Page 134 of Ruthless with a Rogue
She hadn’t thought she could feel more than she already did for this man, hadn’t thought she could get closer than she’d already been, but this, what was happening between them right now, it was more.It was closer.It was deeper.It was each of them stripped down to the barest parts of themselves and giving that to the other.A sharing of souls.
Derek's eyes shimmered, a stunning sea of green.His teeth sank into his bottom lip, nostrils flaring, and she reached up to cup his face, tried to let him know she understood the enormity of this moment.She felt it too.
Two people nobody wanted.
Found in each other a place where they belonged.
An unsteady breath fled him, and his harsh swallow rippled beneath her hands.“Every.Color.”The words were scraped out, raw and ragged like they’d been torn from somewhere deep inside.His lips pressed tight, mouth blanching at the edges, and his thrusts picked up pace.
“Every color,” he rasped.“I love every one of your colors.”
The muscles in her face tightened, and she blinked furiously, determined not to lose sight of him past the tears that threatened.Her heart drummed in her throat, in her ears, her chest filling with the same heady feeling that was building lower.She couldn’t take it any longer.It was too much, the emotions so potent she was drowning in them.She needed his lips on hers.
She yanked him down to her, their mouths crashing together.His hips slammed into hers, and she met him thrust for thrust, their bodies writhing in a desperate drive to touch every part of each other.Their fevered kiss matched their movements, their tongues tangling in a kiss that tasted of tears and tenderness.
That overwhelming feeling building inside her grew, spreading through her, shaking through her arms to her fingertips, down her legs to her toes.It was coming for her, going to consume her.Consume them.And as they melded together in every way, entwined bodies, entwined hearts, they fell over the edge together.
They became infinite—a single unbroken whole.
Forever together.
68
Epilogue - Rafe
Hobblingonhiscrutches,Rafe made his way along the dining room table toward his seat on Derek’s right.A Derek who was completely oblivious to the rest of the world and staring calf-eyed at his brand-new wife.Rafe’s heart spasmed, and he inhaled sharply at the shock of pain.His gaze fell to the floor, jaw clenching.He was so bloody happy for his best mate, but,fuck, he hadn’t been prepared for how much it would hurt to see it.To see it and know…
He ground his teeth.No.Compartmentalize.He wasn’t going to go there.What was done was done.Rafe had long since learned how to shove the misery life dealt deep, deep down.Where no one could find it.Where he couldn’t feel it.Feel anything.This was just one more thing.
Rafe carefully settled in his seat, and pain instantly radiated through his leg, but he welcomed it.Welcomed the distraction.His wound was healing well, but Christ did it bloody hurt when it pulled.Sometimes his muscles felt like they were being shredded apart when he situated his leg a certain way.
“So, what distraction do you have planned for us, Your Grace?”Livy’s soft, lilting tones floated around Derek’s large dark frame, her head popping out from behind her husband.
“Distraction?”What in the blazes was she on about?“And Rafe, please.You’ve married into the family.There’s no need for formality.”
Her smile softened.He cleared his throat uncomfortably, curling his toes in his boots.Emotions were breeding like rabbits in this house as of late.He was still getting used to it.Even if some of them were his own.
“Rafe, then.”Her blue eyes narrowed.“I was told that your present to the happy couple was a distraction.”She threw a smirk at Derek.“I believe there is a broom closet that requires my attention.”
Rafe’s eyebrows jumped up.No simpering, demure chit in this one.No wonder Derek had fallen in love with her.
He glanced at his friend and barely suppressed his eye-roll.The man was grinning like a schoolboy back at Harrow.Derek was done for.Rafe's chest hollowed as he studied his best mate’s daft smile, an achingly sad happiness festering there.Derek deserved this—deserved someone in his corner, to care for him, to be there for him.
“I would never have believed there existed a woman capable of governing the Marquess of Dunmore,” he said quietly.“But, Livy, you have proven me wrong.”
She winked at him.Yes, he liked the chit.She’d be good for Derek.
Derek glanced heavenward, mumbling under his breath.Rafe was fairly certain he caught the word “bastard.”Rafe and Livy exchanged amused glances.Another new thing in Rafe’s life.Amusement.He wasn’t the same man he’d been before going to Ironcrest.
And just like that, the memories hit him: Laughing so hard, his ribs ached, barely able to take in enough air.Ebony-brown eyes dancing back at him, tears of mirth trailing down flushed cheeks.The puff of soft breath coasting over his skin as she buried her laughter into his neck.
He thrust the unwanted memories away, his gaze falling to his lap.To his leg.
His lame leg.
Rafe’s throat tightened.The doctors were optimistic that his leg would still function well enough once healed.The worst he’d suffer was a limp, possibly requiring a cane to walk.In other words, his leg would never be the same.He rubbed his chest.It wasn’t the only thing.He swallowed down the despair and frustration.Today wasn’t the day to wallow.
He wasalive.Rafe glanced back at his friend’s profile.He was with Derek on the most important day of his friend’s life.Being here on this day was a gift he would forever be grateful for.A gift of friendship and family and a future.
