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“Use it?” I whisper. My emotions are churning, and I set the glass down, unconsumed. Dave stands at my side, and I stoop down to scratch behind his ears. It sounds like it was a conversation, but if that’s all it was, then Essos should have just told me, right?
“What if I can trick her into coming here—trick Ellie, and make her our hostage? Maybe we can leverage her against Posey. I doubt she’ll expect that at all. Love, I think we can use this. Ellie is blinded by her obsession with me.”
“Why does it keep coming back to Ellie? She was your side piece and then your main piece when I was dead, and then she chased you again after I rejected you. Why didn’t you tell me?” My thoughts feel like they’re going a million miles a minute, and I want to focus on all the good between Essos and I, but how can I do that when thesamewoman keeps haunting us? An errant tear escapes, and I brush my hand against my cheek to catch it. I can’t even focus on the idea he’s suggesting, because I just want this woman out of my life for good.
Essos steps toward me again, and Dave barks at him this time, feeding off my emotional turmoil. “When would I have had time to tell you? Between changing safehouses every other day? When I was here long enough to check on you only to catch you kissing my brother? I never had the time, and then I had you back and it didn’t seem important. Clearly, itisimportant to you and I was mistaken, but Daphne, these aren’t normal circumstances. She was never my main piece. She was the woman I fucked while imagining she was you.”
I laugh, but it’s humorless. “Is that supposed to magically make it better? Oh, I’m so sorry it was such ahardshipfor you that after I died, you literally fucked the one woman who came between us before, but I’msoglad you thought of me while you did it.” My tone oozes sarcasm.
Essos cuts me a frustrated look, but he takes in a breath and rubs his hands over his face. “Obviously, that’s not going to make it better. I’m not trying to excuse my behavior. She meant nothing to me. I haven’t even thought about her since I got you back, that’s why it never came up. This—” he gestures between us, earning another growl from Dave “—is why I brought you in here to tell you.”
“So you didn’t embarrass me in front of our friends and family,again,over Ellie? I bet everyone got a real kick out of her being my lady’s maid. They saw me bring her to events and probably laughed behind their hands, knowing that she was my replacement, and I had no idea.”
Essos lets out another calming breath, the only one of us committed to keeping a level head. “Ellie was never a replacement for you. She wasn’t even a shadow compared to you. What is it going to take to convince you that I feel nothing for her? What do you need?”
I deflate a little at this, not knowing what I need. I don’t know what it will take to repair this fragile hurt between us. “Let’s see what everyone else thinks about us kidnapping your mistress. But if you think for onesecondthat I’m going to let her into our bed or let you fuck her ever again, you’re sorely mistaken.” I don’t even know where the idea comes from, but once it’s out there, it’s like I’ve finally put a face to what has me so on edge.
This seems to catch him totally off guard, and he lowers the glass he was raising to his lips. “Daphne, the thought never crossed my mind. I have everything I want right here. And more! I fought so hard to get you back. I’m not going to turn away from that foranyreason. I would sooner let the realms burn.”
“I understand that you sought her out to fulfill needs I couldn’t because I was dead. I’m just saying that if you’re tempted to do so again because of my condition,thatwould be inexcusable.”
“Okay, there is a lot to pick apart there. First off, I didn’t seek her out; she was just there. It wasn’t because I was looking to get off. I wasn’t looking for anything or anyone. Secondly, you’re pregnant with our child, with our daughter. Our sex life hasn’t waned since we found out; it’s only made us more insatiable. I find nothing sexier than you. Is that it? You’re insecure because you’re pregnant?” As he steps toward me, he eyes Dave. My eyes widen and I step back from him, and I think he realizes what he actually just said to me, because he winces and deflates a little.
“Right, because all these problems can be marked up to the little lady and her insecurities.” I pause. “I’m puffy everywhere. I’m just going to get bigger. I don’t see why youwouldwant me with her around.”
