Page 157 of Devil Mine

I gape at him, my mouth on the floor. “He gave these to you?”

“He was happy to part with them when presented with the choice of them or his life.”

“But these are in my name,” I say, looking down at the topsheet held in my shaking hands then back up at him. “You’re giving them to me?”

Thiago comes to a stop before me, his large form towering over me. Heated, possessive eyes burn into the side of my face, lighting flames of arousal in my belly. “It’s your company. I’m simply giving you what rightfully belongs to you. What your father should have given you himself,” he adds with a dangerous growl. “Arturo overheard him firing you. He has no right to take the thing you care about the most away from you and I certainly wasn’t about to let that happen while I stood idly by and did nothing. I believe that these five seats, coupled with the two you and Tristan already have should give you the majority. With these, you can do more than keep your job; you can oust him and become CEO.”

His large hand closes around mine, calming the trembling that makes the pages shake. Warmth bursts to life where he touches me and spreads throughout my entire body.

My eyes lift back to his but I find that his gaze is fixed determinedly on the pages in my hand.

“But I’m also giving them to you for a selfish reason. You were right – you didn’t get to make a choice. Your father forced you and then I forced you. These give you the autonomy and financial freedom to choose for yourself — stay with me or leave me.”

He stares at the documents for a long time before his eyes slide up to mine, full of raw vulnerability and yearning. I don’t think this is a side of him he lets anybody else see. His hand moves up my arm and to my face where he cups my cheek. I tilt my head and press into his large hand.

“Stay,” he whispers, the word caught somewhere between a plea and a prayer. “I want you to stay.”

I blink and a thick tear crests past my waterline and falls down my cheek. He catches it with his thumb.

Alarm edges his tone. “Why are you crying?”

The maelstrom of emotions is overwhelming. I’d walked in so worried and scared for our future together, only to find that he had once again been working to protect me.

“Yesterday…you said you were done,” I say, my voice breaking as more tears slip down my face.

“Done?” Thiago’s face softens but his voice takes on an uncompromising edge. “I was done arguing that specific topic, but I willneverbe done with you. Get that through your head.”

“You didn’t come home after I– after I told you to go to Claudia. I wondered if…” I trail off, incapable of even saying the words out loud.

“Amor,” he growls, gripping my face tightly between his hands. “I slept on the couch behind you last night. You’re the only woman I’ve slept with in years. The only woman I think about all day long and want to bury myself inside the second I come home. Why would I ever go to anyone else?”

“Because I was stupid and pushed you away.”

“You weren’t stupid. We had a fight and I’m sure we’ll have many more. I’m sorry too, for making you think for one second that you weren’t exactly who I wanted.” He brushes the hair gently away from my face. “But you were wrong. I was coming home to you tonight and I was planning on doing whatever it took to make you see the error of your ways. All I was waiting for was the documents to be notarized over to you. You beat me to it by coming to find me, but I couldn’t have stayed away another night either.” His hand tightens on the side of my neck. “And you, coming here, looking for me?Claimingme?” he murmurs throatily. “You have no idea. If I could cut myself up and show you how frantically my thoughts race for you, how madly my blood runs for you, how desperately my heart beats for you, it would scare you to fucking death.”

A bubble of relief bursts past my lips when his mouth comes down and covers mine. The kiss is hard and desperate and full of deep longing. He claims my body with greedy fingers and rough caresses, his mouth moving over mine with a famished kind of hunger that takes my breath away.

He’s gentle at first, but then his grip turns bruising and possessive. He rips his lips off mine, breaking away from me to catch his breath and leaving me with lips swollen from his attack. His chest rises and falls jaggedly, but that’s not what captures my attention. It’s the expression in his eye. He looks at me like he physically needs more, like not having his lips on mine causes him bodily pain.

“What do you choose?” he asks, voice roughened by lust. Hard breaths fan across my lips. “I should warn you that if you decide to leave me it doesn’t mean I won’t follow. I’m giving you a choice when I don’t have one, because I can’t live without you.”

My arms come around his neck and I pull him down to me, finding his mouth with mine and kissing him with all the emotion held in my soul. He groans as he pulls me closer, trapping me against his body with rough hands.

It’s only been twenty four hours, but I’ve missed him terribly. Being back in his arms feels like being anchored back at home after a night out on stormy seas. I don’t want to be anywhere else.

“I don’t need documents, I made my choice a long time ago,” I breathe. “I’m never leaving you.”

Golden eyes flash, his pupils dilated to the size of quarters. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

Thiago slams his mouth savagely down on mine, pushing me roughly back against his desk. He grabs my ass and hoists me into his arms. Our mouths are level now and he uses that new angle to deepen our kiss. My pussy rubs lewdly against his hard length until we’re both making obscene sounds of pleasure.

His hand closes around the front of my throat and squeezes, applying pressure to separate us.

“Remember what I told you would happen if you ever brought up divorce again?”

I shake my head even though I do remember.

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