him. In his home, a part of his family, standing proudly by his side.
“Arthur …” I moaned, threading my hands through his hair. Arthur snarled as I pulled on the strands, and he licked me harder and faster until I was a panting mess on the bed, my eyes shutting as my orgasm closed in. Arthur pushed me and pushed me until I cried out, my trembling thighs trying to close around him, the cresting pleasure too much to stand.
Not giving me a moment’s reprieve, Arthur crawled above me, his powerful, muscled body smothering mine. Framing my head with his arms, he pushed inside me, filing me so full I almost lost my mind. He thrust into me hard and fast, his gaze never straying from mine.
“I love you,” I said, and he groaned, crushing his lips to mine. He kissed me until I couldn’t breathe, until I had to rip my mouth away from his lips to suck in much-needed air.
But Arthur’s mouth never left my skin, tasting every inch. We were damp from the shower and the rising heat between us. I raked at his back, and he dropped his forehead to mine as he pistoned into me. My eyes rolled back, and the familiar pleasure built and built until all I could smell and feel and taste was Arthur. Until he was inside me, within me, his soul melding with mine.
“Arthur.” I came, my breasts pressing against his chest as I held him tightly to me. Arthur groaned, then, slamming into me one last time, he stilled, roaring out his release.
I clung to him. I held on to him as he caught his breath, beads of sweat forming on his dark brow. Arthur kissed me softly, kissed me and kissed me, until he drew back his head and, making sure he held my gaze, rasped, “Love you, princess. Fucking love you.”
My heart leapt to my throat on hearing those words slip easily from his lips. On seeing the sincerity on Arthur’s beautiful face as he spoke those three words, deep affection in his gravelled voice.
“I love you too,” I whispered back, putting my shaking hand on his cheek. Arthur kissed my palm, then rolled onto his back, taking me with him. He wrapped his arm around me as he splayed me over his chest.
After a few minutes, our laboured breathing returned to normal and Arthur lit a cigarette. I looked up at his face, shifting so he could see me and I could see him. I pushed a fallen strand of black hair away from the frames of his glasses. “You came for me.”
He held my gaze. “I’d go into fucking hell for you, princess.”
Smiling, I traced my finger along his abdominal muscles. “You’re the devil, aren’t you? Hell is your domain. You could just walk right in.”
Arthur’s nostrils flared, and I saw the tug of amusement on his lips. “Then you have nothing to worry about,” he said. “No one fucks with the devil.” He leaned forward and took hold of my jaw. He opened my lips, then blew smoke into my mouth. I closed my eyes and inhaled the nicotine, feeling it rush through my blood.
When I exhaled the smoke and opened my eyes, he said, “And no one, from this day out, will dare fuck with my dark queen again, or I’ll bring the wrath of a million bloodthirsty demons to their motherfucking door.” I believed him. I had seen the look on his face when I had been dragged from the back room, hands tied and face beaten. If fury had a physical body, it would have been Arthur in that moment.
Arthur stroked my cheek with his thumb. “You okay, princess?” I knew he was referring to my dad and Hugo. I thought of them. I shook my head, but the emotions I knew were within me were numbed right now, padlocked away in a familiar cage. Held back to keep me from falling apart. “No,” I confessed. “But I will be.” I smiled at him and kissed his chest, right over his heart. “Now I’m with you, I will be.”
Arthur put the cigarette in his mouth and pulled me up his chest so my face hovered before his. It was my favourite move of his. It was as if I weighed nothing at all.
“You killed Lawson.” Arthur searched my face. “You fucking killed Lawson.”
“He deserved it,” I said. Pride flashed across Arthur’s concerned expression. I meant it. There wasn’t a part of