Page 117 of Servitude to Serpents

Two Months Later, Warrick

I make eye contact with Stuart in the rearview, a knowing, tense look passing between us as nerves flutter in my stomach, an odd and uncomfortable feeling I’m not yet accustomed to. My fingers skim over the cuffs of my suit jacket for the hundredth time since we arrived here.

Pup fidgets at my side, and for a moment, my chest wrenches, guilt burrowing up to the surface. My brows furrow as she tilts her head back, trying to steal a peek at her surroundings. “Stop cheating.”

She huffs, crossing her arms in the most adorably petulant way.

I roll my neck before staring out at the familiar rolling, grassy hills. If I’m not fucking right this time, the jet is already on standby to take us to the nearest chapel. I don’t care if it’s under duress. Chloe will marry me. The constant rejection has wounded me irreparably. Her infuriating little game is almost as maddening as watching the pure enjoyment she gets out of tormenting me, and torment, she does. She figured out all too soon that despite my frustration and grumbling, I’ll play along.

I am well and truly wrapped around her finger.

By the time we hit the circle drive, my chest aches ever so slightly at the broken, burnt, and abandoned state of the home I labored over, planned, helped build. It has sat like this ever since that night. Sure, the valuable things and information were moved out, but it’s the bones that were left to rot. No way could we returnsafely after the FBI raid, yet another favor called in to Harun’s insufferable ass. There is truly nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I can tell from the moment the car pulls to a stop and I step out, walking around to open her door, that part of me will always hurt for the life I pictured us having within these walls.

Anywhere, even the pits of hell, would be blissful with Chloe, but I had always pictured us right here.

A chill runs over her as she shifts on her feet, the cool wind sweeping the loose strands of her braid around her beautiful, blindfolded face. I decide I can’t stand one second longer of not seeing all of it. My fingers whisper across her lips. “This is my final guess, Pup.”

Her chest rises and plunges, anticipation building in my stomach alongside the nerves as I undo the blindfold. It takes her eyes, especially the sensitive one, a moment to adjust to the light, but when they do, crystal tears well in her wide brown depths, and I know I finally got it right.

All this time…

These past few years of dragging her across the world, and all my girl wanted was to come home.

My teeth score my bottom lip, keeping the appendage from betraying the depth of my emotions as I kneel, pulling out the ring from my suit pocket. “Chloe, will you marry me?”

She laughs, and God, it’s a beautiful sound. “Yes.”

Yes.

Three tiny letters are all it takes to undo me.

My eyes mist and burn as I slip the ring onto her delicate, scarred finger, watching it go, savoring every inch. I take in every moment of this, basking in her, because there is no one, fucking no one, who could ever compare. They wouldn’t even come close. The moment the ring is in its place, I’m on my feet, slamming my lips against hers in a bruising kiss, the only kind we know how to give.

Everything with Chloe is fire, brimstone, blazes, embers. She makes meburn. If it is my fate to die in flames, she’d better be the one holding the match. We don’t break our hungry, desperate kissing until the lack of oxygen forces us to. Her doeeyes are lidded with heat and so much fucking joy. In the early days, I’d wondered what it would be like for her to look at me just like this, what I could ever do to deserve it. Emotion clogs my throat as she beams at me. “I love you.”

“I love you too. So fucking much.”

I’m still riding my high when she sprints back to the car to celebrate with Stuart, who tries his best to look annoyed by it all, but I don’t miss the wetness in his eyes.

She’s making the both of us fucking weak.

She throws open the car door, fumbling around inside before she jerks out a cell phone. Hers or mine, I’m not sure, but I don’t need to hazard a guess at who she’s calling. It rings as she excitedly paces, finally making her way back to me.

The deafening screech that leaves her is matched by the other one on the line as she tells Mahari,I finally got it right.

Stuart takes that as his cue to barricade himself inside the car, and I watch her for a few moments longer. She has changed so much in the last few years, and I only seem to adore her more each day. She takes full advantage of it, the spoiled brat. She barely notices me as I stalk up to her, gently taking the phone from her hand and lifting it to my ear. “Your friend will see you next week for your show.”

“Make her forget how to walk!” Mahari shouts back before I end the call.

And oh, I plan to.

I drop the phone to the ground, making my sweet little pup go still, her wide eyes following its descent. How she maintains that breathtaking innocent quality despite the absolute debauchery I subject her to is beyond me, but it makes my cock throb nonetheless.

“Warrick?”

I shake my head, shifting out of my suit jacket, making her pale brows furrow.

“Warrick….”

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