Page 260 of Black Reign

That sobers me slightly.

“You keep mentioning that.”

“Because you keep forgetting.”

“I haven't forgotten.”

His gaze moves over my face.

“I know.”

His thumb brushes my cheek.

Tender again.

That somehow feels more intimate than his tongue in my mouth.

“I want you,” he says quietly.

Every butterfly in my stomach catches fire.

“But not because you're scared. Not because you're exhausted. Not because I'm the first safe thing you've touched tonight.”

My throat tightens.

“Xavier—”

“No.”

He brushes another curl back.

“We have time.”

Do we?

The question must show on my face.

His expression softens.

“We have tonight.”

My chest aches.

Tonight.

Not promises.

Not forever.

Just this room.

This rain.

The fire.

His hands still around me.

Dinner on its way upstairs.