Her eyes changed, growing serious. “I’m sorry you were hurt so much, Peregrine,” she whispered. “And I want you to know that…you’re not broken or corrupted. All of you, even the parts of you that you hate, will always be perfect to me.”
My throat closed and I wanted to speak, but I was afraid my voice would break. Her delicate fingers stroked through my hair and she bent, kissing my mouth. Licking her essence from my lips.
“Take me home,” she breathed. “I need you to fuck me. I want your beautiful monster. Let it out and satisfy me with it.”
“I won’t hurt you, I swear,” I breathed. “Never again.”
“I know you won’t. Now please take me home, I need you inside me.”
I didn’t need any more convincing than that.
We left the room with our half-finished desserts and our empty glasses still at the table and I carried her down the front steps to the car. My hand was tight on her thigh as we drove home and neither of us spoke. There was a distracting and uncomfortable pressure against the zipper of my pants and it was all I could do not to pull over and take her in the backseat.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ROSALIA
He didn’t waste time when he got me back to the house. I saw everything in flashes as he parked the car, carried me through the heavy snow, and set me on my feet in the dark hall. It had been less than a month since we’d slept together, but it felt like years. Like so many dark years stretching behind us with this glitter of light in the distance. My body burned and my chest ached as his hands slid up my sides.
Our coats fell from our bodies and he took me by the back of the neck and kissed me. Slow and deep as he had on our wedding night. Only we both understood what it meant this time.
“I love you, Lia,” he breathed, pulling back. “And I’m never fucking letting you go. Do you understand me?”
I nodded, my throat dry. “I love you more than anything, Peregrine.”
His eyes were guarded as he struggled with this new kind of intimacy.
“Do you mean that?”
I nodded. “More than I’ve ever meant anything.”
He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist and he backed me against the wall. The hotness of his breath seared to my skin as he took my bodice in his teeth and pulled it down. Exposing my left breast. My vision flashed and I closed my eyes at the soft curl of his tongue over my nipple. Teasing me until a low moan escaped my mouth.
“Let me hear it,” he breathed. “Let me hear how good you feel.”
I buried my fingers into his hair and moaned again as he sucked hard on my nipple. My hips bucked and he laughed softly. When he lifted his head, his lids were low and his eyes were hazy. Drunk on the taste of my skin.
“Take me upstairs, Peregrine,” I whispered.
He didn’t need any other convincing. I clung to him, my face buried in his throat as he lifted me up the stairs and down the dark hallway. The alcoves glimmered pale blue, but for the first time they weren’t sinister. They were warm and they lit the way through the darkness as he carried me to the room where he’d first made me his wife.
I hadn’t been in our bedroom since the Autumnal Feast. The stone angel in the corner was gone, replaced by a dark wood vanity. The sheets were changed out for a soft, silken navy and the bed had been pushed against the wall instead of standing free beneath the chandelier. It had a new frame with four posters and velvet curtains that matched the pillows. The fireplace had been redone and was outfitted with a new gas unit that was simmering with a golden glow.
“Do you like it?” he asked, kicking the door shut.
I nodded, clinging to him. “It feels safe.”
It did. Outside, it was cold, but inside there was nothing but the heat of Peregrine’s skin and the glitter of his eyes in the firelight. He moved to the bed and laid me down in my dress and heels and stepped back to undress. I watched him unveil his body with a deep contentment in my chest. This man was mine, every breathtaking inch of him, every dark corner of his mind, every flaw and every scar on his soul.
He knelt over me and worked my dress from my body. I wore a simple set of white lace undergarments, but the sight gave him pause. He bent, the firelight glinting off his muscular shoulders, and dipped his tongue between my legs. Flicking it over my panties.
I moaned softly. “I need you.”
Something about my words gave him pause. He cocked his head slowly as he gazed down at me.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“It’s a gift, the way you need me,” he said. “And nothing gives me more satisfaction than pleasuring your sweet cunt.”