“What about Finn?” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his waist and laying my head on his chest, hiding my face.
He tilted my chin up. “He’s gone, and I’ll always be here to keep you safe. Someday if you want, you can tell me everything, and I’ll listen, but nothing will ever change how much I care about you. If anything, the way you carry your pain, the way you’ve turned into this beautiful girl despite everything that happened to you has made me love you more.”
He rested his forehead against mine. He took my hand and placed it over his heart. “I love you, Nora. Forever.”
“I love you, too,” I said, not caring one bit that people were drifting in and out of the room, some of them staring.
He tightened his arms around me and kissed me deep, his lips angling over mine possessively, his tongue hot and wet. He kissed my jaw and down my neck, sucking and nipping at me as I clutched him tight.
We eased back, breathless. I said, “I’m not perfect. At some point, I’ll probably go to therapy,” I warned him gently.
“I hate perfect girls. They don’t read encyclopedias or think about how I’m a rat man.”
“Tiger, most days.”
He grinned. “I get you. You’re a little neurotic, but it doesn’t scare me. I want all of you. All the wacko things you do. Every last detail. And when I look into your eyes, I can see all the way to your heart, to the strong, beautiful woman you are. I want that for the rest of my life.”
He kissed me hard and fast. “And if you ever leave me, it will break me. Now come on, let’s get moving. I want you alone,” he growled, tugging me up the stairs.
Heat ran straight through my body as he led the way.
We walked into his bedroom, and he suddenly looked unsure. “With everything you’ve been through . . . shit, am I rushing this? We can wait, Nora. Just tell me what you need.”
I pulled the gold crown from my hair and took off the red corset and short cape, showing him my red lace bra. I unsnapped the gold belt and let it fall to the ground. I unzipped the flirty blue skirt with white stars on it and tossed it lightly at his face, giggling at his mesmerized expression.
He groaned loudly and adjusted himself. “Yes, baby, I love it when you strip for me.”
I laughed. “Sex is no problem when it’s consensual, and if you don’t make love to me tonight, I’m going to die from being too horny.” I unsnapped my bra and dropped it on the floor, leaving me standing in my red string panties and red boots.
I cocked an eyebrow at his lusty expression. “What are you thinking?”
“That I want to kiss you, lick you, bite you, suck you. I want to eat you up until you scream my name so loud they’ll hear us over the band.”
I shivered.
“I’ve been dreaming about you for weeks. I need to make you mine. The thought of Drew with his mouth on yours . . . it drove me crazy,” he said roughly, his hands clenching.
“I’m all yours, Leo. I was never his.”
“Yeah?”
I smiled. “I have something to show you.”
He sucked in a shuddering breath. “Does it involve you being completely naked, but maybe leaving the boots on?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Show me,” he ordered.
I put my naked back to him, lifted my hair and placed it over my chest, so he could see my wings.
He was silent for a few moments, but I could hear his breathing as it came faster and rougher. He came up behind me, wrapped his hands around the tops of my arms and kissed my shoulders, tracing his mouth and tongue over the words on my back. I moaned out his name.
He whispered in a raspy voice, “This . . . this means everything. Seeing my words for you on your body makes me insane for you.” His hands snaked around my waist and untied the little bow on my panties. He slid his fingers down to my core and touched me as his tongue worked its magic across my wings. I gasped, my body clenching at the warmth that immediately gathered in my body. How was it possible to want someone this much? How did I ever think I could live without his touch?
“Leo,” I begged, leaning my head back against his chest.
He ran his nose along my shoulder, and I heard him inhale deeply and then groan.
“What are you doing?” I panted, my body arching into his touch.
“Breathing you in because you smell so damn good, like peaches. I want to eat you up,” he said softly. “What you do to me is electric and incredible, and I’ll never get enough of you, of this. You’re my drug. And I don’t think I can live without you,” he said hoarsely.
As his fingers touched me, he sucked hard on my neck, and I cried out as a waterfall of sensations cascaded through me. My body soared, reaching for the sky. He bit down on the tender place between my neck and shoulder, and I screamed out his name, making a keening sound as I crashed, the sensation rocking me and pulsating through my entire body.