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Just after midnight, Mylah and I are finally able to break away from the reception and slip up to my quarters.

I close the door and turn around, and she’s right there, grabbing me by the nape of my button-up and pushing me against the wall. Smiling down at her, I let her pin me, let her press her body against mine.

“Did you mean everything you said?” she asks, only half-joking.

Part of my heart aches at the thought that she’s still not sure if she can trust me. That’s just as well—one confession isn’t going to make up for the way I’ve treated her.

The only thing I can do now is prove it to her, every day, that I meant what I said.

“Yes,” I say, settling my hands on her waist, leaning down to kiss her, “I meant what I said, Mylah. And I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it to you. I’ll say it all again, right now, if that’s what you want.”

For a second, her expression is so serious that I think she’s reconsidering.

Then, a grin spreads over her face, and she tugs on my lapel once before letting it go and walking backward toward the bed. “Prove it?”

My cock stiffens as I follow her to the bed.

Throughout the night, after the ceremony and during the party, I’d hoped that it might end here. Each time we toasted champagne and caught each other’s eyes, I couldn’t stop imagining getting her out of that wedding dress.

But I also knew there was a chance it wouldn’t. If I had to re-earn her trust, or if she wasn’t feeling well from the pregnancy…

None of that seems to be a problem now.

When we reach the edge of the bed, I wrap an arm around her back and draw her body flush with mine, kissing her hard. My hands skate over the rough outer fabric of her wedding dress, over top of her bodice, until my fingers stop and trace over the spot I bit her before.

My mind fixates on it, circling it, wanting to return to the place.

I marked her.

Yes, she had the option to say no in the ballroom, and I would have let her leave.

But she also belongs to me. Has been mine for a long time—even before I bit her.

We’re pre-destined. Maybe all that means is that goddesses tug you together to show you how right it is that you would fall in love.

Chapter 43 - Mylah

As I kiss Augustus, I can’t stop seeing the moment before, at my old house, when I thought he was the one shot. As much as he’s upset me, and as annoying as it’s been to be cooped up in this room, I can’t deny that I’ve fallen for him.

He saved my life. Brought me here, where I made a friend and discovered a movement. Gave me the life that’s growing in my belly right now.

Augustus might be stubborn and overconfident and sometimes do far too much without awareness of others, but I love him. I’m in love with him.

I clutch him close, sliding my hands up and under his suit jacket, pushing it off over his shoulders.

He drops his mouth to my neck, pulling my hips against his, letting his lips trail down to the swell of my breasts. His hands skate around to my back, finding and making quick work of the zipper there so the dress peels off my shoulders.

Augustus follows the path of the fabric with his lips, trailing them over my skin.

When the dress drops to the floor, he pushes me back onto the bed, unbuttoning his shirt and dropping it as well.

“Were you planning on putting on a little show for me?” I ask, laughing as he unbuckles his pants.

Augustus pauses, glances at me, “That depends—is that something you want?”

I hesitate for just a moment, then reach for him, pulling him down between my legs.