AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A while…
Because that’s all the reprieve we’re going to get. And even if Lydia does take a break from coming after us, that’s only one of Nero’s problems right now.
Nero smiles. “So, how about dessert?”
I nod, and force a smile for the rest of dinner, but the relaxed mood is gone. By the time we get home, I have a tight sadness lodged in my gut, more grief than any anger or resentment against him.
Will we ever get a regular date night, just the two of us?
Can we ever escape the chaos that always seems to loom overhead, dark clouds threatening storms at any moment?
Back the house, I pause a moment in the foyer, then turn to head upstairs.
“Where are you going?”
Nero’s voice makes me pause on the stairs.
“To bed,” I reply quietly.
He looks up at me, and when he speaks, his voice is ringing with emotion. “Is this how it’s going to be now? You locking yourself in that guestroom, pretending like… Like we’re not us!”
I swallow, suddenly on the edge of tears. Anger was easier than this. At least with rage, I had something to hold onto. A way to defend against the ache in my heart.
Against loving him.
“How else can it be?” I ask hopelessly, but I don’t wait for his reply. I go up to the guest room, but I’m not surprised when I hear his footsteps following. I feel his presence behind me in the doorway as I kick off my shoes and take my hair down. His eyes on me, watching.
Finally, he speaks. “If there’s really no hope for us, why did you save me?”
I whirl around. “W-what are you talking about?”
Nero takes a step closer, his eyes burning with intensity. “I know that you came after me that night, and that you gave me CPR. I know that you saved my life,” he says harshly, faced etched with ragged emotion. “So, the question is, why did you bother? If you hate me so much, why fight to keep me alive?” he demands. “Why beg me not to leave you, if you can’t wait to get away?”
“Because I had to!” I explode, everything that I felt that night surging up to the surface again, in great waves of confusion and desperation. “I couldn’t let you die,” I yell. “I couldn’t face a world without you in it. You think I want to need you like this? I can’t stand it, but I do! Just like I can’t stop loving you!”
There’s a beat of silence, as Nero stares at me. His face changing. The frustration and bitterness melting away, until he looks almost like the boy I used to know.
The one who loved me more than anything.
“Lily—” he starts towards me.
I flinch back, on the edge here. Knowing I could fall.
“Lily, it’s OK.” He keeps coming, until he’s standing right in front of me, tilting my face up, despite my tears. “Shh,” he whispers, caressing my face. “I can’t stop loving you either.”
His words are my undoing. His words—and the look in his eyes.
And then we’re reaching for each other, colliding in a passionate kiss, full of longing and regret. My arms go around his neck, and he lifts me up until my legs are wrapped around his waist, kissing me like it’s the end of the world. His tongue is sliding against mine, and I can feel his erection pressed against me, an answering ache echoing through my core. I grind against him, reaching to tear open his shirt.
He pulls back. “Not here,” he growls, already walking me to the door. “You belong in our bed.”
He carries me down the hallway to the primary bedroom, and the next thing I know, we’re tumbling on the bed. Lifting up onto his knees on the mattress, he shrugs out of his suit jacket, and I sit up to rip his shirt open, making buttons fly everywhere. My palms run over his tattooed chest, and his hand fists my blonde hair, pulling until my head is tilted back. He presses open-mouthed kisses along the column of my throat until I’m moaning, dizzy in his arms.
I’m burning for him, impatient and needy.
“I know, Princess,” he groans against me. “Fuck, I need you so bad.”
Nero’s mouth captures mine again, and he releases my hair to pull the top of my dress down. The material is stretchy, so it comes down my shoulders easily, and my chest is exposed. My bra disappears next, Nero unhooking it with an expert touch.
