Page 7 of Premonition of Peace

“I don’t want a caretaker, Nat. And I don’t want you to see me as some broken thing you need to take pity on.” I wanted her to see me as a man. Her man, specifically.

“I’m not going to pity you, for fuck’s sake. Since when did giving a shit about someone equate to pity?”

“When I saw how you looked at me without my glamour.” There it was. Out in the open.

She got to her feet and crossed the space between us, taking the seat beside me. My body hummed at the close proximity.

“Look. It was a surprise. You can’t blame me for having a reaction,” she said, pausing for a moment. “I don’t look at you like you’re broken. That’s not what this is.”

“You sure about that?” The bitterness in my voice was thinly veiled.

Nathalie pinched the bridge of her nose, inhaling deeply. I waited for her retort, but it never came. Instead, she softened. “Does everything have to be a fight between us? I don’t want to do that anymore. It’s so fucking taxing and I don’t have it in me. I’m on your side. Why can’t you see that?”

All the resistance I had built up began to crumble. I didn’t have it in me either. “I know you are. Maybe it just feels like old times when we argue. When things weren’t as complicated yet. We were always pretty good at it,” I said softly, a slight smirk appearing. I winked at her, and I could see her frustration with me dissipating.

“You know,” she said, taking my hands in her, “you also used to let me have my way quite a bit too.”

I sighed deeply, knowing she was going to win this one. It was little more than a thought to drop the glamour. I tensed, waiting for her expression to change. For my heart to crack open and bleed all over us both.

“Well?” I prompted.

Nathalie leaned in close, lifting a hand to cup my cheek. Gently, she brushed her thumb beneath one eye—no doubt tracing the dark circles lining my face. “You look exhausted.”

“That’s not a very nice thing to say to someone who’s dying.”

She chuckled, accepting my attempt to lighten the mood. “You want me to be honest, or do you want me to coddle you?”

“Fair enough,” I said, taking a strand of her hair and twirling it around my finger.

“I won’t, you know.”

“Won’t what?”

“I won’t coddle you.” A small smile graced her lips. “You’re a pain in the ass, Marcel. I know you don’t want a caretaker, but you can’t stop me from trying to help.”

“Who’s the pain in the ass now?” I shot back, raising a brow. “Not taking no for an answer. So very like you.”

“You’re right,” she huffed, laughing lightly. “Arguing does feel like old times. Maybe that’s why we can barely be in a room together without fighting about something. Anything, really.”

“Remember what else we used to do?” She raised her brows in question. “Afterwe’d argue . . .”

It was a long shot. Not one I really expected to turn into anything. Just something to make her smile or playfully smack my arm. I wanted to feel a sense of normalcy with her. She shocked me by leaning forward, closing the gap between us. I’d wanted to feel her again for so long, but for some reason, I froze, not believing this was real. Soft lips brushed mine before she whispered, “You going to kiss me back or what?”

That’s all it took to snap me out of it. I groaned, leaning into the kiss. My free hand came up to knot in her hair. I fisted it tightly as I pulled her closer, expertly parting her lips with my tongue. Nathalie opened up, letting me in.

“Fucking finally,” I growled. Our hands unraveled and I reached for her hip, pulling her to me. Nat gave in, throwing one leg across my waist to straddle me. Her heat enveloped me. Home. I wasfinallyhome.

Our mouths clashed as we came together, unable to get close enough, to breathe in enough, to devour enough—I nipped her bottom lip. She pulled my top one between hers then sucked on my tongue. I groaned.

Nathalie’s hands cupped my face, sliding backwards to run through my hair. She pulled at the strands, giving me a bite of pain. I didn’t complain. It was a different kind of pain than what I was used to. A kind I welcomed.

Our lips broke apart, but I continued sliding my lips over her jaw, down her neck. I inhaled her deeply, my hand on her hip tightening.

“Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you? Missed this?” I whispered. Then, before she could respond, I sucked onthat patch of flesh just below her ear that drove her wild. My sunbeam moaned, her body going taut against me.

“Yes,” she breathed.

“No, I don’t think you do.” I bit her neck, making her jerk in my lap. Her center pressed against my cock—seeking friction. Times may have changed. I may be worse than ever before, but I knew all her buttons to press. “If you did, you would have caved to me sooner.”

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