Page 87 of Make Me Wild (Rich Demons of Darkwood 3)

"The only gift I need is your smile,” he said, which made me laugh, and he grinned back at me.

Remington wasfun.I needed that. I neededhim.

The elevator doors slid open, and we stepped out into the small, glass room that opened onto the rooftop garden. I’d never been up here, but it was as spectacular as one would expect from the Sphinx. There was a smaller pool—of course, how ridiculous to think they only had an indoor pool; what were we, peasants?—and a hot tub large enough for all kinds of secret society debauchery. Steel bar-height tables were dotted around the perfectly groomed concrete and gravel rooftop, broken by expanses of green lawn and large black square planters holding blooming green plants.

“It’s so pretty,” I said softly.

Remington took my hand. Together, the two of us sat at the edge of the pool. I hiked up my skirt and we let our feet dangle in.

“I realized something when we were afraid we’d lose you,” Remington said.

“You left your cell phone charger in my room?”

“I’m going to pretend you aren’t being irreverent as a defense mechanism so I can actually get through, because I fucking hate talking about my feelings.”

“We don’t have to,” I said, resting my hand on his knee. “Remi, I get it. You don’t have to say anything. I wouldn’t let a lunatic force you into marriage under a tacky tulle arch either.” I shuddered dramatically.

“I can’t imagine losing you, Aurora.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a long box.

“What now?” I asked, but I tore off the wrapping paper. I knew he wouldn’t let me avoid it.

I opened the lid to find a long, dangerous-looking knife in a sheath.

“It’s a KA-bar, like the Marines use,” he said. “It was my great-grandfather’s in World War Two. He was my hero. But I had the sheath made just for you… to make it easier to conceal under your clothes. You should be able to wear it if you wear a long jacket without anyone seeing it. You seem to prefer knives to guns, so…”

“Well, maybe not anymore,” I quipped, but I was genuinely touched. It was such a cool knife… and it meant something that it came from his grandfather. I brushed my lips against his cheek. “Thank you, Remington.”

He smiled back at me. “I want to protect you from anything else that ever comes your way but… I know you can protect yourself pretty damn well, too. Even from us. I love that about you.”

I grinned back at him.

Then he added, carefully, “I loveyou.”

The words seemed to hang in the air between us, and he watched my face.

Something warm and bright broke loose in my chest. No one had said those words to me since my mother kissed my forehead outside that gas station before she left.

“I love you too,” I said. It felt wild and reckless to say.

He kissed me, almost tentatively, as if he wasn’t sure how to touch me tenderly. As if the weight of that confession had made him lose his usual certainty.

I pressed back against him, kissing him harder. My hand settled on his thigh, my fingers stroking over his hard length where it pressed against his trousers. He was so hard for me.

His tongue licked against my lips, forcing my mouth open. I straddled his lap, my hem hanging into the pool and making my dress heavy, but I needed to be closer to him. I looked into his handsome face, his eyes bright and his smile wicked. Remington, just the way I loved him.

The elevator doors pinged open behind us, breaking the moment.

Stellan stepped out. He froze when he saw us. “Never mind. It’ll keep.”

He turned around and headed for the elevator. Remington looked at my face, and I wasn’t sure what he saw there, but he cursed under his breath as if he’d just made a decision that he didn’t entirely like.

Then he called over his shoulder, “Stellan!”

Stellan paused. “What?”

“This is a private party, but you can come in if you pay the admission fee.”

Stellan came over, looking curious. “Which is?”

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