Page 85 of Requiem
He fucking failed.
Her hands fly up, both grabbing onto my wrist, and for a heart-stopping moment, I see a flash of memory—her terrified eyes when I choked her before, when the programming had its claws in me so deep I couldn’t fight it.Never again.My lips crash down on hers, my hands moving to splay on the dresser on either side of her head. I can’t allow her to be scared of me ever fucking again.
I pull out slowly, then push back in with a deep, rolling thrust that makes her choke on a gasp.
I’m taking it all back.Every memory he corrupted. Every touch hepoisoned.
I will fucking kill him for this.
Emma whimpers against my mouth, and it sends me into fucking overdrive. Control snaps. I’m pure instinct, pureneed. I pull back just enough to look at her face, and my body locks.
A jolt. Like electricity. A sharp, sickeningpainbehind my eyes.
No.
I shake my head once. My hips stutter. I focus on the physical, the undeniable: the tight, hot,perfectfeel of her wrapped around me. The way her inner muscles grip as I push deeper.
Break out of it.
Remember her, remember her, remember her…
“Jude,” she moans, her head falling back in pure ecstasy. And that sound, thatplea, it snaps me back into my body. My eyes lock on hers again, and then she surprises me. Her hands come up, cradling my face, her thumbs stroking my cheekbones through every slam of my hips against her body. Her touch is so gentle ithurts. “I love you.”
The words…they obliterate the last remnants of his walls, and I fuck into her harder, deeper. She comes apart around my cock again, her climax rippling through her beautiful body, her eyes squeezing shut as a sob of pleasure escapes her. I stare at her face.
Just let me love this woman. Just let me look at her without the pain.
I lean forward, bracing my weight on my hands, our foreheads touching. My thrusts pick up speed, and my own release crashes over me, blurring my vision for half a second. I groan, pulling back to look at her face as I empty myself into her again.
Mine. She’s fucking mine, and she always has been.
I can never get enough of her. It will never be enough.
I kiss her again, slowly, as I drag my cock out and slam back in once, twice, three more times, ensuring she takes everything. “I love you, too,” I pant against her lips. “I’ll love you forever.”
My arms tremble with the effort of holding myself up. Her legs are wrapped around my waist, holding me inside. Her fingers trace the tattoos on my forearms. I can tell she doesn’t want me to leave her. And, fuck, I don’t either. I feel more myself in this moment than I have since I arrived in Moscow. But slowly, I pull out. I just want to be inside her over and over again. I help her sit up on the edge of the dresser. I can’t stop touching her. My hands smooth over her thighs, her hips, and come to rest on her waist. I lean in, pressing my forehead to her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her skin and us.
“Did it work?” she whispers, her voice husky.
I lift my head. My hands frame her face. I look into her eyes, bracing for the shock, the pain…and feel nothing but a devastating, overwhelming rush of…
My eyes burn.
It’s a love so fierce it threatens to crack my heart open completely. I’ve never loved anyone like I love her.
I stare. And stare. And feel…everything. The ghost of the pain is gone, burned away by the inferno we just made. In its place is just her.Onlyher.
“It’s gone,” I breathe, the realization shuddering through me. My thumbs stroke her cheeks. “When I look at you…it’s justyou.”
A tear slips down her cheek. I catch it with my thumb.
***
I don’t expect it when Emma invites me out of the bedroom. For a second, I just stare at her, like I’m not sure I heard her right. But I feel…steady. I wouldn’t say perfect or untouchable. Because there’s something inside me that I don’t fully trust yet, but it isn’t consuming me the way it was before. That alone is enough to make me nod.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “Okay.”
When we step out into the hall, Rafe is already there, his attention fixed on the monitor. The screen’s glow cuts across his face.
