“Nooo!” Her voice catches and a tear slides down her cheek and clings to her upper lip.

I shake her shoulder and she startles awake, her mouth agape and her bright eyes unfocused. Sweat covers her temples and her brows.

“It’s okay. I’m here.” I wipe the tears staining her cheeks.

Her chin trembles as she stares at me over her shoulder. “They…they were grabbing me…I didn’t…couldn’t…fight…”

“It’s over, Rai. It’s all over, okay?”

“They…they stripped Sasha in front of me and almost raped her and I…I couldn’t help her.”

So Rai finally figured out Kirill’s second in command is actually a woman. About time someone did.

“But you did help.” I plant a kiss on her forehead. “You did great. You were strong, Princess.”

Her breathing slowly calms as she tilts her head further to get a better look at me. The sadness in those electric blue eyes bug me, especially since she seems sad about something entirely different than her nightmare about the kidnapping.

She attempts to face the other side. “Stay away from me.”

“Not so fast.” I grab her chin and force her to face me. “You said all night long, remember?”

“What?”

“I will make you forget about those scum.”

Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t get a chance to protest as my lips devour hers. She stiffens but doesn’t attempt to push me away, her arms lying limp on either side of her.

Like me, she can’t ignore the synergy that blossoms out of nowhere whenever our bodies are close to one another.

Wrenching my lips away, I whisper against her, “Tell me you want me.”

“No.”

“Rai…please.”

She purses her lips before releasing them. “I’m not talking to you right now.”

“But I want to talk to you. I want to touch you and make you forget. But if you don’t want it, I can go to another room.”

“Don’t go,” she whispers, and before I can be relieved, she continues. “This is only because I feel weird due to the hormones. It means nothing. I don’t forgive you and I’m still not talking to you.”

A muscle works in my jaw, but I bottle up my reaction for the dozenth time tonight. We’ll see if this means nothing.

I trap her lower lip between my teeth as I pinch her nipple over the cloth. It hardens into a tight bud in no time, and Rai arches her back. Her pupils dilate and her arse grinds against my hard dick. I don’t know if it’s because of the hormones or what happened today, but the look of ecstasy on her face is like nothing I’ve seen before.

Still clutching her by the jaw, I slide my other hand down her body until I find the hem of her nightgown. I bunch it up to her waist and part her legs enough to push the crown of my dick inside.

“Fuck,” I groan against her mouth at the same time she gasps.

Bloody fucking hell. This is not normal, after all.

At first, I denied it because it didn’t make any sense, but now, it’s crystal clear. Being inside Rai is like finding home—which is bloody weird considering I’ve never had a home. And until her, I didn’t think I had the right to covet it.

Now, I want it—need it—with everything in me.

I let her legs trap me in as I slide in and out of her in a rhythm I’ve never tried before—slow, moderate and too fucking deep. I take my time rotating my hips, pulling out almost completely then thrusting back in. I tell myself it’s because I don’t want to hurt the baby, but soon after, the pace grabs and drags me under.

My body has never been in synergy with hers as it is now. Rai holds her breath, then gasps, then holds her breath again. She has never been good at controlling her air intake whenever she’s turned on.

I place two fingers in her mouth and open it, using the chance to glide them against her tongue. “Breathe, Princess. In. Out. That’s it.”

Her eyes never leave mine as she follows my lead.

I slide my fingers from her mouth and use them to part her arse cheeks. Rai gasps as I slowly push my middle finger inside. Her walls clench further around my dick as a moan rips from her throat.

Holy fuck. I want to own every inch of her here and now, but she’s too damn tight.

Still fucking her in the arse, I pick up my pace in her pussy, and she bucks off the bed, murmuring, “There…there…”

“Here?” I rasp against her ear as I pull out then pound back in, hitting her sweet spot.

She shudders and her legs tremble as she shatters all around me. Rai might act like she needs no one on the outside, but she always, without a doubt, comes undone around me.

And in a way, she has the same effect on me. I’ve never wanted to own anyone as much as I crave her. I never thought about complete belonging before she came along. She’s the only one who drives me crazy day in and day out.

I keep thrusting into her a few more times before my own orgasm sweeps me under. A groan spills from my lips as I empty myself inside her tight walls.

Rai slowly closes her eyes, lips pursing. I wrap my arms around her waist, holding her close. My head rests in the crook of her neck and I nibble on the hickey I left there yesterday.

She remains still for a minute and her breathing eventually goes back to normal.

I think she’s fallen asleep, but then she whispers, “I’m going to abort the baby.”

24

Rai

Kyle isn’t there when I wake up in the morning.

In fact, he hasn’t been there since I said those words. He pulled out of me, and although he didn’t leave the bed, he didn’t hold me either.

He was there in body, but not in soul. For the first time since we got married, he slept with enough distance between us that I shivered in the cold.

And in a way, it felt like he disappeared again.

I should’ve seen that coming when I said I’d get an abortion, but predicting something is entirely different from actually witnessing him withdraw from me. I guess a stupid part of me hoped he’d rectify his mistake by letting me have the final decision and actually respecting it.

Instead, he didn’t talk to me, didn’t fight, and didn’t even make one of his distasteful passive-aggressive remarks. He just left as he usually does.