20
IVAN
I’ve held countless lives in my hands. I’ve been responsible for ending them. For saving them.
But nothing compares to hearing Cora admit that she trusts me.
I hang up the phone with a new weight on my shoulders and an ache below my belt. Since the moment Cora was taken, I haven’t been able to think about anything except getting her back. I’ve been solely focused on finding her and making sure she is safe.
Now, I know she’s alive. For the moment, she’s safe. And she trusts me. I’m going to get her out of Alexander’s house and when I do…
I’m going to reclaim every last fucking inch of her.
All the sexual frustration I’ve ignored and shoved down for days bubbles up in one instant. I shift in my seat, trying to ease the pressure of my rock-hard cock against my zipper.
“I have to let her go.” I say it out loud, as if my dick might listen to reason and go limp with disappointment.
But if anything, the understanding that I can’t keep Cora makes me want her even more.
“Maybe just one more time,” I whisper to myself. “It will be a goodbye.”
My cock jumps at the truly terrible idea even as my mind knows there will be no walking away from Cora. If I get her back in my bed, even for a night, I’ll never want to let her go.
Her soft body in my sheets. Her smooth skin against mine. The burning heat of her desire on my tongue.
Without really meaning to, I slide my zipper down and let myself spring free.
I’ve never met someone who can make me lose control the way she can. No other woman has ever made me want to throw away everything I have and everything I’ve built just for one more taste of her.
I drag my palm up my length, groaning as I imagine Cora sprawled on my mattress. A sheen of sweat glistening on her skin. But as I get closer, she rolls to her belly and angles her hips up.
Take me like this, she says. I’m too tired to sit up. But I need you.
God, I need her, too.
I’ve memorized the feel of her hips in my hands. The weight of her body as I drag her against me and thrust inside of her.
One stroke, two, three… It doesn’t take much and I’m already on the edge. Already trying to drag out this imaginary moment for as long as I can. Because this is the only relief I’ll get until Cora is actually back in my arms.
Until I can hear the soft noises she makes in the back of her throat when she’s close.
Until I can feel her body grip me as pleasure explodes inside of her.
“Fuck!” Heat erupts out of me, spilling down my hand as the image fades. As the dream slips away.
I don’t deserve one more night with her. I’m not sure any man does.
But I’m going to take it anyway.
As soon as Cora is out of Alexander McAllister’s house and safe with me, I’m going to take one last selfish night with her to burn through as much of the insatiable desire in my chest as I can. Then I’m going to send her away where she’ll be safe. Safe from me and Alexander and Francia and Mikhail and Konstantin and anyone else who wants to hurt her.
But I can’t let her go without one more taste.