“Don’t say anything. Not yet.”
He pulls me out of the room, and we head back down the corridor the way we came. I see that the wing on the right side has been sectioned off. “Are you rebuilding there?” I point at it and his face hardens. “No. I don’t go down there anymore.” Surprised by his adamant tone, I let it drop.
He is leading me to his bedroom now and I can’t wait to get into it and see what it looks like now. Pushing the door open, it still looks the same apart from the modernization and the inclusion of a bathroom, taking out a large chunk of the room I remember.
So many happy memories here. I pull away from him and spin in a circle, arms stretched wide and a big grin on my face. “I always did love this room.”
“So did I when you were in it,” he says, watching me, expression unreadable.
“Thank you. Thank you for bringing me here again.”
“I want you, Aefre. Let me have you any way I want. For as long as I want,” he murmurs suddenly.
My breath catches in my throat and I manage to get out, “Do you even have to ask?”
He swoops in on me, pulling me close, kissing me, his hands in my hair and I lose myself completely. He unbuttons my shirt with deft fingers, and he pushes it off my shoulders, his fingers finding my nipples. He pushes me towards the massive four-poster bed, his hands now unzipping my skirt and pushing it over my hips. I get rid of his shirt and tie as quickly as I can and I unbuckle his belt, which he pulls from his pants and throws on the bed. Shedding him of the remains of his clothes, I kick my shoes off, and he holds me to him as I lose a few inches in height.
He pulls away. “Oh, Aefre. Do you want me to punish you now?” he murmurs wickedly, pushing my hair out of my eyes.
I shiver and whisper, “Yes. I am defiant and frustrating, and I drive you crazy. I need to be punished.” I smirk at him and he laughs.
“Oh, you are all of those things and so much more.” He trails his hand down my left arm and grabs my hand. Pulling on my wedding and engagement rings, he tugs them off my finger and places them on the bedside table. “There’s no place for these here,” he says gruffly. I accept his terms for the moment as he kisses my finger where they used to be. “Turn around.” I do as I’m told, and he bends me over, placing my hands on the edge of the bed. He sighs. “I want more than anything to take that belt and beat some sense into you, but I just can’t, Aefre,” he says as if he can’t quite believe it.
“Mellowed with age have you, my sire?”
He snorts at my question. “Oh no, my love. I still have my…proclivities.”
“Well, as long as I don’t come across any Pets in the dungeons,” I say wryly, straightening up and turning back around.
He freezes.
Oh, fuck. There are Pets in the dungeons.
He quickly recovers his composure and grabs a fistful of my hair to pull me into a kiss to distract me. It works, as he knew it would and I forget all about the dungeons.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t punish you because I am just so in love with you, I can’t bear to hurt you,” he murmurs.
His declaration of love, while not a complete surprise after my eavesdropping, is completely unexpected. I didn’t think I would hear him say it. At least not now. And certainly not in the way he said it.
He is staring at me, expecting a response of some kind, but I just have no idea what to say.
“Constantine. I…why now?” I ask in desperation.
“I have always been in love with you, Aefre. You have made it clear that you don’t love me in that way anymore. I tried for so many years to push it away, but these last few weeks, seeing you become who you were meant to be, in contrast to the girl I met, I can’t deny my feelings anymore. I won’t,” he says vehemently.
Stunned into silence by his sincerity and honesty, I shake my head to clear it. “I’m married,” I blurt out. “And not just to anyone, but to a man I turned to be with him because I love him, because he loves me…and Devon…”
He closes his eyes. “I know. The timing of this couldn’t be worse,” he says sardonically. “But I’m willing to wait for you. If you are willing to let us share you, only you, I will wait.”
Gaining now some of the information into his conversation with Cole, I probe further wanting the whole truth out of him. “Wait?”
“Do you love me, Aefre? Are you in love with me?” he asks instead.
“Yes,” I don’t hesitate to say. “I, too, have always been in love with you. I just couldn’t stand being hurt by you again. I had to force myself to move on and then…”
“And then you met Devon and then Fraser and everything went to Hell in a hand basket. I get it, my love. I do. Would you have me now if you weren’t already taken?” he asks, quietly leaning his forehead on mine.
“In a heartbeat,” I whisper, and he breathes a sigh of relief.