Page 126 of Untamed

I wrap her in a towel, then wrap another around my waist. Wordlessly, she sits up in bed, and I get the food outside the door. We open the box on the bed.

“Rafail would kill me for this,” I say, lifting a slice and handing it to her.

She swallows and licks her lips. “Rafail can fuck off. I can’t think of a better way to honeymoon than pizza and cheesecake. You?”

I take a bite of the pizza and groan. “I would’ve said sex, but right now, this pizza tastes better than sex.”

Ember laughs softly, tucking her legs beneath her. The towel falls off her shoulder and pools in her lap. The warmth in her eyes lingers longer than usual. “You know,” she says with a twinkle in her eye. “If I were still making videos, I’d be running to make a video about this scene right here.”

I shake my head at her. “Why?”

She shrugs. “We can talk all day about a hot, tatted guy taking care of us. But being comfortable enough to share a pizza, half-naked, in bed… could be the hunger talking, but this is the stuff of dreams.”

We eat in silence. In the distance, we can still hear the muted sounds of people talking and music playing, but it seems we’re almost a world apart here.

She tilts her head up just enough to meet my eyes. “I meant what I said, you know. About not wanting temporary.”

“You say that now…” I want to believe her; of course I do. But I want her to say the same thing after she’s accepted what this really means. I’m not built for soft edges and quiet endings. I don’t like the thought of my world swallowing her whole.

But when I look down, she’s already watching me, eyes steady and unwavering. Like she sees the storm inside me and isn’t afraid of getting caught in it.

“I mean it,” she says softly, her fingers tightening around mine. “I know what I’m asking for.”

She drops her crust in the box, grabs another slice of pizza, and takes a huge bite.

I take her crust and bite it.

“Things sometimes go to shit, Ember. We don’t always have happy endings. Sometimes?—”

She stops me with her hand on my arm. “Rodion. I get it. I know.” Shaking her head, she smiles at me. “I’ve read all the books, remember?”

“Oh, right.” I grin at her. “You’re an expert.”

She giggles. “I don’t know if I want to kiss you or write fanfic about you.”

“Oh, really?”

She sighs and says in a lilting, teasing voice, “The way he’s morally gray in all the right ways…”

I snort.

“The way I need you toruin me,sir.”

I shake my head.

“Do you have a tragic backstory, a deep emotional wound, and a loyalty kink with a heavy side of competency porn?” She sighs dramatically and brings her hand to her brow. “I’mdead.”

I finally get it. “Oh my god. You’re pretending to be a fangirl.”

“Yes and no,” she says with a shrug. “I’m not really pretending. Listen, Rodion. I know you’re worried about me losing it when things go sideways, but I… I know what you’re like when things goright.”

That hits deeper than I thought it would. I tilt her chin up with two fingers, holding her gaze. She licks her lips adorably. “And anything else we can figure out.”

She smiles back at me. “That’s what happily ever afters are made for.”

Chapter 29

EMBER

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