I wanted to tell her the complete truth, that I was stupidly in love with her, that I’d been in love with her for years. I wanted to tell her that I married her because my heart wouldn’t stop beating for her. I wanted to tell her that she was my soul mate. But that seemed like too much, too many words to describe what I felt. “I love you too.”
The moment felt right.
Once I read those words from her heart, I became a new man. Somehow, I loved her more. I fell even deeper in love. After all the heartbreak we’d suffered, I finally felt like I was put back together. My scars and bruises were gone, and I somehow felt stronger than I had ever been before. Her love healed me, made me new.
I stood in front of her in our bedroom, the patio doors closed and the candles still flickering in the window. My eyes were locked on to hers as I moved in closer. I pushed my jacket over my shoulders and let it fall to the floor. It was so quiet I could hear it thud against the rug. My hands moved to her coat, and I slowly pushed it off, let it slide down her slender arms until she was in just her black dress. I could see the slight hesitation in her eyes, but I could also see the love I’d never noticed before.
My arms moved around her back, and I gently pulled her closer to me. My bare hands felt her soft skin, the small muscles that surrounded her spine. My fingertips could feel her frantic pulse under her skin. I brought our faces close together and held her like we were dancing. I wanted to kiss her but didn’t want to start something she wasn’t prepared to finish. In any other context, I wouldn’t say a word to ruin this beautiful moment, but I couldn’t be wrong about something like this. “May I make love to you?” All the lust was gone from my body because that was not what I wanted from her. I wanted her soul, her heart, and everything else in between.
She held my gaze without flinching, her hands slowly moving to my chest, where she fidgeted with the top button of my collared shirt. Her eyes slowly moved down to my lips like she wanted to kiss me, like she wanted to feel me as much as I wanted to feel her. A minute passed as we stood together in the darkness, the tension rising between us. Her hand suddenly tightened on my shirt as she tugged me to her.
Then she kissed me.
My lips were paralyzed by her touch because it felt like I was launched back in time. It felt the way it used to, like there was no one else except the two of us. Her soft lips moved with mine, taking control like she wasn’t the least bit afraid. She breathed into my mouth before she gently sucked my bottom lip. Her fingers tightened on my shirt, tugging a little harder. Her small tongue moved into my mouth next, and she kissed me a little harder, a little deeper.
Overwhelmed by the electricity in my veins, I was frozen by her deep affection. It took me a few seconds to truly accept what was happening. My hands slid into her hair, and I pulled her closer to me, kissing her with deep, passionate embraces. I got lost in her right away, feeling reunited with the woman I loved.
My hand moved to the back of her neck, where the top of her dress was tied. My fingers gently tugged on the bow until it came loose. Once the knot was free, the dress slid down her body and fell to the floor at her feet. She stood in nothing other than a simple black thong, but that little piece of underwear was sexier than any piece of lingerie.
Her fingers unbuttoned my shirt as she kept kissing me, as our lips moved faster to enjoy each other. Our breaths deepened and grew louder as we quickened the pace. When my shirt was free, she pushed it over my shoulders so it could fall to the floor along with everything else.
With my hand still in her hair, I backed her up to the bed. I’d never wanted her more than I did now. It seemed like the last few years didn’t even matter. Our lives together really started when she told me those three words. It was a new beginning, and this felt like our first time together. I could love her openly and deeply and knew it wouldn’t drive her away. I could tell her how I really felt without intimidation. I could love her with my whole heart and knew she would feel the same way.
She yanked on my belt and got it loose before she dropped my zipper and got my slacks over my hips. She pushed on my boxers next, her lips still making love to mine. When my pants and my shoes were gone, I was naked and ready to take her. I’d never been so hard in my life, never wanted a woman more.
My hands pushed her panties over her hips and ass, and when they got to her thighs, they fell to her ankles on their own. I guided her onto the bed where her head could rest on a pillow. Our bodies were on top of the sheets, and she looked up at me with nothing but arousal in her eyes.
I held myself on top of her, positioning myself between her thighs. One of my large hands slid into her hair, and I looked into her gaze like I never wanted to stop. There was nowhere else I would rather be. Even if we were both broken, together, we were fixed. Just when I was about to ask her if she had any second thoughts, she spoke.
Her hands moved over my chest until her fingers slipped into my hair. She pulled me closer to her and locked her ankles around my waist. “Husband, make love to me.”
22
Sofia
I woke up next to Hades.
He was flat on his back with his hand resting on his tight stomach. His face was slightly tilted toward me, and he looked so peaceful when he was asleep. He wasn’t the hard and dangerous man who hunted the streets of Florence. He was soft…kind.
A shadow of hair was sprinkled across his jaw, and his powerful chest rose and fell gently as he rested in his deep sleep. He looked like a new man to me—not just my husband, but the love of my life. He was everything to me, and I couldn’t picture my life with anyone else.
I had no idea how I got here. I didn’t want to marry this man until I was forced. Our marriage was poison in my veins, and I refused to let him under my skin. But one day, everything changed. My affectionate feelings somehow amplified and became powerful. My heart grew three times in size just so I could have the ability to love him. When Maddox took me away, Hades did whatever he could to get me back…even sacrificed himself. It broke my heart to watch him take my place, but I also admired his unflinching loyalty to me. Not all men would do that.
Not all men would die for their wives.
I rested my cheek on his shoulder with my arm around his waist. I had to go to the hotel today, but I wanted to stay right there next to him. I lived in bliss, and I wasn’t ready to let that feeling go.
When I told him I loved him, I really thought he wouldn’t say it back.
Thankfully, he did.
I eventually got out of bed and got ready for the day. After I showered and styled my hair, I returned to the bedroom to pick out something from my closet.
He was awake, standing in his black sweatpants without a shirt. The curtains behind him were open, letting the winter sun stretch across the rug. With his thick arms resting by his sides, he looked at me…really looked at me. It was the kind of stare he used to give me all the time, years ago when we were clandestine lovers. It was a look full of possession, desire, and something much deeper. We hadn’t exchanged a single word last night after we went to bed. The night was spent with our bodies moving together, carrying on a silent conversation that didn’t need words.
But now that the sun was up, everything was different.
He slowly moved toward me, his bare feet audible against the floor. He was a heavy man, strong like a horse and thick like a bear. His presence was potent and overwhelming, like he could control me without lifting a finger. When he was directly in front of me, he tilted his chin down slightly to meet my look.