Not Estas.
Not Rudy D’Amico.
Not Alexei Rogozin.
Andcertainlynot some pathetic demon lord lurking in the bowels of hell.
As the last, blissful tremors finally receded, Dorian stilled inside her, once again sensing the pulse of her heartbeat, the perfect heat, the softness.
She smiled at him in the darkness, and he lifted a hand to cup her face, holding her as if she were the most delicate summer rose on the vine.
Emotion welled in his chest.
“Tell me you’re mine, Charlotte,” he said suddenly, desperate to hear her say it. “Promise me you’llalwaysbe mine.”
Another smile ghosted across her mouth, and she closed her eyes and touched her forehead to his, her breath warm and sweet on his lips. “I’m yours, Dorian Redthorne. Always.”
Dorian closed his eyes, letting her soft voice echo through his mind and shore up his heart, as if her own impassioned declaration could break the curse that bound her to another.
The curse he’d yet to tell her about.
“I love you,” he whispered, and there in the quiet, intimate space of the car, the truth of those words—the depth of them—finally set him free.
He would tell her about the demon mark tonight because she deserved to know.
But in the end, the confession wouldn’t matter.
One way or another, Dorian would hunt down the beast who’d claimed her.
And one way or another, he’d destroy him.
Even if he had to destroy himself in the process.
Chapter Eleven
They drove back to Ravenswood in silence, Charlotte lost in her own thoughts, Dorian struggling to find the words for his.
He was no closer when the massive stone manor finally came into view. No closer when he pulled into the garage, navigating the BMW to the dark corner in the back. No closer when he turned off the car, listening to the familiar tick of the engine.
The sound used to bring him comfort; it’d always meant he was home. That however terrible and black the day had been, he’d survived it. That somehow, he’d made it back to the one place that always brought him solace.
Now, the sound reminded him only of a bomb counting down to its brutal detonation.
Next to him, Charlotte let out a deep sigh, her shoulders heavy with some new weight.
Neither of them made a move to exit the car.
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” she finally said, her voice impossibly soft in the confined space. “I can always tell when you’re holding back.”
“Between you and Aiden,” he teased, “I’m afraid I’ll never be able to hide anything again.”
“Are you still upset with me about tonight?”
Dorian brushed his knuckles across her cheek and shook his head. He could no more stay mad at her than he could imagine spending an eternity without her.
“Then what is it?” she asked.
Then what is it…The ultimate question. There were so many thoughts colliding in his head, all he had to do was reach out and pluck one from the ether.
