Page 155 of Scourged

“I love you,” she murmured.

They were the most beautiful words he’d ever heard.

“I love you too. Until the stars blink out of existence and the moons fall from the sky.”

She huffed against him, a breathy laugh, and pulled slightly away.

“Do you remember the last time you said that to me?”

“I do.” He grinned. “In the gallery.”

“Yes. In the gallery.” She released his face and stepped back. The loss of her was like a punch to his gut, but a look danced in her eyes. Something that kept him planted in place, still on his knees.

Something that made his pants feel a little bit tighter.

“In the gallery,” she repeated, “when you told me you would never be crazy enough to show me how much I drove you insane. Not until ‘the stars blinked out of existence and the moons dropped from the sky.’” She kept walking back, taking short, shuffling steps away from him and through the bathroom door toward her bed in the room just beyond. His gaze was locked on her as she moved, marking her every step.

But he didn’t speak.

“I take it,” she continued, hips reaching the edge of the bed. She leaned back, stretching out her long, lithe legs. “That those two things must’ve happened, hm? Or perhaps you just … changed your mind?”

“Let’s just say,nio, that I had a spiritual awakening of sorts.” His cock was hard between his legs. His body begged to go to her, the discomfort of it all bordering on painful.

But he didn’t dare move.

Not when she stood there, looking like that, after having just told him those three little words he would rip the heavens apart to hear every single moment for the rest of his days.

In the other room, she hummed. “A spiritual awakening. I like that. Or perhaps … a religious one?” She cocked her head.

His usual smirk broke free. “I don’t consider myself very religious.”

“Oh? I seem to recall someone just a few moments ago admitting to calling me a name that was always meant to worship. To worshipme.” She rested her palms on the down duvet.

His body twitched. He clenched his hands into fists. “What do you want,Mariah?”

She smiled, slow and wicked.

“I want you to prove it. Show me what it means to be worshiped by you.”

Gods.

Blood pounded in his ears as breath panted from his lungs. His hands still clenched, his cock still hard, as he picked up a foot, moving to step it in front of him.

A sound—a click of a tongue—froze him in place.

“Ah ah.” She tsked. “I haven’t been to the temple in some time, I’ll admit. But I do know that when we worship, we do soon our knees.”

Her eyes blazed, her cheeks and neck flushed that beautiful shade of pink, as his smirk morphed into a wicked grin. Every inch of him was on fire; all his ice melted away.

“Not sure how you expect me to worship you from all the way over here,nio.”

“I guess you’ll just have to figure out how to get to me, then.” She leaned back further, lips twitching. “Crawling might suffice.”

He debated pushing her. Giving her a biting retort, some stinging reply. He didn’t think he’d ever crawled before in his life.

But, then again, he didn’t think he’d ever kneeled before, either.

He knew what this was. Another way to prove himself. Another way to show that she could trust him, that there was no part of him he was scared to keep from her.

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