Page 29 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 1-4

He rubbed himself there, laughing in that dark way that thrilled her, everywhere, and she began to shake. Then she shattered again as he pressed himself against the center of her need.

As if it was the first time, she flew apart—

And she was still shaking with the force of it as he shifted her, holding her as he slid his way deep inside of her.

Dioni didn’t have time to come back down from the stars before he started to move.

She stayed there, bright like a comet.

And for a long while, possibly forever, there was only this.

The way he thrust, claiming every part of her. The way he gazed up at her, something fierce and possessive, greedy and dark all over his handsome face.

There was the way he gripped her like he would never let her go, so hard that she hoped he left fingerprints behind.

She rocked herself against him, moving with his grip, and meeting his thrusts so that both of them were moaning out their pleasure—

Because it went on and on.

And every time she shattered, it got better. Deeper. Wilder.

Until, at last, Alceu took her up to another peak, hurled her off of it, and followed, blazing like a comet all his own beside her.

And when they both found their way back to earth, back to flesh instead of fire, he rolled with her. He took her down to the bed beside him so he could kiss her forehead, her cheeks, her mouth.

She was still quivering, and making little noises in the back of her throat involuntarily. He lay there beside her, that huge, hard length of his body pressed to her side and one arm holding her pregnant belly.

Dioni could feel her breath match his. She could feel the heat of him, deep inside her body, all over her, and beside her. As if they really had become one.

She wanted to stay awake as long as possible, though her eyelids were heavy and her body wanted nothing more than to slip off into oblivion.

But she fought it, because she wanted to enjoy this. Before he said anything. Before he made more declarations.

Before he tried to take back what had happened, or minimize it.

Right here, right now, Dioni wanted to do nothing at all but bask in Alceu and the shockingly effective seduction she’d executed here.

And love him, whether he knew it or not, for as long as she was able.

Before he discovered her secret and made her stop.

CHAPTER SEVEN

ALCEUCOULDFEELtoo many dark thoughts pressing upon him, coming in fast, but he kept them at bay.

He could tell that Dioni was not sleeping, though she was lying there beside him, quietly enough. He found he couldn’t drift off himself. Instead, they lay there together, in the embrace of darkness all around, and he knew that he should be awash in regret. Recrimination.

The usual self-flagellation that followed his loss of control—something that only happened with this woman.

But he couldn’t quite get there. Not just yet.

He shifted beside her, stroking the heat of her belly with his palm. When she looked over at him, he traced the shape of her lips, something tugging at him inside when they curved. Then he moved, rolling her with him so that he could lift her up and carry her.

“I am far too heavy to be carted around like this,” she said, but she looped an arm around his neck and held on while he proved her wrong.

“If I cannot carry my wife and child, what kind of husband am I?” He meant that lightly, or he thought he did. But his voice came out far darker than he intended, blending in with the insistent press of the night outside.

And he could feel all the things he didn’t want to start thinking begin to turn into words, then bite at him, but he didn’t want them. Not now.

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