He dropped our bags at the door and picked me up instead. He pressed me against the nearest wall so he could tug at the string behind my neck holding my shirt on. I double-knotted it, which caused him a great deal of frustration until he decided to rip it off instead.
“Before you yell at me, I’ll buy you a new one, scout’s honour,” he mumbled, kissing his way down my neck and chest.
“Don’t bother, I double knotted it on purpose—already bought myself six identical ones.”
He groaned. “She-demon. You’re going to be the death of me.”
“So I shouldn’t tell you I snuck into the bathroom before we got on the shuttle and removed my underwear so I’d be ready for you?”
His hands slid under my skirt and he let out another low groan when he found I wasn’t lying.
“Fuck.” He put me down and pulled back. “Bedroom. Now.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice, I was down the hall and jumping on the bed five seconds later. He trailed slower behindme, bringing our bags in too. I’d slid out of my skirt by the time he joined me.
“Jesus Christ, you really are trying to kill me,” he muttered under his breath.
“No, I’m trying to get my husband to fuck me. Is it working?”
“Yes.”
He strolled to the edge of the bed and wrapped his hand around my ankle, tugging me to him.
I squealed. “Hey! That wasn’t nice.”
He dropped to his knees and looked up at me. “Forgive me, I got ahead of myself.”
“Beg me,” I teased.
“Forgive me.” He kissed the inside of my knee. “Please.” He kissed his way up my inner thigh. “Please,” he whispered, voice cracking slightly, and I knew he didn’t mean for this.
I pulled him onto the bed with me.
“Aus, look at me,” I said softly when he wouldn’t meet my gaze.
Instead, he kissed me. Cheek, neck, shoulder, jaw.
“I don’t deserve you.”
“Stop that.” I grabbed his chin and forced his eyes on mine. “I love you, whether you think you deserve it or not. You didn’t let this happen to me, Niko showed me what happened in the forest and how hard you tried to get back to me. It’s not your fault.”
He kissed me softly, pulling me closer. My hands went to the hem of his shirt so I could pull it over his head. He tried to go right back to kissing me but I stopped him, getting misty eyed as I looked at his chest. He looked down at himself, a little smirk growing on his face.
“Do you like it?”
He got a nightshade tattoo—his only tattoo. The stem sat between his pecks, four small leaves decorated the empty space between each flower. The nightshade flowers themselves weren’tin bloom, designed in black and white—except one. Directly over his heart the flower was mostly bloomed and purple.
I ran my fingers over it. “I love it. When did you get it? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“A few days after they took you, I needed to have a piece of you with me. As for not telling you… I wanted a dramatic reveal, like you did.” He grinned.
I smiled, tracing every detail. “I hadn’t planned to tell you this, but when I got my dragon, I put it over my heart because you already had it—my heart, I mean—even back then.”
He pulled me into his lap, lips going right to the dragon’s tail. “You’ve had my heart the moment I learned you’d been stalking me for two months.”
I laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”
I felt him smile.
