He didn’t stop walking. “The band will play, and the party will go on without us.”

He stopped at the base of the stairs, his face suddenly filled with worry. “I don’t . . . I don’t want to hold you back from anything. I want you to go to college wherever you want, no matter if it’s in another state, and I’ll be right here waiting for you. Always.”

“What about Finn?” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his waist and laying my head on his chest, so he couldn’t see my face.

He tilted my chin up. “He’s gone, and I’ll always be here to keep you safe. Someday if you want, you can tell me everything, and I’ll listen, but nothing will ever change how much I care about you. If anything, the way you carry your pain, the way you’ve turned into this beautiful girl despite everything that happened to you has made me love you more.”

He rested his forehead against mine. He took my hand and placed it over his heart. “I love you, Nora. Forever.”

“I love you, too,” I said, not caring one bit that people were drifting in and out of the room, some of them staring. He was finally mine.

He tightened his arms around me and kissed me deep, his lips angling over mine possessively, his tongue hot and wet. He kissed my jaw and down my neck, sucking and nipping at me as I clutched him tight.

We eased back, breathless. I said, “I’m not perfect. At some point, I’ll probably go to therapy,” I warned him gently.

“I hate perfect girls. They don’t read encyclopedias or think about how I’m a rat man.”

“Tiger, most days.”

He grinned. “I get you. You’re a little neurotic, but it doesn’t scare me. I want all of you. All the wacko things you do. Every last detail. And when I look into your eyes, I can see all the way to your heart, to the strong, beautiful woman you are. I want that for the rest of my life.”

He kissed me hard and fast. “And if you ever leave me, it will break me. Now come on, let’s get moving. I want you alone,” he growled, tugging me up the stairs.

Heat ran straight through my body as he led the way.

We walked into his bedroom, and he suddenly looked unsure. “With everything you’ve been through . . . shit, am I rushing this? We can wait, Nora. Just tell me what you need.”

I pulled the gold crown from my hair and took off the red corset and short cape, showing him my red lace bra. I unsnapped the gold belt and let it fall to the ground. I unzipped the flirty blue skirt with white stars on it and tossed it lightly at his face, giggling at his mesmerized expression.

He groaned loudly and adjusted himself. “Fuck, baby, I love it when you strip for me.”

I laughed. “Sex is no problem when it’s consensual, and if you don’t make love to me tonight, I’m going to die from being too horny.” I unsnapped my bra and dropped it on the floor, leaving me standing in my red string panties and red boots.

I cocked an eyebrow at his lusty expression. “What are you thinking?”

“That I want to kiss you, lick you, bite you, suck you. I want to eat you up until you scream my name so loud they’ll hear us over the band.”

I shivered.

“I’ve been dreaming about you for weeks. I need to make you mine. The thought of Drew with his mouth on yours . . . it drove me fucking nuts,” he said roughly, his hands clenching.

“I’m all yours, Leo. I was never his.”

“Yeah?”

I smiled. “I have something to show you.”

He sucked in a shuddering breath. “Does it involve you being completely naked, but maybe leaving the boots on?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Show me,” he ordered.

I put my naked back to him, lifted my hair and placed it over my chest, so he could see my wings.

He was silent for a few moments, but I could hear his breathing as it came faster and faster. He came up behind me, wrapped his hands around the tops of my arms and kissed my shoulders, tracing his mouth and tongue over the words on my back. I moaned out his name.

He whispered in a raspy voice, “This . . . this means everything. We are everlasting. Fucking forever. I love you so much. Seeing my words for you on your body makes me insane for you.” His hands snaked around my waist and untied the little bow on my panties. He slid his fingers down to my core and touched me as his tongue worked its magic across my wings. He kissed down my back, his hand rubbing me in hard and then soft circles. I gasped and spread my legs for him, my body clenching at the warmth that immediately gathered in my body. How was it possible to want someone this much? How did I ever think I could live without his touch?

“I don’t want to come yet, Leo,” I begged, leaning my head back against his chest, as he held my hips firmly, working his fingers, gently grinding into my folds.

He ran his nose along my shoulder, and I heard him inhale deeply and then moan.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, my body arching into his touch.

“Breathing you in because you smell so fucking good, like peaches. I want to eat you up,” he said softly.

I nearly came at his words. Reaching my hands up behind me, I ran my fingers through his hair, tugging hard on the ends as he pumped me faster.

“What you do to me is electric, and I’ll never get enough of you, of this. When you talked dirty for me . . . that was the hardest I’d ever come,” he said hoarsely.

He sucked hard on my neck, and I cried out, my hands clutching him, needing to hang on. My body soared, reaching for the sky.