“Can I?” Essos asks, reaching for me. I nod, and Dave backs off, still eyeing Essos warily. “I don’t see any of that. I could show you what I see, but I don’t think even getting in my head will be enough right now.” His hands reach for the bottom of my cover-up, and he lifts it and casts it aside, leaving me in just my bikini. “I see the body of a woman who has survived so much. I see a goddess…” he tugs on the strap behind my neck, letting my breasts fall free without the support “…both literally and figuratively, who is carrying my child. Who has found new ways to manipulate her powers and explore the deeper well of them.”
Essos continues to disrobe me, sliding my bottoms off my legs. I step out of them, a little embarrassed. He pulls my hands away from my sides so I can’t cover myself up.
“If you won’t believe my words, believe this.” He guides one of my hands to his erection. “I wake some mornings in awe of you, wanting to get my fill of you, but you sleep so peacefully, I have to take matters into my own hands because if you so much as looked at my cock, I would come. And that’s just all the ways you make me physically crave you. I love watching you apply lotion to your belly every morning. If it didn’t look like you enjoyed the act so much, I would offer to do it myself because I can’t get enough of touching you and wanting to be with you. I would glue myself to your side if I could, and we would never be apart. And that’s just all the ways I physically desire you. When I’m in my office and you’re in another part of the house, it takes all my willpower to not just follow you around.”
He doesn’t hold my hand there, it was just meant as a demonstration, but I take it further, stroking him. Essos moans as I take it even further, unzipping his pants and pulling them down his legs. He watches me, unsure what I’m going to do until I get on my knees before him and take him into my mouth slowly. I slide my mouth down him, reveling in the way his body responds to me.
Essos was right. It is my insecurity, but it always comes back to Ellie. I know his devotion is to me and this baby, but it doesn’t make the thought of them together hurt any less. I turn my thoughts away from our argument and to the issue at hand, or rather, at mouth. I suck, letting my teeth graze his cock, eliciting a hiss a pleasure. His fingers thread through my hair, and he moves me at the pace he wants, matching my movements with the thrust of his hips. I cup his balls, humming as I go, knowing he enjoys the vibration, until he pulls me off him entirely.
Essos lifts me and crashes his mouth down on mine, and I let it burn me from the inside out, his deep reverent need for me. I fist his shirt, annoyed at how clothed he is compared to how bare I am. Quickly, I pull on his buttons before sliding his shirt off. Who this man is that he wears suits to the pool, I’ll never understand. He changed during the time I was away.
Essos maneuvers us to the couch, where he sits. It’s awkward how he has to slouch to make space for my stomach, but I slide down, impaling myself on him. We come together in a deeper way than we have, full of so much emotional turmoil. His hands come to my tender breasts, kneading them and pinching my nipples, heightening my sensations. I set the pace as I slide my body up and down his until the friction sends me careening toward orgasm and I let myself go. My fingernails dig into his chest and leave scorching lines down his skin. Essos’s own orgasm rips through him, and he grips my hips, urging me at the pace he needs while my own aftershocks leave my body trembling.
I lean forward and press my forehead to his.
“You’re all I need. You’re everything I want. You’re my eternity,” Essos swears before kissing me thoroughly, reminding me that we are one heart and one soul.
CHAPTER29
When we emerge to join the others again, we both look exactly like what we got up to. Xavier wisely says nothing but smirks to himself. Galen looks enraged, even more when he catches sight of the hickey my husband left on my neck like we’re teenagers. I don’t bother trying to smooth down Essos’s hair, glad to see it askew. One of the vine guards places a hand on Galen’s shoulder after sensing my trepidation at his response, and the God of War only bats the hand away sullenly.
While we were gone, Kai and Helene appeared. Kai stands behind Galen’s chair, arms crossed, while Helene stands behind Cat. I think I see the white of a bandage peeking out under the sleeve of Helene’s blouse, but I don’t question it.
“We have a plan,” Essos starts.
“Does it involve fucking Posey into submission? Because I can smell the sex pouring off you both,” Finn complains.
“No. We’re going to kidnap Ellie,” I announce with a grin.
Galen snorts. “Like it’s going to be easy to grab her.”
“Since she’s in love with my husband, I should think it will be.”
