He released my hand before sliding his arm around me and pulling me close. I fell into his chest and listened to every steady beat of his heart as he pressed his lips to my brow. “I don’t know how,” he muttered softly. For a man who could glare away the shining sun, at times, his openness stunned me. “I wouldn’t be.”

God. My heart bathed in the glow of his adoration and I didn’t think I could possibly love him more than I did right at this moment.

Ettore’s ability to read me and my vulnerability was second to none.

I hadn’t yet told him about our little sprouting peach pit, but I would, soon. After feeling suffocated for so long, I only wanted a moment to breathe. And with Tor, every second was a cooling breath of fresh air.

Yes, he was a dangerous man, but I saw it now. He was no danger to me.

Whether it was his desperate need to touch me when close, or the way he couldn’t stop himself from holding my chin up and kissing me breathless, or maybe it was the way he wrapped his body around mine as we lay in bed, his legs tangling with my own… He wasn’t much for talking, but his actions spoke loudly. Everything he did let me know I wasn’t alone anymore.

I remember feeling raw, but part of growing up was understanding. I’d stopped waiting for an ‘I love you’ when I realized he’d been saying it all along, just not in the ways I was used to hearing it.

Desperate for comfort, I turned my face into him, pressing light kisses along his stubbly throat. He stretched his neck out, giving my mouth better access and it didn’t take long before he dipped his head and captured my lips with his own. The taste of mint lingered on his tongue and the smell of his cologne had my hands reaching out and tangling in the front of his shirt. Soon, our kisses turned passionate and greedy. I barely heard the light hum of the partition window lifting as I began pulling at his clothing, and Tor didn’t bother undressing fully. He pulled his throbbing cock out of his open fly, pulled my panties to the side and lifted me to sit on him.

Our eyes met and my fingers dug into his shoulders as my body stretched to accommodate him, and Tor caressed my hips as I lifted my hips then sunk back down, riding him slowly, taking my time to make us both feel good.

He groaned and I watched his head fall back as I clenched around him.

I was devoted in my religion.

He was my church. My place of worship. And I prayed to him like a God.