She grinned. “It is lovely to have the words, Cass, and I might not have a great deal of experience, and all of what I have is with you, but I’d gathered that.”

“I enjoy being intimate with you, Elena,” he somewhat repeated.

The humor swept out of her violet eyes and she stared at him.

“There is a lightness and freedom to it that I…” he trailed off.

“Cass—” she whispered.

“Have never experienced,” he finished.

“You don’t have to do this,” she told him gently.

He was not going to say his next still mostly hard inside her.

Not for her.

Not for Liviana.

So he pulled her off his cock and turned her so he could take her in his arms, on their knees, front to front.

“It is not about her, it is about us,” he shared. “And that’s what I want you to know. That being with you has meaning to me. It is not just something that is enjoyable. It is not simply a release. It is not a natural progression of what destiny has thrown in our laps. It is you. It is what you give me. I do not know if I have ever felt light in my life. I know I never felt free. There’s a playfulness to you I do not know what to do with, for I have never felt playful. But I feel it is important as well for you to know you give that to me, and that, too, has meaning.”

“You’ve never had a childhood, so I’m not surprised you don’t understand how to take teasing.”

“Oh no,” he rumbled. “The kind of teasing you did earlier, I invite you to try at your whim. Just know you’ll suffer the consequences.”

“Hmm…I’m wondering if we both have the same definition of the word ‘consequences,’” she…bloody…teased.

Fucking hell, he was going to laugh.

Which was what he did, clutching her to him and shoving his face in her neck to do it.

He felt her hands roaming his back and realized she was not laughing with him when he stopped.

He lifted his head.

Instantly, she curled her hand around his jaw.

“I’m not certain we’ll find a lot of time to be playful in the coming months, Cass, but I’ll do my best.”

He could not stop himself from taking her mouth.

So he didn’t.

“If you two don’t get a bloody move on,” Mac shouted, “the Beast will have devoured Triton while you cavort in your tent.”

Cass broke the kiss.

And when he did, Elena asked, “Did Mac just use the word ‘cavort?’”

Cassius felt his lips twitching as he answered, “Yes.”

Elena burst out laughing.

Holding her close, enjoying the feel, Cass laughed with her.