Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 143870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 480(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 480(@300wpm)
“I know.” His fingers sweep over my throat, angling my head back until I feel the full weight of his heavy gaze.
He sinks inside me slowly, burying himself deep as we stare into each other’s eyes. It’s intimate and intense, but I don’t want to look away for a second.
“Did you miss this?” he murmurs.
“So much.” Emotion chokes my voice.
“Good.” He rocks into me, lips ghosting over mine as we come together in an intoxicating rush.
Everything else drifts away as the world blurs at the edges and all that exists is this moment.
In a haze of ragged breaths, heated hands, and the rapid beating of our hearts, we find our way back to each other.
I find my way back to the place I think I’ve always belonged.
Because he left the door open for me.
The gravity of that engulfs me and burns me to ash.
He fucks me like it’s the only thing that matters, and somewhere between darkness and daylight, pleasure consumes us both.
As we lie together in the afterglow, exhaustion nearly pulling me under, I feel him tracing a familiar pattern over the T-shirt.
It’s hard to verbalize anything right now, but my curiosity won’t be sated until I do. He’s done that before when my skin was bare, and I never knew why.
“I’ve been meaning to ask what you see there.”
“Corvus.” He hums.
“What?”
“You have a pattern of freckles on the back of your shoulder. It looks like a constellation.”
“Corvus?” I echo, the word too familiar to be a coincidence.
“The raven.” An undercurrent of possession warms his voice.
The significance of that statement sends a shiver down my spine. It feels like fate had intertwined us long before we ever knew it, and in the next breath, Cristian seems to confirm it.
“You were made for me, dea.”
Something stirs me from my sleep, and it takes my foggy brain a minute to register the sound of whispering. I’m not sure who it could be, since I’m still sprawled across Cristian’s chest with our limbs tangled together.
As I slowly force my eyes open, I find him doing the same. Then his gaze drifts to the end of the bed, and he lets out a groan.
The entire family is standing there like a scene straight out of While You Were Sleeping.
I blink at them, trying to process what’s happening.
“What time is it?” Cristian asks.
“Time to eat,” Nonna answers cheerfully. “I made all your favorites, Tesoro mio. You need to restore your strength.”
“We made her wait as long as we could,” Angelo supplies.
Cristian nods but doesn’t look at all interested in moving.
“So should we all just come eat here, or—” Mariella smirks.
“We’ll come to you,” he rumbles. “After a shower.”
“Che bello.” Nonna claps her hands together.
It seems like it should be settled, but nobody leaves, and I realize it’s because half of them are still trying to figure out what’s going on.
“Can we finally talk about this?” Abella gestures between us.
It’s clear this question has been on her mind since she broke the news about Cristian, and now she’s dying to hear all the details.
“I’m so confused,” Valentina says. “When did this happen?”
“How did it happen?” Rafe waggles his brows.
Michele shoots his brother a look. “Did you miss the whole talk about the birds and the bees, or does someone need to explain it to you again?”
“Hilarious.” Rafe slugs him in the arm, and Angelo sighs.
“Everyone out,” Cristian grumbles.
The rest of the family talks amongst themselves as they shuffle into the hall, and I can’t help but laugh.
“You can’t be too irritated.” I smile at Cristian. “Everyone was worried sick. You’re very loved, in case you didn’t know.”
Something flickers in his eyes as he holds my gaze, and I realize how he could interpret what I said. But instead of panicking about it like I would have a few days ago, I just let it be.
He drags his fingers through my hair, his attention dipping to the necklace that’s still locked around my neck.
“Do you want to get fucked here or in the shower?”
A thread of darkness saturates his voice, and a shiver of pleasure rolls down my spine. I love it when dominant Cristian comes out to play.
“That sounds like a foregone conclusion,” I tease.
He drags my hand over the ridges of his abs and settles it on his cock, his heated words ghosting over my ear.
“You already know it is.”
I hum my approval as he grazes my throat with his teeth, nipping and sucking his way down to my collarbone.
Surrendering to the moment, I let him devour me while I stroke his cock.
The steady drip of anticipation thrums through my veins, feeding the ache inside me. I close my eyes, getting caught up in the rush of what he does to me.
Then, all at once, everything grinds to a halt.
Pulling away, he flips off the covers and rises to his feet.