Page 188 of Dagger in the Sea

I nodded.

“You and me,” he said, his words a rush of liquid fire. “We’ve let go of the past, but we can keep our dagger, lovely. This isourdeclaration of love. This is our gift to each other, and it should shine like the brightest star.”

“I love it. I love the ring.”

“I figured you had plenty of diamonds.”

“Too many,” I said, my voice shaking.

“This is a jewel for my beach goddess. You need a piece of the sea and the sun on you all the time. Our piece.”

“Put it on my finger,” my voice shook, my hand shook. He slid the sea jewel on my ring finger and I stared at it, my heart pounding.

“Baby, do I need to fuck a response out of you?” he asked.

“I love you,” I said, my vision blurry. “I love you. I love you.”

“Adri, will you—”

“Yes!”

He got down on his knees, his hands skimming up my stockinged legs, inside my skirt.

“W-what are you doing?”

He shoved the material up my hips and found the soft bare skin of my upper thighs. “I want to seal this moment with a kiss.” His eyes darkened.

A cry escaped my lips, and I trembled, my pulse pounding at the feel of his heat over my suddenly very sensitive flesh.

“Ah, fuck,” he rasped, fingering the garters that held my stockings, the sliver of my rosy pink knickers covering me. “Here’s my Lovely—delicate and decadent pink hidden under all that crisp gray.”

Goosebumps rose on my skin under his careful caresses, the warmth of his breath on my sensitive flesh.

“Your skin is much too pale, baby.” His lips brushed a thigh and I quivered. “This northern climate is no good for you.”

My head fell back and I laughed.

His thumb breached the silk fabric of my knickers, finding my wet flesh. “Fuck, I missed you,” he breathed.

My hips twisted in his hold. “I missed you too. So much.” His thumb swirled gently. “Turo—”

“We belong together. Dwell with me in my underworld, Persephone.”

My core hummed with sensation, my every nerve ending on fire. “Will you be good to me all those months in your darkness, my Lord?”

“I will, baby. Always.” With his eyes holding mine, he yanked the damp fabric aside and his tongue lashed over me, a swipe of velvet, and my hips tilted to meet his mouth. I wanted him, ached for him. All of him. How long had it been? For-bloody-ever.

“Oh…Turo…Turo…”

His lips, his tongue turned hard, savage, a whirlpool of sensation throbbing inside me. His mouth let go of me and he rose, lifting me onto my desk.

“Stásou—wait!” I blinked, pushing at his chest. “The door’s not locked.”

He unzipped his trousers, his hard length bounding free of his boxer briefs. “Then you’ll have to be quiet this time, Lovely. Do you think you can do that?” He pressed against me, his wet tip teasing my entrance.

I whimpered. “I don’t want to be.”

“Try, just this once. I’m too fucking impatient.” He thrust into me ruthlessly, and the two of us gasped.

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