“You don’t have to. It isn’t going to happen. I don’t care if it results in all out war with Cal after I become Sovereign.”
“Could you boot Cal’s family? Stop the infighting that way?”
“Yes, but playing that card early could lead to trouble later. I’d prefer to keep that in my back pocket. The very threat of it will help keep him in line.” Or so I hoped. Cal had consolidated power during his reign. He would be a particularly vicious adversary.
“There will be fighting. You and Lucius will be in danger, like in Cuba?”
I brushed my hand down her hair. “Yes.”
“Then no.”
“What?”
“I don’t agree to this plan at all.” She chewed her bottom lip.
I arched an eyebrow. “Are you saying you want me to marry Sophia?”
“Of course not. But you simply winning isn’t going to be enough. Not for me, anyway.”
I took her hand and pulled it to my heart. Her palm was warm and small, but she held me in it. “Anything you want me to do, I’ll do it.” I inhaled a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m yours. I’ve been a fool and treated you worse than you deserved—”
“Sin—”
“Let me finish. Even if what I’d thought was true—that you’d slept with Lucius—I should never have punished you like that. I’m sorry. And when Dylan…” My jaw tightened, and I struggled to continue. “When Dylan tried to hurt you, I realized I didn’t care anymore if you had or hadn’t slept with Lucius. You are mine to protect, to cherish, and to love.” The last word was one I said with the same care I would use in handling a live grenade.
I cleared my throat as her expression softened, and she stroked my cheek. That feeling welled up inside me, the one I only had when I thought of her. It was my drug, far more intoxicating than anything else I’d found. “After I had a moment to calm down, I decided that I would only have killed Lucius. Not you.”
She tilted her head. “I think that’s one of the nicest things you’ve ever said to me.”
I covered her hand with mine. “I don’t know what else to say or do to prove it, but I love you. All of you. I will gladly kill for you, buy you whatever your heart desires, and show you the world. Anything. If I have it or I can get it, it’s yours.” My heart constricted. Is this what love felt like? Like you were on fire, and instead of turning to ash, your mate only made you burn brighter?
“I love you, too.” She kissed me, soft and chaste. “But I need something from you before I can forgive you.”
“Anything. It’s yours. Just name it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Promise me that we will burn it all down. Every last piece of the Acquisition. Or we will die trying.”
I couldn’t look away from her, my vengeful queen. “How did I never know when I first set eyes on you that you were the strongest person in the room?” I kissed her, not chaste, not gentle. She moaned in my mouth and tangled her fingers in my hair. I needed her taste on my tongue, every inch of her body beneath my fingertips, but she pulled away.
“Promise me.” She dotted kisses on my cheek and bit my ear. “Promise, because you never break your word.”
I slid my hand down her body and into her panties. She was wet, and I needed to be inside her.
She grabbed my wrist. “Promise me first.”
I got to my knees and yanked her panties off before shucking my shorts away. Lining up at her entrance, I stared down at her, the warmth in her flowing to me and making me more than I ever thought possible.
“I promise.” With one hard thrust, I seated myself deep inside her. Leaning down and claiming her mouth was the sweetest reward I’d ever tasted.
I pushed harder, needing to give her every bit of raw aggression I’d felt for anyone who thought to hurt her or take her from me. She clawed my back and I kissed to her collarbone, careful on her neck. It was too dark to see, but I knew she was bruised there. I would have Dylan’s head for it.
“Sin.” She clung to me as I slowed my pace and wrapped my arms around her.
“Do you trust me?” I teased at her lips.
“Yes.”
I rested my forehead against hers and kept my thrusts smooth and even. I wanted it to last, to stay inside her for as long as I could.
She was my home, where I belonged. And I would never doubt her again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
STELLA
THE SUMMER ARRIVED WITH full force, the hottest on record. I spent the days with Sin, except on the odd times when he was called to make an appearance with Sophia. He always came back irritable, but after some particularly enjoyable attention from me, he was back to his usual dark and brooding self.