Page 99 of Precious Legacy

Opening my eyes, I peer into his. “I’m saying… my reasons for joining the NYPD might be changing.”

My honest words seem to confuse him, and for a second I see a flash of fear cross his features. I know how this might sound, but I need him to hear me out.

“You have your place in this world, and so do I. I don’t want to lose my place in the academy, Ro. I don’t want… to lose you. I want to become something, but that doesn’t mean my family doesn’t come first.”

He nods in silent understanding, allowing me the breathing space to get my thoughts out.

“Whatever Prescott did, it was me that needed to handle it,” I say, and as Roman goes to interrupt, I place my finger on his lips. “It could have been my leverage, or… something. I don’t know. But if we’re going to do this, we need to be on the same page. And that means that if our worlds intercept, we need to work together.”

Roman kisses my fingertip with a smile curling his beautiful mouth. “Then we work together.”

“Good,” I smile back, relief flooding me. “I just need to keep my spot.”

“You will,” he replies with conviction. “And if it’s ever in jeopardy?—”

I slam my hand over his mouth, laughing. “Don’t finish that sentence!”

A moment later, his lips are back on mine. There are no more words between us as we let our desire for one another take over. My fingers slide through his blonde strands as he moves down my chest, licking and nipping at my flesh until I’m a panting mess. His mouth is everywhere, his hands owning every single part of my body. Like he’s telling a story that only he knows.

Moments pass where his presence consumes me. His lips devour every inch of my skin as he makes quick work of stripping us out of our clothes. Hooking my knees over his shoulders, he darts his tongue out, flicking my clit so sharply I hiss. Pleasure thrums in my veins, my body heating with the intensity of anticipation. Meticulously, Roman teases me with light strokes of his tongue and fingers. It’s barely a caress, but the intention behind each movement is enough. My legs shake and my back arches as a deep moan strokes my vocal cords. My whimpers turn to cries as Roman somehow makes me come without so much as a definitive touch. The world around me shatters like glass, creating a fragmented view where all I see ishim.

I chalk it up to the tension between us, the fire that spurs our destruction, because that’s ultimately what we do to one another. Whether we want to admit it or not, we’re going to destroy one another someday. But I know amidst the chaos, we’ve got something deeper than anyone could have imagined.On the outside, Roman is a dark enigma, someone a stranger would never wish to cross. But to me, he’s everything and more.

As soon as my breaths deepen and the euphoric wave of my orgasm subsides, Roman slides his cock inside me. It’s not a sharp thrust, or a punishing drive of his hips. It’s gentle and meaningful. He doesn’t own my body in the usual way that makes me see stars, he takes his time, the intent as clear as the words he uttered to me before.

I’ll never let you go.

Our eyes lock onto one another’s as my walls tighten. That familiar ball of wound up energy grows vibrant and hot in the pit of my stomach. I feel the magnetic pull in my chest, the one I know I’ve been ignoring, not just for these past few months, but years. Sooner or later, Roman was going to come back into my life. Not just in increments, but bulldozing his way in. He’s torn apart everything I thought I knew about us, myself included, and in its place, provided me with something I didn’t think I needed.

Him.

His lips press to mine in a soft, yet heavy kiss that I feel in every surge of his hips. Heat and pleasure builds between us, slow and determined. Time falls away, allowing us to get lost in the moment, consuming every moan, every groan, every curse that leaves our lips. Our breaths tangle in an explosive dance as we pant through our mutual climax. And when Roman’s name leaves my lips as I gasp for oxygen, my body shudders.

But it’s his words that really leave me breathless.

“I love you, Presh.”

THIRTY-EIGHT

“Ilove you, Presh.”

Lani laughs, and it shouldn’t be the sweetest fucking sound I hear in response to the declaration, but it is. Her smile is wide, but she’s silent, like she’s thinking about her next words carefully. But I don’t want the calm, controlled Alanis Bonanno. I want the wild, unfiltered, unapologetic Alanis who stole my heart and invaded my thoughts from the moment I understood what I actually felt for her.

“This is where you say it back,” I growl, a feral undertone scoring my words.

Hooking her leg through mine, she somehow musters the strength to roll us over, until she’s got me pinned beneath her. “I’m not saying something I don’t mean,” she retorts. Though her words are there to deter me, she still runs her nose along mine,

“You just did.”

She nips my bottom lip with her teeth, her playful side peeking out. “I don’t hate you.”

My chest thumps a heavy rhythm as I gaze into her green eyes. Her words are everything and more. “I know,” I rasp.

“But I should,” she confesses, and those words bring back a whirlwind of thoughts I really don’t want to think about. But I understand it all now. The hatred, the animosity, the toxic way we collide whenever we’re together.

I smile up at her, admiring the vulnerability in her eyes. “But you don’t, and I’m the luckiest fucker in the world that you still can’t after all this time.”

“Asshole,” she mumbles, and I can’t help but smile wider.

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