And I stayed silent.

“I support you,” I said instead. “Whatever you need to do.”

He nodded. His eyes were clouded with indecision.

“Tell me.”

My hands were slick with sweat.

“Do what you need to do, Prudence.” The words wobbled out, but I steeled my resolve, my heartbeat thundering. “Hurt who you need to hurt. Possess what you need to possess. I give you permission—no, I command you to.”

His lips were soft and yielding as I slipped my tongue inside his mouth and climbed onto his lap. He tasted like forever. A forever we’d never have. Holding him tighter would only make it hurt more to let him go. But I did it anyway.

“One more time,” I pleaded softly, straddling his lap, my cock straining against my pants despite how conflicted my emotions were. He was just as hard, just as eager as I was. I could feel the thick, insistent line of his dick against my ass when he nodded in agreement, burying his face in my chest, his hands on my hips, grip bruising.

“One more time,” he agreed.

We fell together like we always did. Gasoline to flame. An explosion of everything that made us real. His cock was hot and hard as it slapped against our bellies when I freed it, our shirts rucked up as I forced my pants down and wrapped us together in my fist.

God he felt good.

Liquid pleasure flickered down my spine as I squeezed, our heads tipping back in tandem as we both groaned.

“Fuck,” Prudence hissed through his teeth, his hand wrapping around mine, squeezing us tight enough the rigid pressure of his piercings dug into my dick. Oh sweet baby Jesus. I whined, flexing my hips into our shared grip, chasing the sensation at the same time he rutted forward.

Friction, tight, hot—delicious.

Our balls rubbing together.

His cold skin against my own, as precum slicked the way. It was still on the wrong side of dry—but it was perfect regardless as Prudence bit punishingly into my shoulder, yanking my hand out of the way so he could take us into both of his own and set a brutal pace.

It wasn’t the soothing, loving sex from the previous two days. His teeth burned, stung. I chased the pain desperately.

This was goodbye.

It was an apology.

It was ours.

When we came, we sagged together, smooshed and sticky, our breath mingling, limbs intertwined. I didn’t want to pull away. I knew the second I did we’d have nothing left to look forward to. So I clung to him. I forced my tears back. I forced my confession back. I let him tuck us gingerly inside our clothes, and then—he let me cling again.

For a long time we stayed like that. Together. Long enough I knew, without a doubt, that he needed this as much as I did. And when we finally separated, and Prudence phased right through the side of the car, my heart left with him.

A dry sob escaped my throat as I chased the sight of him through the glass. He walked away. Vanity joined him, and I watched in despair as they made their way toward a trail out of the parking lot that led to the front entrance of what looked like a perfectly ordinary office building—if office buildings were often built in the middle of the woods, an hour from the nearest city.

The car door slid open and Chastity climbed in.

“He loves you,” she said gently, awed, as I stared at Prudence’s retreating figure. One second he was there.

I knew she was right.

Even though he’d never said the words.

And then he was gone.

“I love him,” I replied, still unable to look away from the spot he’d used to be. No doubt he had possessed Vanity now, taking a ride into the prison since they only accepted human guests.

“It’s not over,” she promised, but I knew she was wrong. I offered her a smile, though I was pretty sure it was more scary than reassuring.