Athens glances back, voice dipped in venom. “You two can go now. I’ll be just fine.”
Translation,fuck off.
They hesitate, but eventually disappear inside. Smart. I would’ve buried them in the backyard if they hadn’t.
The second she and I drop onto that bench and our knees touch, the air shifts.
Her body still hums with tension, anger, grief, something unspoken, but the moment I reach out and cup her face, I feel her soften. Her breath hitches. Her lashes flutter.
"Wyck," she sighs.
I groan low in my throat, thumb brushing across her cheek. “I know. Believe me, I know.” My voice is strained with restraint. “It’s killing me not to drag you inside and fuck you against the nearest wall, but we’ve got bigger shit to deal with first.”
Her body sags, disappointment written across every curve. “Okay.”
No argument. No games. Just submission in the form I crave most:trust.
“I need to know something, Little Fox,” I murmur. “That I can trust you. Depend on you. That you’re still mine.”
The last part comes out quiet. Raw. Dangerous.
She leans in, brushing her lips against my thumb. “You know I am. You’ve always known. I’ve been yours longer than you realize.”
Fuck.
She could kill me with that voice.
“And what made you ask?” she adds.
“Because there’s something I need you to do. For me. For all of us.” I drag in a breath, staring at her like she’s the last clean thingin a dirty world. “I’m handing you a piece of our war, Athens. You don’t give that to just anyone.”
The silence stretches. Comfortable. Heavy.
Right now, there’s no empire. No father. No masks or betrayal. Just her. Me. And the need clawing its way through my chest.
Two people falling in love in a city that deserves neither of us.
Then, her voice breaks the stillness, and shatters me in the process.
“I can’t fight us anymore. I haven’t been in love with your father for a while… I’m not even sure I ever was.”
She swallows hard.
“I fell in love with a Devil three years ago. And now that I know it was you… Nothing can keep me away.”
That’s it. That’s my breaking point.
I don’t let her finish.
I crash my mouth to hers like I’m taking back every fucking second we lost. It’s violent, messy, tongues clashing, teeth grazing, saliva mixing in a kiss that says:
You’re mine. Always were. Always will be.
I pull back only to trail kisses across her face, her jaw, her throat. She’s trembling in my lap, and I’m not far from snapping.
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear that from you,” I whisper between kisses. “You’re my everything. And still more than that. Words don’t cut it. They never will.”
She laughs, and fuck me, it’ssunlight in hell.
