“And I will hear no words against it,” he growled.

I stared into his eyes turned black.

Pitch.

Not the iris.

The entire eye.

Oh dear.

“Sweetheart,” I whispered.

“You have to tell Theodora that Jasmine and Rose are lost. I have to tell Aelia Antonius is lost. They killed Otho too. My daughter will lose no more. Dora will lose no more. And by the fucking gods, you will lose no more.”

On his “you” he squeezed the breath out of me.

I pushed my hand from between us so I could pet his beard in a soothing manner, muttering, “We will discuss this when our losses are not so fresh.”

“We will not, Elena.”

I stilled for I had never heard that tone from him before.

Unyielding.

Completely.

“I could have lost you. You could have lost me. Our daughters, parentless. All our friends, gone. For what?” he demanded.

I could not answer that.

“Right,” he grunted.

“Cass—”

“You will not feel pain.”

I stilled again, for the black of his eyes, which had been receding, snapped back, and it appeared the night in his gaze was stormy.

“And if you do, if someone causes that pain, it will be avenged.”

“All right, my prince,” I whispered.

“All right,” he grumbled, the storm in his eyes retreating.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have led our evening as I did when I walked into this tent,” I muttered.

“If you need to release your pain by taking a lash to my flesh, I will endure it.”

I blinked down at him.

He was not finished.

“If it takes you out of your mind and your hurt to use my body, riding my cock, climbing on my face, yanking at my balls, fucking me in my arse, you will do it. You will turn your mind, ease your pain, and I will come for you, I will shoot for you again and again, I will bleed for you, whatever you want to take from me to give you what you need, I will offer it to you. You own me, Elena. I love you and I am yours in any way I’m needed.”

“I love you too, sweetheart,” I whispered, moved beyond reckoning at the power of his words.

However.

“But I’m not sure I’d take a lash to make you feel better,” I went on to admit.

“I would never mar your beautiful skin,” he growled, openly annoyed, as if I thought he might someday actually do that.

“Well, I wouldn’t yours either,” I returned.

I watched him calm as he murmured, “Just know you could.”

“It will never come to that. I just needed to feel…I just needed to feel you alive, all around me, inside me. I just needed you.”

His arms left me so he could capture my head in both his hands.

“I am right here.”

I closed my eyes and dropped my forehead to his.