Page 232 of The Sins of Silas

“I am not the man you used to love, Lena.” The muscle in his jaw feathered before he continued, “I have done unspeakable things. I have tortured and killed hundreds of people. You can’t just…you can’t just go back to the person you were before all of that. I will forever be haunted by not only everything that has happened to me…but everything I have done.”

I held his face as I spoke. “I forgive you,” I expressed. “My love for you is limitless, Silas. Unchanging, no matter what you’ve done. Even if you had never saved my people, and we were all being hung. I would’ve been heartbroken and angry…but I would’ve looked into your eyes as I died, and still, I would’ve loved you.”

He shifted his head in refusal, eyes shining from the pooled tears. “I am not deserving of your love, Lena.”

“Youaredeserving of it, and so, so much more. It doesn't matter to me that you aren't the man I used to love…because I love you just as you are now.” I pulled him into my chest and held him as he finally broke, unleashing a heartbreaking sob.

“I will love every version of you, my Soul-Tie,” I whispered.

“I love you so much,” he wept. “I am so sorry…”

I hushed him, holding him tightly, my own tears coursing down my face. I stroked his hair and told him I loved him, just like all those years ago.

“He can’t hurt you anymore,” I whispered. “Never hold back your feelings around me. I will always be a safe person for you, okay?”

He squeezed me tighter, my chest muffling his cries.

Chapter Sixty-Four

LENA

Silas had cried into my chest, and as I ran my hand along his back, the motion eventually soothed him to sleep. I drifted off myself soon after.

I didn't know how long I rested for—time felt strange here. But when I awoke, my eyes found him immediately.

Silas sat before the fireplace with his elbows resting on his knees, the delicate sheet tangled between his thighs as he fixated on Saoirse's doll, holding it in his grasp. The flames before him complimented his honey-colored irises, and I stared at him in awe as I observed them dancing in his eyes’ reflection.

This man, who I loved with my entire heart, had been through so, so much. His skin, which was once unblemished and smooth, had become scarred, burned, calloused, and covered in tattoos. Ever since we found each other again, I couldn’t comprehend whyhe looked so depleted, how the man who had been all smiles and had teased me non-stop had become cold and closed off.

The rare smiles I had seen had never fully reached his eyes, but as he turned his head to me, catching that I had awoken, his eyes met mine. A soft smile formed on his face, and his eyes sparkled.

I returned the expression, brushing my hand along the side of his leg as I sat up.

His smile then faded as he placed the doll on the floor beside the fireplace, but his eyes remained bright.

“I am desperately in love with you, Lena.” He moved his arm and slid his hand along mine—my hand that now rested on his thigh. Our fingers interlocked. “It has only ever been you. No matter what I have done or who I’ve been with. It was only ever you who held my heart,” he assured me.

My heart fluttered, and I scooted closer to him, sitting in between his thighs. I brushed my free hand across his cheek.

“And only you hold mine,” I promised, leaning close and kissing his lips softly. I rested my forehead on his. “It has only ever been you, Silas. Even when I have tried to move on, it never compared to what I felt with you.”

He released my hand from his grasp and slid his hands to both sides of my face, pulling away just enough so his golden eyes could shift back and forth between mine.

“I don’t want to deny myself your lips, your body, your touch, ever again,” he murmured, and his gaze dropped to my breasts, then up to my lips, his hands falling to his knees. “Gods, how I wish things were different.”

The tension between us quickened my heart rate, and pressure built in between my legs at the memory of the incredible sex we had in Faltrun. My eyes fluttered down to his lips, down to hisinked neck, then past his toned stomach to the sheet where the outline of his hardened length was visible. I let out a shaky exhale as I met eyes with him, his pupils dilated so large only a small rim of gold remained.

“Don’t deny me. Not anymore,” I whispered.

He stared at me for a moment before cursing under his breath and pulling my face to his. His lips collided with mine before both of ours parted, our tongues sliding and dancing against each other in slow, passionate movements. He slid his arms down and wrapped them around me as I sat on his lap, my legs resting on either side of his body. His cock was pushing up against my sensitive flesh—the only thing separating us was the thin fabric of the sheet.

He let out a deep moan as I ground against him, his one hand sliding down to grip my ass, the other one drifting up to release my hair from the tie securing it.

We stayed like that for a moment, lost in lust, kissing sloppily as we rubbed our bodies against each other—desperate, needing, searching. Silas groaned as he gripped the sheet and yanked it away, freeing his stiff cock, the thickness of him bobbing from the movement.

He grabbed me from beneath and lifted me as he stood, tossing me on the bed behind us. He stalked over me, his lustful eyes trailing to my breasts before cupping one with his hand. He bit his bottom lip and dived down, his mouth entrapping the raised peak as he sucked hard. I hissed and arched my back, earning a smirk from the Prince as he slowly swirled his tongue around my nipple.

He sucked once more, then pulled back to stare at me again.

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