Page 79 of Devil’s Reign

“She’s fine,” he assures me and nods towards her bedroom. “She fell asleep a few hours ago.”

The knot loosens—only to cinch tight again at the look still on his face. “What is it then?”

“She had her breakfast at Tavaria today.”

The words don’t fully register for a second. Then they do, and my vision fizzes out at the edges. I take a dangerous step towards him. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“She showed me the elevator card—said you’d given her permission to eat at the restaurant. Then we also—” he clears his throat, “ended up doing a full tour of the building…” His voice trails off as he realizes he’s fucked up.

I close the distance between us and grab him by the throat. “What elevator card?”

The blood drains from his face. “T-the m-ma-ster keycard. It was with her, sir. She said⁠—”

“I gave her nothing.” I squeeze harder, cutting off his air. “You took the word of my prisoner over your standing orders and granted her freedom?” The word prisoner feels wrong in my mouth as soon as I say it, but I don’t correct myself. “Do you want to end up worse than Igor?” The man who was first assigned to Melani thought he could lecture me about her well-being. The idiot is lucky I only demoted him to street work.

A strangled gurgle is his only answer, and I ease my grip just enough for him to breathe. “She had my master keycard?” I repeat.

He nods as much as he can with my hand still around his neck. “She asked me to call you to confirm, but you said not to call unless the suite was on fire.”

I glance towards Melani’s bedroom, and the emotion that moves through me isn’t what I expected. It isn’t fury. It’s something closer to pride. That little—that gorgeous, smart woman. My woman.

I release Boris’s throat, and he crumples to the floor, sucking in desperate breaths. “This is the only pass you get,” I tell him as I walk away.

Despite the storm of emotions coursing through me, I’m careful when I open Melani’s bedroom door. I move quietly towards her, my chest tightening at the sight of the roses I got her, now arranged in a pretty vase on her nightstand. She’s curled up on her side under the covers, a paperback lying open near her hip like she lost the fight against sleep mid-page. I go on my haunches next to the bed and run my hand gently down her hair. She stirs, muttering under her breath as she rolls towards me.

Fuck.

A fist closes around my heart, squeezing so hard I can’t breathe—can’t see. When my vision clears, her eyes are open.

“You’re back,” she whispers, her lips curving into a sleepy smile that knocks the breath out of me all over again.

“You sleep in my room now,” I say gruffly, already sliding an arm beneath her neck and the other behind her knees. Then I lift her against my chest and rise to my feet.

“Okay,” she says sweetly, her voice soft and drowsy as she nuzzles into me.

When I walk out of the room with her in my arms, Boris is still standing there, rubbing his throat.

“We’ll continue this tomorrow,” I tell him, and he leaves without a word.

I carry Melani to my room and lay her down carefully. She sinks back into the pillow without opening her eyes, already halfway gone again.

A quick shower later, I pull on a pair of sweatpants and crawl into bed next to her, sleep dragging me under almost just as fast.

Heated pleasure rips me out of sleep.

My body jerks against the mattress as my eyes fly open, chest tightening as I try to breathe past the pressure coiling low in my gut. It takes a second to understand what’s happening—why my cock feels like it’s being swallowed whole. Melani.

She’s at the foot of the bed, knees tucked beneath her, mouth stretched wide around me. Her tongue drags along the underside of my cock while her hand rolls my balls in slow, teasing circles. The sight of her there damn near punches the air out of me, and my cock throbs hard in her throat, slick and burning hot.

“Fuck,” I groan, my voice raw and barely human, my hips kicking up without permission to drive my cock deeper into her mouth, and she takes it.

Her eyes flick up to mine, bright even with the tears gathering from how far down her throat I am. She hums around me in response, and the vibration rips a harsher curse from my chest.

My hand shoots out, my fingers threading into her hair as I grab hold.

She pulls back slowly, lips wet and swollen, only to take me in again, inch by agonizing inch. The suction is strong. Deliberate. I can’t think. I can’t fucking think. My jaw locks, chest heaving, every nerve wired to the way she’s working me.

“Jesus Christ,” I grit out, dragging my free hand over my face, but I can’t close my eyes, can’t tear my eyes away from her.