Page 110 of Emperor of Lust

“In the legend of the crane wife,” he says quietly. “The husband eventually breaks his promise to never watch her weave her silk. He peeks in on her one night. And when he does, and sees her true form, she flies away forever, leaving him heartbroken.”

I gasp quietly as Damian’s hand on my cheek pushes back into my hair, firmly gripping the nape as he pulls me tight against his body.

“I bind the cranes, Kitsune,” he murmurs. “To stop that from ever happening.”

I moan as our lips crush together, the intensity of the kiss sweeping me away as his hands and arms wrap me tightly, like steel.

Like red yarn.

Like he’ll never let me go.

33

DAMIAN

Nothing can touch us.

For the first time, I feel indestructible. Invincible. Like the two of us together are harder, darker, and stronger than forged steel.

She’s the reason. She’s what makes it feel this way. When she’s with me, everything sharpens, every purpose has a more honed edge, everything makes me feel more alive, more grounded.

So this is what being in love feels like.

…Who knew.

It hits me hard every time I think of it. And I have no fucking clue how it happened.

I’ve had walls around parts of me deep inside since I was a kid; since I watched my parents die in front of me in a maelstrom of twisted steel and shattered glass across an intersection.

It’s not even that I swore I’d never open up to anyone. I simply assumed that what I was and what I’d been through made it impossible for me.

And then Hana burst in and burned everything I thought I knew about myself to cinders.

I didn’t expect her, didn’t expect to need her. But here I am.

Needing her. Never letting her go.

And together, we’re fucking unbreakable.

“You ready?”

Hana stiffens as I walk into our dressing room. She’s dressed to fuckingkillin a slinky, gorgeous black dress, with a pair of strappy heels that…well, she knows what ribbons bound around her skin do to me.

“Or…we couldnotgo out,” I growl, sliding up behind her. “We could stay in, and I could tie you up and doverybad things to?—”

The second I put my hands on her hips, she flinches, evading my grip.

My brow furrows. “Everything okay?”

She turns, her face blank.

“Yeah,” she says flatly, not meeting my eyes. “Fine. But I can’t go out tonight. I have plans.”

I frown. “I thoughtwehad plans.”

“Something came up,” she says sharply. Without another word, she pushes past me and strides out of the dressing room.

What the fuck?

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