Page 104 of Devilish

Mine.That one word reverberated through my body, nothing ever feeling truer or more right. Kai was mine, and I was his, and there was nothing, and no one, that could ever break what we had.

“Yours,” Kai said into my neck, the word muffled.

I hadn’t even realized I’d said it out loud. I pressed a kiss to the top of his head, but Kai leaned back and stole one from my lips. His fingers toyed with the back of my hair, and he mistook the shiver that ran through me as being cold.

“We should dry off and get in the bed. What do you say?”he asked.

I arched a brow. “You giving orders now?”

“I am tonight.” He grinned, pressed another kiss to my lips, and stepped out of the tub. The bath sheet practically swallowed him whole as he wrapped himself up in it and then held another one open for me.

I’d let him do anything that made him happy, and if that meant letting him call the shots tonight, I was good with that. Kai was here. With me. That was all that mattered.

I rubbed my hands up and down his towel-covered body, getting him nice and dry, and all the while he smiled up at me, watching quietly.

When I’d finished drying myself off too, I tossed the towels aside and held my hand out. He laced his fingers through mine and I led him into my bedroom, hitting the lights on the way so the room went dark except for the flickering candles by the bedside.

I pulled the sheets back, and as Kai climbed in on the side he preferred and I slipped in behind him, the world finally righted itself. This was how I wanted to stay forever. With my beautiful boy in my arms, safe and happy and loved.

“I know I said I don’t want to talk about him, but I do have one question,” Kai said.

Here it comes.The moment he asked what had really happened to Rupert. Would he want to know? I wasn’t going to hide it from him.

“Do you… Will the certificates be enough to put him away? Like, for good?”

The certificates were the least of Rupert’s problems now, but I wasn’t going to tell Kai that.

Instead, I kissed his shoulder and whispered by his ear, “Don’t you worry about that.He’sbeing taken care of. He’ll never hurt anyone ever again.”

Kai rolled over so he was facing me.“Good. I’d hate knowing he was still out there doing this to someone else.”

“So would I.” I gently stroked a piece of damp hair back from his forehead. “But we’re not going to talk about him anymore. You’re not going to worry about him. And we’redefinitelynever going to think about him ever again. You’re free. You can go anywhere. Do anything.”

“Free…” Kai whispered as though tasting the word on his tongue, then scooted even closer to me, slipping his leg between mine.“What if…” He placed a hand over my heart. “What if I don’t want to go anywhere?”

I wrapped my arms around him, and his head rested perfectly under my chin, his cheek against my chest. “Then you can stay exactly where you are.”

“Good, because this right here is my new favorite place.”

My heart thumped under the gentle press of his mouth, and as he snuggled against me and sighed, I closed my eyes, content just to hold him.

I wasn’t sure how long we lay there, his breathing softly in rhythm with mine as I ran my fingers up and down his back. But as the day and night finally caught up with me, I started to finally relax now that all threats to us had been removed.

Sleep hovered at the edges, ready to claim me, and just as I was about to give in, I heard Kai whisper, “I love you.”

My eyes flew open and my pulse began to race again.

Did he just say…?

I lifted his chin, and as Kai’s eyes met mine, I could see the flare of surprise, like he hadn’t expected me to be awake to hear those three words.

“Say that again.”

He bit the inside of his cheek. “I love you, Lucien.”

Everything I’d ever wanted was wrapped up in those words and the way Kai was looking at me now. It mirrored exactly whatI’d been feeling but didn’t want to pressure him by saying, but now that the dam had burst, there was no holding back.

“My beautiful boy.” I cradled his face in my palm. “I love you. I love you for your strength and your bravery. I love you for your sweet spirit and the way you’re finding your joy. And Kai?”

---