Page 53 of The Villains We Make

“Good idea. You go into the kitchen and see what Nigella has stocked in the fridge. I’ll make sure the fire is going and get us a bottle of wine.”

“Okay.”

I switch on lights as I go, and Silas tends to the fire. Nigella has stocked the kitchen well, and I take out a whole roasted chicken from the refrigerator. I read the instructions and put it in the oven, then empty a bag of salad into a bowl. Silas walks in carrying not one but two bottles of red wine.

I raise my eyebrows.

He smiles. “Nigella has excellent taste in wine.” He fishes around in two drawers before finding the bottle opener and popping the cork on the first bottle. I get two wine glasses. Silas pours and hands me one. He watches me as I take a sip. The way he’s looking at me is a little odd.

“Everything okay?” I ask, feeling self-conscious.

“Fine.”

“Where did you go?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said you were going to do some work. Where did you go to do it?”

“Oh. Just the office of a friend.”

“You were gone all day.”

“I’m a little behind.” He swallows the contents of his glass, and I’m not sure he even tasted it. He sets his glass down, then takes mine from me and puts it aside. He pulls me to him. “Do you remember what I told you before we got married?”

“Which part?” I ask but I think I know. My heart beats faster.

“The part where you asked me what I would marry for, and I said love. That I’d marry for love.”

Heat flushes my neck and cheeks. “I remember.”

“I love you. Have for a long time. Do you understand that? I never said the words, not really, but they’re true in here.” He sets his hand over his heart.

I smile, warm tears stinging my eyes. “Well, if we’re doing this, I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you since I was fifteen years old,” I say, feeling embarrassed and unable to hold his gaze.

He tips my face up to his and smiles and that smile touches his eyes, warms them. But there’s more. There’s something heavy, something dark inside them.

“What is it?” I ask. “Did something happen? You’re different.”

He pulls me in for a tight hug then draws back to look at me again before kissing me. Taking my hand, he walks me to the stove and switches off the oven, then lifts me in his arms. He carries me up the stairs to our bedroom, where he strips me naked. Eyes locked on me, he does the same until he’s standing naked before me, looking every inch a god, shoulders broad, arms and chest dusted with dark hair and defined with muscle. His stomach is cut, thighs powerful, and his cock, well, his cock has me dropping to my knees before him to worship.

Silas looks down at me as I run my hands up along his thighs before cupping his ass and licking the length of his cock. He caresses the back of my head when I open my mouth to take him and moans, closing his eyes as I taste him. He weaves his fingers into my hair and watches me as he moves me over himself, pushing in deeper and deeper, taking me right to the edge and pulling back when I can’t take more.

A few more strokes like this, and he pulls me off.

“I want?—”

“Later.” He raises me to my feet and kisses me like he’s starved, like he’s never kissed me before. “Later, I’ll take your mouth but right now I need to be inside you, O. I need to feel you from inside.”

He lays me down on the bed and never stops kissing me as he nudges my legs apart and pushes into me, that initial intrusion making me draw in a shuddering breath. He sets his elbows on either side of my head to carry most of his weight, but our bodies are touching, as close as possible. He kisses me, watching me, tongue claiming my mouth, cock reaching the deepest parts of me. He holds me close, closer than we’ve ever been.

“I love you, do you understand that?” he asks.

I nod, his thrusts deep, purposeful, his cock growing impossibly hard inside me.

“No matter what, I love you,” he says again, more urgently.

“I love you, too, Silas. No matter what.” I mimic his words although their intensity is confusing and when he repeats himself, I see he’s far away. He’s right here, eyes locked on me, but he’s far, far away.

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