POV (El

the city looked like mine; its bridges, towers, and river bending to my will. But none of it compared to the woman standin

er

yet, not really.

ter, a tumbler of whiskey untouc

ible to look away, but it wasn't just her beauty that undid me. It

ias Reed, a man who had stolen a name, a

I felt alm

e faintest blush colored her cheeks. "Yo

I was about to sa

them in, danger kept them hooked but this was different. With Meera, it wasn't the act of conqu

liberate. She didn't move as I came close, not even whe

murmured, my voice lower than usual, mean

her breath hitch as my thumb

tolen name, and it hit me like

t mine. God, those eyes. Clear, sea

se I needed to hear the name, but bec

mie

nd unra

mething that was entirely her. She gasped softly, and I deepened the kiss, my hand sliding to the small of

my chest, I thought for a hea

, holding on as though she wo

the permiss

her softer in my arms, every sigh fueling the hunger that had been building since

ly beautiful. For a moment, I just looked at her, at the miracle

de, my gaze locked on her as I loosened the first buttons of my

rough. I had to hear her say it, eve

d, and that single

out of me in every kiss, every touch. Yet even in the hunger, I was careful, attuned to her every gasp, every shive

re down her neck, across her collarbone, lower. She arched beneath me, her finger

mewhere in the madness, tenderness crept in. The way I whispered her name agai

voice, the way she clung to me as though she would never let go. I took her again and again, each time

glass walls, painting her skin

n't let

breaths. For the first time in years, I felt... safe. Seen. As though Elias

morizing the curve of her shoulder

d if it took a lifetime of

t me breathless: I wanted her forever. Not

dangerous and irresistible. And on

ked to the balcony, looking ou

hadows of my theft. But he wasn't here. I was. And I had

yes fluttered open, still heavy with dre

ing," she

beautiful. Vu

, and took her hand. For once, I let the

thing a man could ever want. But last night..." I shook my head, words catching

ned, and she s

ckles. Then, with a certainty th

rry

th caugh

his time. "Be mine. Not for toni

l. But her eyes shone with unshed tears, and he

hispered. "Y

o my arms, kissing her with the kind of desperation reserved for men

said

was

side me, I couldn't shake the prickle at the back of my neck, the s

n Cross was closer