Page 81 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
Bellamy
Engaged—I was engaged!
And gods was it marvelous.
She loved me, more than I ever thought she might be able to. Asher was willing to give up everything forme.Forus.
My tongue slid against hers, thanking her for what she had just given me. For the way she had and would change my life. Nicola had confirmed I was still on borrowed time, but as long as that time was spent with her in my arms then I no longer cared.
I wrapped a hand around her neck, the other gripping her jaw. There was a desperation within me, a need to never let her go again. Perhaps there was also terror, because Asher couldchoose to leave. She could take away my choice again. Asher could ruin everything by deciding she was no longer worthy.
So maybe I needed to show her that she was. And maybe she also needed to find out what would happen if she ever tried to leave again.
“Can I fuck you, Asher?” I asked between impatient kisses, my hands digging into her skin and shoving her back onto the bed. Ranbir would be so angry with me. She had just suffered physically and mentally. Underworld below, she thought I was fake mere hours ago. But I needed her. I neededus. And if she said yes, I would not ask again or hesitate.
Long, brown curls fanned out around her, crowning my princess. Impatient nods mussed the hair, but I would be sure to fetch her a new crown. A real one.
Leaning forward, I ground my erection into her, feeling the heat of her center through the cotton trousers Ranbir had offered her. My trousers.
My princess.
My fiancé.
My soulmate.
She was mine and I needed to make sure she remembered that before I lost her again.
“Can Ipunishyou?” I asked breathlessly, still grinding into her and ravishing her mouth. She seemed to startle, stilling beneath me. For a moment I just sat there, hovering above her. Waiting.
“Punish me? You want to hurt me?”
“I will make it the most euphoric pain you have ever felt. I promise.”
Hesitating, she looked up at me, her perfect face a stunning testament to the truth of gods or Eternity orsomething.Nothing like this creature could exist without divine intervention of some sort.
“If you do not like this or wish for me to stop, then say…” I paused, trying to come up with a safe word. Something that would allow her a reprieve from the madness I was about to introduce her to. “Bread.”
“Bread?” she asked incredulously. We both burst into laughter, but I could still feel that anger simmering low in my gut and the terror clouding my heart. I needed this. Maybe she even needed it too.
“Your favorite,” I teased just as I swooped her up, standing and carrying her over to the spot in our room where a beam of wood cut through the ceiling.
“Stay,” I ordered, turning around and heading for my desk. Yanking open the bottom drawer, I quickly grabbed onto the red silk fabric I had bought after a daydream I had of Asher before I had even been inside of her at all. Then, I walked around her and pulled the sheet off our bed.
When I turned to face her, I found Asher still fully clothed and waiting for me. She had actually listened.
Twisting the sheet, I stalked towards her, eager to teach her what had to be the most important lesson she would ever learn.
“You stole from me, Asher.” Her already big gray eyes went wider, staring at me in shock and guilt. I only smirked, reaching out to graze her full bottom lip with my pointer finger. It was softer than usual, not as chewed and torn as it so often was from her constant stress. “You robbed me of my free will. In that field, you looked me in the eye and took yourself from me.”
Guilt clouded her face, making her expression fall. I wanted to apologize and tell her I had forgiven her, but I could not. She needed to be disciplined. Nothing was more crucial than reminding her that she was mine.
Something else twisted her face, something deeper. I felt like I could sense it somehow, like it was there at the front of my mind.
“This is real, Asher. I am real. Let me prove it.” Before she could speak, I reached forward and gripped her hair, crashing our faces together and pushing my tongue into her mouth. Her moan rattled my teeth, the vibration making my already hard cock twitch.
We were working with very little time, clearly.
Letting her go, I dropped the sheet and silk and stared at her body. Shirt first. Definitely shirt first. My hands were at the buttons of the tunic in seconds, deftly moving down them and freeing her. That was when I noticed it. Her skin, still the same shade of creamy brown, was free of any blemishes. Asher had no scars. Not a single one.
