Page 164 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 5-8

‘Dante,please!’

And whatever control he’d held on to shattered.

He possessed her.

Her body.

He came back to the only home he’d ever know, ever needed. And the truth of that overwhelmed him now.

Emma was hishome.

And that was terrifying. But he pushed it aside.

‘Never stop,’ she said, and he wanted to roar.

‘Dante!’Her nails bit into his skin. Into his hands. She contracted around the pulsing hardness of him, with the sweetest, most delicious vise grip.

He panted, his breath coming out in short, sharp rasps. But he did not close his eyes. Neither did she.

In sync, their hips locked. Their bodies tightened. And he no longer knew where she ended and he began.

‘Emma!’ he shouted as he came. Harder than he’d ever come.

And the pleasure blinded him to everything but the feel of her beneath him.

Panting, he collapsed on to his elbows and buried his face in her throat.

‘That was incredible.’

‘Youare incredible,’ he husked into her throat—her skin. Because she was something mystical. A creature who had crept into his life and bewitched him.

‘Thank you,’ she said, her hands sweeping up his back and wrapping around him.

And he was no longer blind. He could see with an undiluted clarity.

He’d won.

Emma was back.

And he’d keep her here.

Beneath him.

Where she belonged.

For now.

CHAPTER NINE

HISCHESTROSEbeneath her cheek. His breath was rhythmic and his heart thrummed steady and strong in her ear. His arm was possessively curled around her, his hand locked to her hip. Emma couldn’t move even if she wanted to. One hand on his stomach and one by her side, she stayed exactly where she was.

She’d never spent the night in anyone’s bed. Never shared one for longer than she had to in her existing memory. She’d certainly never fallen asleep. But she’d slept all night with him in a tangle of limbs.

The sun streamed through the windows, highlighting the contours on his chest. Golden undertones chased by dark shadows of hair between deep lines on his abdomen led down towards the duvet that covered the lower half of his body.

Warmth gathered in the pit of her stomach. Last night had been...a lot.

It hadn’t been perfunctory or stolen. It had been transcendent, powerful,addictive. Because even now, though her body ached, she wanted more. More of him on her. More of her on him.

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