Page 212 of The Call of Crimson
His hand wraps around my neck as he whispers, “I am so very mad at you right now, little demon.”
My head tilts back slightly, relishing in the slight pressure he applies to my throat. “Why?” I rasp.
“Because you waited until we’re minutes away from needing to leave for your soul mate’s funeral pyre to tell me you love me. The last thing I should be thinking about is bending you over and fucking my claim into you so you never forget who you belong to.”
My breath comes in soft pants, heat blooming in my core. “All you need is thirty-seven seconds.”
A dark chuckle erupts from him as he smirks. “Allyouneed is thirty-seven seconds. I’m going to need hours after what you just professed.” He runs his thumb along my bottom lip, pulling it down softly. “I’m going to draw those words out of your pretty lips again and again while I fuck you raw. Then you’ll beg me for more.”
Reluctantly, he releases me before I can reply. “Time to get dressed, Princess.”
He spins me so I’m facing away from him. Teasing fingers graze the length of my neck, then down my shoulder, pulling my nightshirt away and leaving my skin bare. Honeyed kisses pepper my neck as he pulls the shirt off, letting it fall to the floor.
I grunt in frustration when I feel his body heat desert me, leaving me naked and cold.
He returns a moment later, my dress in hand.
“Arms up.”
I oblige, letting him maneuver my limbs into the dress. The leather-like material slides on like a second skin, hugging me tightly. Sighing, I smooth the skirt as Aurelius gathers my hair and pulls it over one shoulder.
Featherlight touches trail along my skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. His fingers trace my spine slowly, coming to a stop at my hips. The touch leaves me desperate for more—more of his hands, kisses, and skin all over my body. I’m silently begging him to keep touching me, to chase the numbness from my veins.
“You look just as fierce,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss just below my ear, “and absolutely fucking edible, as you did the first time you wore my dress.” Another kiss lower along my jaw.
I turn my head to look him in the eyes. “Your dress?”
His lips curl in a smug smile, dark irises sparkling. “Who did you think had this dress designed for you?”
“Ophelia said it looked like it wasmade for me. It was exactly what I needed to face my kingdom at my mother’s funeral. It made me feel strong when I was utterly broken.”
“Itwasmade for you, Breyla.” Aurelius tucks a stray tendril behind my ear, his thumb tenderly stroking my cheek. “Only you.”
Tears well in the corner of my eyes as my hands clench his tunic, pulling him closer. “You knew what I needed even when I didn’t. You made sure I had it when you were just as hurting and broken. Even when you thought I hated you, you still put me first.”
Gently, he strokes my hair before pulling me in for a soft kiss.
“You will always be my highest priority. I promised both your parents I would keep you safe, and I’m vowing to you now that I will always take care of you, whether you want me to or not.”
“I don’t deserve you,” I whisper, and the tears finally spill down my cheeks.
“Probably not,” he says with a faint smile, “but there’s no returning me now, Princess.”
I laugh through my tears, because it’s such an Elijah thing to say. But the laughter twists into sobs as pain wracks through me in waves. For several moments, he says nothing. He just holds me while I break.
“I know you feel guilty for finding a moment of joy right now, but he would’ve wanted you to laugh.”
“I know,” I whisper.
“Your capacity for love is why you feel this loss so deeply. It’s one of my favorite things about you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You feel the pain of loss so viscerally because you love just as deeply. The more you hurt, the more you love just as fiercely. It’s a trait you inherited from your mother.”
My smile is bittersweet, and I let the pain and simultaneous joy seep inside my bones.
“We need to leave,” Aurelius says after a few minutes.
