Page 128 of Pervade London
“Seriously?”
“And Emily, I recall every single orgasm you’ve ever had in minute detail. Their length, their power, and those times where you came more than once.”
“Oh, God.”
“Obviously I know when your period’s due. That’s easy. I make sure we have in your favorite meringue pudding. The one from Marks and Spencer.”
“Ha.”
“The one you like to dip your finger in and then lick off the cream.” He tapped his hips playfully against me.
“I want that life again,” I whispered.
“We have it.”
“Permanently,” I said, testing him.
“I’ll always watch over you.”
There it was, the possibility of us ending swinging around again. I refused to believe it.
I refused to let my hope die. “Do you know how to stop time?”
“It’s my superpower.”
“I wish we could hide out here forever.”
He pulled me closer. “Nothing can touch you.”
Together, beneath the warmth of the sumptuous duvet, we watched the sun rise. Beautiful and cruelly unstoppable—a profound vision of blazing colors drenching the landscape in purples, reds and golds, the brightness dancing over the trees and fighting off the grey. As the colors burned into being, my heart was scorched with the inevitable.
Xavier squeezed me tightly. “You’re my greatest love.”
“What about…him?”
He dipped slightly to kiss the nape of my neck, his lips staying there as the sun continued to rise over the landscape. “We’re perfect together. All three of us.”
His fingers trailed down my abdomen and then dug in as he gripped me to him possessively.
This crown felt wrong. Like an omen, or a portent to something in my future—as though Anne Boleyn’s fate was somehow aligned with mine.
“I love you, Emily Rampling,” Xavier whispered.
I felt a rush of warm happiness, which was quickly swallowed by a swell of concern. James was standing a little ways off and he was looking out over a turret.
The helicopter flew low over the fields, banking toward us.
I’d been pissed off when I’d first arrived at Ballad’s castle. Now I didn’t want to leave. The irony was not lost on me.
With the noise of the chopper blades above us, our voices were virtually drowned out. We’d had to put on headsets and that had made it possible for me to listen to the chatter between James, Xavier, and the pilot.
The castle turrets faded from view.
After the rush of adrenaline dissipated from our rapid take-off, I was lulled by the thrum of the engine and the view of James and Xavier sitting opposite me. Our civility hid what we’d been to each other back in that ancient fortress.
What we’d done with each other.
What they’d done tome.
