze burned—shadowed and shining all at once.

He reached for the buttons of his shirt, undoing them one by one, never breaking eye contact.

“Every night I held you,” he said, voice low, raw, “I thought about what it would feel like to touch you.”

Another button slipped free.

“I told myself you were off-limits.”

His fingers moved lower, steady. Controlled. Making me ache with every second he didn’t touch me.

“That I didn’t deserve this.”

He shrugged the shirt from his shoulders, revealing pale skin and lean muscle marked by the quiet history of old scars. No brute strength like Orion—Xander was honed precision and utterly breathtaking.

I wanted to prove him wrong. Prove he deserved this. That he deserved to feel as good as he was making me feel.

Xander’s gaze followed every breath I took as my fingers slipped to the hem of my shirt. Normally, I would’ve hesitated. Hidden.

But he’d already given me everything. Power. Trust. Permission to take what I wanted.

So I did.

I pulled the shirt over my head and let it fall.

His breath caught. I knew what he was looking for—the wound we both thought had killed me. But there was nothing there. Just skin. Just me. Alive. Wanting him.

Something shifted in his eyes. Heat. Hunger. Awe.

And then he reached for his belt, loosening it with practiced ease and letting everything fall.

No barriers. No space.

I reached for him, fingers wrapping around thick cock. Not even close to fitting. Gods, it made my mouth go dry.

His breath shuddered out of him. I did it again, thumb gliding over the head, slick and wanting.

Xander’s hand shot out, catching my wrist—gentle, but unrelenting.

He spun me in one swift motion. The world tilted. I gasped—startled, breathless, completely at his mercy.

For a breathless second, I was weightless—then I landed in his seated lap, my knees sinking into the mattress on either side of his hips.

I gasped, laughter bubbling out before I could stop it, my fingers clinging to his shoulders. Xander grinned—devastating. Unrepentant.

Then he leaned in, his lips brushing over my jaw, his breath a slow, taunting exhale.

“You want to be in charge, darling?” he murmured. “Then take what you want.”

Heat curled up my spine, winding around my ribs like a vise.

He looked at me like I was both a miracle and the very thing that might break him.

I wanted to shatter that doubt completely.

So I leaned in, my hands sliding over his chest, fingers pressing into hard muscle as I rocked my hips forward.

The press of his cock against my clit was sinful—nowhere near enough. The sound Xander made was carnal. He lifted my hips, notching himself at my entrance, and I lowered myself onto him, hands tightening around his neck.

The stretch burned—but it was heaven-sent. I pressed down, taking him deeper.

“That’s my girl.”

His voice was wrecked, fingers flexing against my hips like he was barely holding on.

My body was stretched, filled, and overwhelmed in the best way.

He lifted me slightly, then brought me slamming back down to earth.

A breathless sound escaped my lips and Xander—damn him—just smiled. A slow, knowing smirk as his hands tightened at my hips, keeping me exactly where he wanted me.

“You feel like heaven, darling,” his voice was low, sinful.

I gasped as he tilted me back, his lips dragging down my throat, each kiss a slow brand. I moved again, desperate, but he just hummed, teeth grazing my pulse.

His mouth trailed lower until it found my breast. His lips tightened around my nipple, and a moan tore from me, my head tipping back—

And that’s when I felt it.

A tickle at the edge of my mind—feather light. Familiar.

I froze, breath hitching. Something buzzed in my skull. Then a voice slid into my thoughts, smooth, lazy, and infuriatingly amused.

Someone sounds like they’re having fun.

I choked.

Orion?

Who else, Sunshine? His voice unfurled inside me, low and smug. You really think I wouldn’t answer that siren call of yours?

A strangled noise slipped from me.

You’re in my head?

Could he hear everything? Had he always been able to?

Heat slammed through me, embarrassment igniting like wildfire under my skin.

But Xander didn’t give me time to spiral.

His mouth left my breast just long enough to haul me back to the present—like he felt my drift and refused to lose me. His grip was firm, grounding. His kiss, when it landed again, was brutal in its devotion.

He kissed me like he was silencing every other voice in the world.

Orion’s chuckle echoed through my mind.

Xander pulled back just enough to look at me, his breath ragged, gaze locked and reverent.

“The sounds you make are heavenly.”

“Xander—”

Someone’s feeling needy. Do I need to come in there and take care of you, Sunshine?

“Take what you need, darling,” he rasped. “It’s already yours.”

My spine arched with the heat that followed, the spark of it so sharp it stole the air from my lungs.

I set my hands on his chest, feeling the steady rise of his breath, the coil of tension under my palms. And then I moved, finding my rhythm, chasing every promise in his touch, every inch he was willing to give.

And something inside Xander snapped. His hesitation was long forgotten as he watched me unravel, took in every detail, every shudder that coursed through my body.

A sound ripped from his throat—half-growl, half-begging. His fingers gripped my hips like he was holding on for dear life, but he didn’t stop me. Didn’t try to control.

He let me burn.

“Look at you… Being such a good girl for him. Are you going to be a good girl for both of us?”

A sharp pulse flared low in my stomach. I shivered.

“You’re going to take us so well. We’re going to ruin you together.”

“Please,” I cried, Xander’s name tangled with Orion’s words. I hadn’t considered them both—now I couldn’t think of anything else.

The world fractured. Sensation overtook thought, my body tipping over the edge into something endless—something bright.

Stars exploded behind my eyes as heat rushed through me, like it wanted to obliterate me completely. I clung to Xander, the only thing tethering me to Earth.

“Gods—that was the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.”

In one fluid motion, he flipped me. And then he was thrusting into me again—sharp, deep, his restraint obliterated.

I felt wrecked, undone, but the way he moved—the way he filled me, hit every oversensitive nerve—

I was spiraling all over again.

“I know he’s here. Probably whispering all sorts of filthy things to you because he can’t resist you.”

A sharp inhale—his breath tangled with mine. My eyes fluttered shut, fire racing through me.

“I don’t care what he’s telling you, Eve.”

Another thrust. Deliberate. Punishing.

“I want your eyes on me. I want you here—with me.”

I opened my eyes, and God, I couldn’t have looked away if I tried.

Xander drove into me, stealing every rational thought. A sharp hiss filled the air where my fire met his ice, the spark of it setting fire to every nerve. His hand slid between my thighs, fingers stroking, coaxing, dragging me to the edge.

“I want this next one all to myself,” he said, rough and commanding.

I shattered—quiet and violent all at once. A strangled moan tore from deep inside me as everything coiled and snapped in a rush of white-hot release. I clawed at him, needing to ground myself, but he just held me through it—steady, relentless, his.

“Xander—” I moaned, overwhelmed. Consumed.

His pace turned erratic, hips rolling harder, deeper, each thrust unraveling what little control he had left.

A strangled breath escaped him, fingers digging into my skin—

And then he surrendered. His release tore through him, my name breaking from his lips as he caught my mouth in a kiss that stole every breath, every last piece of me.

I didn’t know pleasure could feel like surrender.