Page 109 of Seizing Control: Part One

Finishing inside her with a staccato tempo that makes her bounce.

“Fuckin’ hell,” I groan as Lily clings to me. My orgasm is longer than usual, my hips bucking as I fill her with every drop of cum. “Every time I’m inside you, I lose all reason.”

Lily is spent.

Her breathing is erratic.

Her heart races.

I allow myself one last embrace.

Breathe in her perfume.

Bask in her love.

Then I push her off my lap and hand her the jumper she stripped off me.

“Here.” I pass her the sweatpants next. “Wear these too.”

My woman sees straight through me, refusing to dress in the clothes I offer her.

Knowing that our time is at an end… that my life as Ezekiel Miles is nearing its end, I dig deep. My tone is harsh, brooking no arguments as I tell her, “It’s time to go, Lily.”

“No, not yet.”

On autopilot, I glare at her until she dresses in the clothes I’ve given her, then I bundle my reluctant sweet thing out of the door when Gabriel and the guards appear in response to my knocking. Ignoring the Adjudicator’s evident sympathy, I tighten my grip on the tattered wedding dress that I wouldn’t let Lily take with her as I brace for her to leave me for the last time.

“Ready, Cherub?” Gabriel cuts through the tense silence. “We have another meetin’ to get to—the consequences of missin’ it are more than either you are willin’ to pay.”

Lily looks at me.

I stare at the floor.

Her sadness cannot be the last thing I see.

I need to remember her in the throes of ecstasy.

Not as the woman I’ve just broken.

“Please bring my heart back,” Lily whispers.

My answer is immediate. “Promise.”

It’s also a lie.

When I return, it’ll be as Lazarus—as the Adjudicator of the underworld.

Lily won’t know me.

Why would she want her heart back from a stranger?

As soon as Gabriel has escorted Lily out of sight, I turn to the guard on the Adjudicator’s payroll. He is green behind the gills, a rookie in every way, but he’s proven reliable so far.

“It’s time.”

He inclines his head, tossing me a blanket to wrap around my half-naked form.

I follow him back to my cell.

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