Page 49 of Final Vendetta

He looped his arm around me and pulled me against him. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

“So are you.”

His mouth covered mine, his tongue dipping inside and caressing mine, his hands roaming my frame. But it wasn’t enough. Now that the emotional distance had disappeared, I didn’t want anything between us.

Tearing out of the kiss, I reached for his hoodie. “Your turn.”

Electricity crackled in the air between us, neither one of us saying a word as I slowly lowered the zipper, revealing more and more of him. More of the man I loved with every fiber of my being.

Once the zipper was undone, I pushed the fabric down his arms.

But as I raked my gaze over his torso, I inhaled a sharp breath and flung my eyes toward his, only to be met with a sinful smile.

Chapter Twenty-One

Gideon

Imogene blinked repeatedly as she floated her stare between my torso and my face, clearly taken aback by what she’d discovered.

Hours ago, the skin was unblemished, apart from my scars.

Now, black ink covered the angry mark where Brian McGuire patched me up after removing the bullet, the symbol of unconditional love in the same place as the one on Imogene’s body.

“I don’t…” She shook her head. “When did you do that?”

“Tonight.” I laughed under my breath. “It’s why I was so late getting home. I wanted to do something to prove I’m finally done pretending to be someone I’m not.”

“By getting a tattoo?”

“Exactly.” I cupped her face, needing to see her eyes. “I’ve let my past dictate my life since I escaped. Wore these scars like a badge of honor. I didn’t realize the control I’d allowed them to have over me. I refuse to give them that power anymore. Refuse to pretend to be someone else anymore.”

She peered at me for several long moments. Then she flung her arms around me, pressing her mouth firmly against mine. As I lost myself in her kiss, it felt like a huge weight had finally been lifted off my shoulders.

She moved from my lips, trailing kisses along my jawline and down my neck, kissing each and every scar as she slowly made her way down my body.

When she lowered herself to her knees, my pupils flamed, jaw ticking. But instead of ridding me of my shorts, she focused her attention on the new mark on my skin, torturing me even more.

With gentle fingers, she traced the familiar design over the clear bandage protecting it. But as she admired it, a small furrow creased her brow. Now that she saw it up close, she realized it wasn’t an exact replica of her tattoo. Instead, woven into the symbol was her name.

“You’re it for me,” I exhaled, touching my hand to her cheek.

Her eyes met mine. “And you’re it for me, Gideon.” She pressed her lips to the tattoo, her touch light and sensual. “Samuel.” She dragged her tongue along the waistband of my shorts, causing a groan to vibrate in my throat.

Looking up at me with her doe eyes, she pushed my shorts down my legs and my cock sprang free, already throbbing with a desperate need to bury myself deep inside her. To finally let loose and succumb to the urges I’d tried to lock away in order to be the man I thought she deserved.

“Imogene,” I growled when she wrapped her hand around my erection, sliding it up and down in a slow rhythm. Every stroke was fucking torture.

After the restraint I forced myself to exhibit over the past several weeks, I didn’t want it slow or gentle. I knew she didn’t either.

Grabbing her head in my hands, I dug my fingers into her hair, my grip tight.

“Open.”

One word. Two syllables. Four letters.

But by her response, you’d think I just whispered my most lewd and offensive thoughts. It left no question in my mind how much she loved when I was like this. When I told her what to do. When I took complete control of her.

With her gaze locked on mine, she moistened her lips with her tongue. I tightened my grip on her head even more, the anticipation of that tongue being on my dick driving me fucking crazy. Then she opened her mouth, eagerly awaiting my next order.

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