Page 73 of The Vipers' Vow

I carefully slide out of bed, untangling myself from limbs as I go. Zane is snoring softly, and I smile to myself, thinking it’s probably the most noise I’ve heard from him.

As I stand from the bed, a hand reaches out and curls around my wrist, preventing me from going any farther.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

It’s Lex, and I smile over my shoulder at him. “I need to go back to my room and get cleaned up before class starts.”

“Skip it.” He keeps his voice down so as not to wake the others. “Spend all day in bed with us instead.”

“I suspect we’re all already walking on a tightrope when it comes to not ending up in trouble with the dean,” I say, “and the last thing I need right now is for him to call my dad.” I glance down. “How’s the hand?”

He lifts it slightly and grimaces. “Sore, but I’ll take some meds shortly. Think last night was a little more action than it needed.”

I lean in and kiss him on the forehead and sweep some of his dark locks back from his face. “Exactly. Get some rest.”

He still doesn’t let go and instead gives my wrist a slight tug. “I missed you, you know. When I was on the yacht. You more than anyone.”

“Lex…” I start, my eyes misting. I don’t even know how to end my sentence.

“It made me realize how much you mean to me, and then seeing you fall off the side of the boat…” He closes his eyes briefly and shakes his head. “Fuck, Vani, if I could have fallen instead, I would have.”

“I would never have wanted that.”

He glances over at his sleeping twin. “I know Saint and I do everything together, but we still have separate hearts. Mine belongs to you,cherie. All of it. Every single fiber of my being is yours, and no one else’s.”

He locks eyes with me, as though he’s trying to communicate something by the intensity of his gaze alone.

“I love you, Vani. Independently of Saint, I love you.”

I melt. “Oh, Lex.” I cup his cheek in my hand. “I love you, too.”

It’s crazy that this is the second time in as many days I’ve told a man I love him, but I mean it.

His face cracks in a wide smile, transforming him. He’s truly a thing of beauty.

He pulls me back and kisses me hard on the mouth and brushes his nose against mine. “Say that again,” he tells me.

“I love you,” I whisper, and then giggle with happiness.

He finally releases me. “And I love you. Now, go and get ready for your class.”

“I will, but I’m stealing this.” I snatch up one of his sweatshirts and throw it on. I hunt for sweatpants and find some in the pile of clothes on the floor. I’m not sure whose they are, but they’re massive on me. I tighten the cord and tie it and roll them up. This will have to do until I get to my dorm.

My dress is wrecked after Zane tore it apart, and there’s no way I’m walking down the hallways of Verona Falls University with everything on show. Never mind the fact that it’s decidedly not a ready for classes kind of a dress. It would be very clear I was doing the walk of shame.

Lex smiles at me. “You look hot.”

I laugh at that. “Lex, I’m a mess. I’m wearing men’s clothes, my hair is a bird’s nest, and I stink of sex.”

“Exactly, and you still look like the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. When I saw you, all soft and pretty on the yacht, you were a glimpse of heaven, Vani. One I thought I’d never get to see again.”

I swallow hard at that.

“I want more nights like this,” he says.

“Me too.”

I blow him a final kiss and slip from the mansion.

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