Chapter 13
Naomi
I was hopelessly in love the moment he told me he only wanted me.
My breath caught as Gavril stalked toward me, his gaze sharp and a hint of that devilish grin on his handsome face.
God, he could make me wet with that look! I wanted him so badly, insanely jealous of the way that his fingers had flown over the keys of the piano like he was stroking a lover. Gavril had played beautifully, just like I knew he would. With each rise and fall of the music, he had taken me on a roller coaster ride of emotion.
It was almost like being with him. I had experienced the greatest highs and the lowest of lows with Gavril. Nothing was ever the same, and he could be so unbelievably moody at times. I had hesitated when he had asked me if I wanted to stay with him, but only because I needed to sort out my own tangled thoughts and feelings about him.
The thought of living without Gavril was going to be far more painful than living with him. He was half my heart, and I knew there was nothing I could do to change that.
Every part of me belonged to him, and I wanted to think that every part of him belonged to me.
I loved him, plain and simple.
Gavril knelt on the couch between my legs, his eyes darkening as he looked at my naked form. “You are fucking beautiful,” he breathed. “So beautiful that it makes my eyes hurt.”
I laughed, unable to help it. “You sure do love your pick-up lines, don’t you?”
A grin, a true grin, crossed his face and my heart fluttered. “You like them,” he murmured as his hand slid up my leg, cupping my knee before climbing higher. “Because you know it’s true.”
I didn’t feel beautiful. I felt fat, honestly; everything that I had controlled in my life with my body now was out of my hands. My boobs were bigger, and my stomach was starting to round out. I wasn’t a vain person, but damn, I wasn’t ready for the changes that were coming.
When his fingers tapped my inner thigh, I sucked in a breath, all thoughts flying out of the window. “There are other things I like about you,” he replied, his expression suddenly going serious. “Like the fact that you aren’t scared of me.”
“You don’t scare me,” I echoed. “You fascinate me, Gavril.”
Surprise flickered across his face. “Fascinate?”
I nodded. “Everything you do has so many consequences on those that you have sworn to protect, but each move is intentional. You don’t want to fail. You can’t fail. Each day you get out of your bed with the sole focus not to fail, and there are very few people that can do that day in and day out and still hold their shit together.”
I knew I had shocked him into silence, so I sat up and cupped his face with my hands, my heart hammering in my chest. “I love you. I love everything about you, the good and the bad. I love your soul that isn’t as black as you think.” I swallowed as I saw the vulnerability in his eyes. “You aren’t perfect, Gavril, but you are perfect for me.”
There. I had said it. I didn’t care what he thought about me or about us, but he would know regardless that he was loved.
He was loved by me.
I felt him shudder under my hands before he hauled me against him, to the point where I was straddling him so that we could face each other. “You unman me,” he said softly, his eyes searching mine. “You make me—”
I cut him off with a searing kiss, threading my hands through his hair. I didn’t want him to feel as if he had to tell me what he didn’t want to say yet.
I could wait.
His hands found my waist and I lifted my body until he was sheathed inside me, feeling me to my very core. It was my turn to shudder and we broke the kiss, my breathing heavy as I throbbed around him.
“Naomi,” he groaned, his lips brushing across my collarbone.
My heart jumped at the sound of my name on his lips again. I could spend my entire life listening to him say my name.
I shifted my hips and we both groaned, my body sparking the fire that I knew would only be stoked by our movements. “Please, Gavril,” I begged, winding my arms around his neck. “Please.”
His eyes met mine, the intensity of his gaze nearly taking my breath away.
“Tell me again,” he said.
Did he not believe me? I had poured my heart out to him. Surely he could see the love in my eyes, feel it in my kiss.