Our hands caress and relearn, their touch tender and forgiving—healing. My fingers slide over his skin, his nipples pebbling under my touch. Slowly, Ronan dips his head and kisses me. It’s tender at first, then angry, then tender again. We kiss and kiss and kiss until our lips are sore and we’re left breathless.

Ronan whispers my name over and over again like a litany, bringing us closer together, marking me as his own. Blaire, Blaire, Blaire, Blaire, Blaire, Blaire … He calls for me, and every part of me surrenders to him. And together, we fly so high.

Ronan grips my shoulders and turns us both around to face a full-length mirror hanging on the wall. In the reflection of the glass, there’s a man whose beauty makes me want to weep for its perfection. His skin is light caramel. His body is made for worshipping.

“We belong together,” he says, his voice husky with passion. “You hear me?”

I watch him snake a hand down my body while he dips his head and kisses the curve of my neck before biting it. Our gazes meet in the mirror as his fingers cup my tits, rubbing and tugging my nipples. I gasp and recline my head back on his shoulder, seeing him fight for control as he continues his indecent exploration of my body. Reaching behind me, I wrap a hand on his erection. I curl my fingers around his hard cock and begin to stroke him, feeling the hot heat of his hardness slide through my palm.

I grip him harder making him moan. “Take me.”

Losing the little control that he has left, Ronan pushes me forward until my front is touching the glass. I stare at his reflection in the mirror as he grips my hand holding his dick and makes us both rub the head against my pussy, spreading its folds, and rubbing my clit.

“No more,” I beg, guiding him toward my entrance. “I need you inside me.”

Ronan places a hand on the small of my back, urging me to bend at the waist. I let go of his cock and place my hands in front of me for support. I’m a slave at his feet. Blood rushes to my head. My pussy is dripping wet with want as he nudges my thighs to open wider for him. “Fuck,” he curses long and slow, impaling me with one deep, fierce thrust.

And it’s paradise.

He slowly pulls back, and when he’s almost all the way out, he thrusts forward again and again and again. Each thrust is more aggressive than the last, more demanding.

“I want to hear you say those words,” he orders harshly, pounding harder, faster. “Say it, Blaire.”

I lift my ass higher to give him better access. “I love you.”

“Say it again.”

“I love you,” I moan.

He fucks me incessantly, dominating me with his body, with his hands, with everything that he is. And I give him every piece of me, surrendering my soul and myself to him. “Again.” His voice shakes.

“I love you,” I repeat, watching as tears begin to roll down his chiseled cheeks.

“Again.”

“I love you, Ronan.”

“You’re mine, do you hear?” He grips my hips forcefully, pumping in and out of me, bringing me closer to the edge. “Give me a thousand lives and a thousand eternities, and I would still find you and make you mine. Always.”

“Ronan … I …” I close my eyes and come undone. Ronan groans, finding his own release, as I feel a warm rush spreading deep inside me, filling me completely.

I wake up sometime in the middle of the night. Fear grips my chest when I discover that Ronan isn’t lying next to me. As my sight grows accustomed to the dark, I find his naked form sitting on a chair and looking out the window. Apprehension runs through my veins, making me doubt my next step. But a small voice inside me urges me to go to him.