Page 67 of Apples Dipped in Gold

“Do you still?” I asked. I was on the verge of panic.

“You were the only thing I had to look forward to,” she said, her voice trembling.

“That isn’t what I asked,” I said, frustrated. “Do you still love me?”

The first tear trailed down her cheek, then another. I took her face between my hand and limb, brushing them away.

“I want to hate you,” she whispered, her voice thick.

“Do you love me?” I asked again.

I recognized it was selfish of me to demand aconfession from her given the reason we were together, but I needed to know. I had to know.

She stared at me. There was so much between us—anger and frustration but also a deep and unyielding desire. I fought it now, on the very edge of breaking.

“Yes,” she whispered, another stray tear sliding down her face. “I never stopped.”

I kissed her.

I had dreamed of this moment for seven long years, and it had finally come. Everything inside me that had wound so tight suddenly unraveled. It was like a release of its own, heady and thrilling. It only deepened my desire.

I let my hand tighten in her hair as I bent over her, exploring her soft skin with the blunt end of my wrist. She did not seem to mind as I made a slow descent from her neck to her chest, to the swell of her breasts and the hard peaks of her nipples. She gasped, and it made my cock harder. I let my tongue ghost across her lips, teasing and testing, and when she did the same, I slipped into her mouth, groaning at the feel and taste of her.

She was exquisite.

I left her mouth to kiss along her jaw and down her throat to her breast. Her hands moved to my head, and I teased her nipple with my tongue and sucked it into my mouth. She let her head fall back against the wall as she inhaled sharply, whispering my name on an exhale.

Her fingers were so tightly woven into my hair, my scalp burned, but I didn’t care. I would let her hold me like this forever if this was what I got in return.

I moved to her other breast, aware that she was moving beneath me, widening her stance. It was an invitation I took, letting my hand graze down her bodyto the back of her knee. I hiked her leg over my hip and then ground into her. The friction numbed my mind and set my entire body on fire.

I choked on a moan.

Fuck. I was so desperate to come it was embarrassing, but I had waited so long for this—for her.

I wasn’t sure I could handle much more.

But then, the fox cleared his throat. The intrusion wouldn’t have bothered me, though, if it wasn’t for Samara, who froze instantly at the sound.

“If you two are going to fuck,” he said, “at least wait until I am asleep.”

I could have fucking killed him.

I probably would after our journey was done, except that now that he had broken through my haze, I was reminded of why Samara and I were together at all, and suddenly, I was consumed by guilt. How could I want this when I knew that I was cursed to love this woman?

I pulled away and met her gaze. Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were swollen. I liked the look, and I liked more that I was responsible, even though I shouldn’t.

“You should rest.”

She tilted her head a little, raising a dark brow.

“You want me to rest when we have just found each other again?”

Found each other.

She said it as if she’d been searching for me this entire time, which had never occurred to me until now. My chest tightened at the thought, and I leaned forward to kiss her again before taking her hand and leading her to where she’d fallen asleep earlier before the stove.

On the way, I picked up my tunic and handed it to her.

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