“I’m going to…” My body feels boneless, spent from that first orgasm, but incomprehensibly, another one is building deep inside my core.
“You’re going to come for me like the good girl that you are,” he growls against my ear. “Your pussy’s going to milk me dry, baby. Let me see it.”
In the moment of my orgasm, my neural circuits go haywire. I scream as it tears through me, violent and all-consuming.
Nero presses his face to the crook of my neck and groans as he spills inside me, his thrusts slowing to something more languid as his cum mixes with my own.
We hold each other for a while, and I revel in our closeness. I’ve denied us this for so long, and I’m lost in the blissful haze of the moment.
I let myself believe that this is it—this is when everything changes for us for the better.
I just hope I’m not wrong.
CHAPTER 26
BLAKE
When I wake up the next morning, the sun is high in the sky, and Nero is no longer in my bed.
I sit up against the headboard and wince at the dull ache between my legs.
Maybe I should have taken a bath at four a.m. after Nero woke me up again, but at that point, I’d come so many times, I was no more than a puddle of tingling nerves. I would have likely drowned.
I let out a low groan and roll my head back and forth to stretch my neck. There’s a constellation of hickeys marring the swells of my breasts. I’m sure if I look in the mirror, I’ll find more.
Gingerly, I get out of bed. As I walk to the en suite bathroom, Nero’s words come back to me, constricting my chest.“I’m in love with you. And I know you’re not sure if you feel the same way about me because I’m not the kind of man you ever imagined yourself with.”
I anchor my palms against the vanity and heave out a breath.
It’s true, I never imagined myself with a guy like Nero. On paper, he sounds exactly like the kind of man I swore to stay away from after seeing how my mom suffered with my dad.
But it’s time to face reality and admit that I’ve fallen for him. Thoroughly and completely. Regardless of who he is.
Rowan Miller. Nero De Luca.
Turns out they’re not so different after all, at least not as far as my heart is concerned.
I splash some cold water against my skin and meet my own gaze in the mirror. My hair is in a terrible state. I grab a brush and start combing out the knots, taking my time with each one so that I can gather my thoughts before I get out there and face the man.
Nero was honest with me last night. He’s been honest with me since he put that cheap ring on my finger. But I haven’t been honest with him. He has no idea about the deal I made with Vita behind his back.
While he was telling me last night how good and selfless I am for trying to help him, all I could feel was a crushing sense of guilt.
When did I become a liar? And a hypocrite as well?
I was so angry with Nero for weeks after I found out how he lied to me in Darkwater Hollow. I declared I’d never forgive him for those lies.
While he’s been trying to bring us back to each other these past few weeks, I’ve been scheming about how I can run away from him.
That seemed justified at the beginning when I was brimming with anger and hurt, but it doesn’t feel justified anymore. And would I have kept up the lie if Maksim’s disgusting offer hadn’t forced us to call off our plan last night?
Probably. I would have continued to let Nero believe I was doing all of this only to help him. I would have gotten that passport from Vita, and then I would have had a big decision to make.
To stay or to go.
It’s so clear to me now that if I’d left, it would have crushed Nero. It would’ve been the worst possible thing I could ever do to him. It would’ve been a cruel betrayal. But I don’t have to worry about that anymore. My hand has been forced. It feels like fate’s telling me to trust my heart instead of my head, and I’m going to listen.
I can forget about the favor Vita promised me. I can pretend it never happened. I place the brush down on the vanity, grab my robe from the hook, and wrap it around me. What if Vita mentions it to Nero herself? I never told her what the favor would entail, but Nero could likely guess the gist of it. It’s so damn obvious what I would have wanted all those weeks ago when I met with her.
