Page 234 of Seizing Control: Part One

“Fuckin’ missed you. Killed me to stay away.” Zeke’s grip tightens to the point of pain. “Been making the world safer for you, making sure your babies can live a normal life.”

His explanation makes me cry harder.

“Hush, sweet thing... it’s not gonna be for much longer. Soon I’ll be home every night.”

The promise lacing his words is breath-taking. I flex the leg that I have over his hip, pulling him as close as I can with my belly between us. Zeke’s erection is unmissable. His hard length nudges my pussy. When I take hold of his hand and guide his fingers between my legs, he lets me. My hand grips his cock. I work him, up and down, with my fist, then throw my head back with a gasp as he rubs my clit. There is distance between us, so as I grow bolder, jerking his length faster and harder, I angle my pelvis in a silent request for a deeper touch.

Zeks gives me what I need.

He plunges two fingers inside me.

“Zeke,” I hiss. “Yes.”

“My name tumblin’ from these lips is the best sound in the world.”

My mouth is seized. His tongue slips between my lips. I suck the end, tasting him for the first time in too long. Lost to a maelstrom of memories and need, I dare to explore his shoulders and his back without the pretence that I’m touching him in my sleep. Bare skin that I can read like braille meets my fingertips, my desire to feel my first love morphing into an insatiable need.

I try to push him onto his back.

He resists.

“Know you’re awake, Lily.”

Falling onto my back, I stay as still as I can and keep my eyes screwed shut.

“Let me see that beautiful blue.”

After I shake my head, I say, “You’ll leave if I open my eyes.”

He tightens his grip on my nape and presses his lips to my forehead. “Ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

When I hear his Aussie accent deepen and his vernacular become less formal, I realise that the tenor of his voice has changed, and he has modulated the way he speaks. It’s such a strange thing for him to have done that it momentarily distracts me. It takes me a second, but when the thought hits, it comes with a sense of unshakeable certainty.

Zeke has turned into Gabriel.

A mini clone of my boss.

An emulation of the Adjudicator.

No...

My eyelids lift in a rush.

The multicoloured gaze I adore stares back at me.

“Fuck... I’ve missed you.”

His mouth is on mine, and he’s kissing me hard before I can draw a full breath. It’s a fight, our need to devour each other. To test the other’s corporeality. We’re hungry. Lost to our madness. Desperate to make up for lost time. Trapped on my back, boxed in by Zeke’s solid body, my thighs are wedged open by his hips and he’s inside me in the next instant. My back arches, head thrown back, a heartfelt moan torn from my lips.

“Home... metukà shelì, I’m finally home.”

“Yes, Zeke. home.”

When my first love brings my forehead to his, my gaze roams his face. So familiar. So foreign. There are lines that didn’t exist the last time we were together. A scar under his left eye that is new. The love in his expression is the same, though. It shines bright as ever, the depth magnified by the apology etched in his granite features.

“Shouldn’t’ve left you. Won’t do it again—not without an explanation.”

“Promise?”

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