Page 122 of Wounded King

"Really?" She lights up like a Christmas tree.

"Really." I nod.

"I wasn't sure if you'd like them. There was another pair in just plain black, but…"

Black would have been preferable. "These are perfect. Thank you."

Next, I help Violet bring her loot into the closet. I've always hated shopping, every part of it, but putting all her new things away with her—things I bought for her—is an entirely new experience. One I'm loving every minute of. When we're done, all those purchases hardly make a dent in her closet.

"We'll need another trip," I observe. "You need luggage, too."

"These are already more clothes than I can wear in a year," she protests.

I pull her against me by her waist, "You'd be amazed how many clothes you'll go through with me."

Playfully, I tug on her dress to give my words meaning. Her eyes widen and her mouth opens in a perfectO. Then she stops my hands, "Not this one, please. I really like this one."

"Hmm," I nudge her toward the island in the center of the closet, while pulling the hem of her dress up. "I might be persuaded to spare it, but you'll have to convince me."

I turn her, and she pliantly drapes her torso over the island, while I lift the hem up all the way over her incredible ass. "I won't, however," I pull on the black lacy fabric of her panties, "show such mercy to these."

Violet giggles underneath me. The giggle dies in a low moan when I rip the panties off her. "You know I can't resist when you tease me like this."

"Why is that so hot?" She asks, turning her head around to face me.

"You thought that hot?" I massage the half globes of her ass, loving how soft and pliable her flesh is underneath my hands. "Ah, you're still wet for me. That drives me wild, you know. You want me as much as I want you."

She moans deep and throatily at the touch of my hand between her legs. Her hands move forward, her fingers finding purchase at the other side of the island.

"That's right, you better hold on," I warn, spreading her legs apart with my knee and opening my fly. "You're about to get exactly what you need. My dick is all too ready to enter you." I rub it a few times up and down her slit, teasing her even more. "You feel that? That's what you've been begging for."

Before I bring it to her entrance, where its arrival is met with another deep groan from her, I whisper, "You're going to scream my name so loud, everyone will know who you belong to."

Her hips rise up in welcome, inviting me to grab them. An invitation she doesn't have to make twice. I love how full her hips are, how easy they are to hold on to, before I plunge deep into her and back out, only to thrust back in. "That's right, take every inch of me."

Nothing compares to the feeling of her walls clenching all around me when she comes, screaming out my name, and then all blood leaves my brain and takes all thought, leaving only sensations of bliss as my climax meets hers. "You feel that? That's us, together. Perfect."

I love waking up next to Marcello, seeing his face first thing in the morning. Looking into his stormy gray eyes and feeling more cherished than I ever have in my life.

This is what I imagine heaven to be like, this quiet no man's time, after the night is over and before the day has quite broken yet. When it's just him and me—well, and Felix snuggled into my side, purring quietly. When we just look at each other, knowing we were meant for one another. But, like all beautiful moments, it doesn't last long. A phone rings. Surprised, I realize it's mine.

The number is blocked, probably spam, but I answer it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Violetta." The voice on the other end opens a floodgate of memories I didn't even know I had. I shoot up straight.

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Violetta, you—" Marcello rips the phone out of my hand, his face twisted grimly.

"Who is this?"

"Let me speak to my daughter."

"How the fuck did you get her number?" Marcello spits.

The shaking begins in my toes, from where it slowly crawls up my legs, turns my stomach freezing. I know that voice.