Page 168 of Trapped By the Blood Ruby

“Tell me you’re mine,” he demanded, stilling inside her when she was trembling on the edge.

“Yours,” she gasped. “Always yours⁠—“

“Again.” His hand fisted in her hair, tilting her head back to better expose her throat.

“I’m yours, Laurent. Only yours.” Her voice broke on a sob of frustration.

“Good.” He resumed his pace, slow and controlled. The urge to bite her, to drink from her, was overpowering. He held himself in check, knowing he’d already taken more than he should have.

She’d saved him.

In more ways than one.

His movements began to lose fluidity. He released her hair, only to wrap his fingers around her thigh, better angling her cunt for him to claim.

She threw her head back, letting out a soft moan. “I love you so much⁠—“

“And I love you, little flower,” he growled before finding her lips. The moment his tongue danced with hers, messy and uninhibited, his control snapped. “I love you more than I ever thought possible. More than my own existence.”

She whimpered.

He claimed her brutally, thrusting into her at the pace she craved. This time, when he felt her sweet scent heighten, when her heart reached the exact tempo that signaled her climax, he didn’t stop. He drove them both over the edge. She shattered beneath him with a scream of his name, her body clenching around him as he followed her over the edge, pouring himself into her with a roar that shook the windows. Every contraction of her inner walls milked him, and it was utter bliss.

His mind was a haze of scattered thoughts, but one thing was certain. He couldn’t live without her. Nor would he have to.

Gently, he pulled free and repositioned them on the bed. She curled against him, boneless with exhaustion. “That was… Wow.”

“Did you like your punishment?”

A breathless laugh burst from her chest. “So much I’m considering what other reckless behavior I might get away with, if that is to be my reward.” His warning growl had her laughing. “All right. All right. As long as you promise to give me that, there’s no need for anything dangerous.”

“I’ll give you that whenever you want, ten times a day if you wish. So long as you don’t put yourself in danger again.”

Her expression turned serious. “You were worth saving, Laurie. I would do it again and again if I had to.”

He both hated and loved her admission. There was little he could say, so he pressed their foreheads together, hoping his actions spoke loud enough for the both of them. She hummed, pure contentment in the sound.

He held her close, stroking her hair as sleep eventually claimed her. She needed rest, and he’d kept her from it long enough. It was selfish of him, but he’d needed that. Needed to be inside her, needed her wrapped around his cock, needed their bodies pressed close.

Only once she was fully asleep did he allow himself to process the terror that had gripped him in that courtyard. She was here. She was his. He would ensure it remained so.

He lost track of the minutes as he listened to the steady beat of her heart. A sound he’d long since memorized. One he could recreate in his thoughts whenever he closed his eyes.

Then he extracted himself so as not to disrupt her, dressing in the dim evening light. The events from that morning felt far away after all that had happened. Lily had been his chief priority. But now that she was safe and resting, there were other matters to attend to. Matters that couldn’t wait. He pressed a brief kiss to her forehead, lingering a moment longer simply to gaze at her before he slipped from the room.

Hassan was waiting in the drawing room, a glass of blood-wine in hand. His dark eyes tracked Laurent’s approach. The sight of him there, and not Marco, made his chest seize. “Fuck,” he breathed, pressing a hand over it.

Hassan came to his feet, a question in his gaze.

“She’s resting,” he said before Hassan could ask.

“Good.” Hassan’s jaw tightened. “Final count—seven dead, twelve wounded but healing.”

Laurent nodded. They’d been fortunate, considering. But the losses still sat heavy in his chest. Some, like Marco, he might never fully recover from.

“I suppose it is still too early but…I will require a new second.”

“Laurent,” Hassan warned.