Chapter 213: I Need To Feel You, Taste You, Claim You

"I love you," Dimitri said, the words deliberate, weighted. "I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything. More than my empire, more than my reputation, more than my own life. And I need you to remember that when I’m gone. I need you to remember that everything I’m about to do, I’m doing because losing you is unacceptable. Watching you die from a virus I could have stopped is unacceptable. Living in a world where you don’t exist is unacceptable."

"So you’re choosing to risk dying instead?" Eve asked, her voice raw.

"I’m choosing to fight," Dimitri corrected. "There’s a difference."

He kissed her hard, like he was trying to brand himself into her skin. His hand fisted in her wet hair, angling her head exactly where he wanted it, and she kissed him back with everything she had, all the fear, all the anger, all the desperate need to keep him here, safe and alive.

When he finally pulled back, they were both breathing hard.

"I need you," Dimitri said quietly. "Right now. Like this. I need to feel you, taste you, claim you. I need to remind both of us what we’re fighting for."

"We’re always fighting for something," Eve whispered.

"No," Dimitri said, his hands sliding down her sides, gripping her hips. "We’re always fighting for us. Everything else is just details."

He lifted her suddenly....effortlessly, and her legs wrapped around his waist automatically, her back pressing against the cool tile wall. The contrast of hot water and cold tile made her gasp.

"Dimitri..."

"No talking," he said, positioning her exactly where he wanted her. "Just feel."

He thrust inside her in one brutal motion...no preparation, no gentle build, and Eve cried out, her nails digging into his shoulders. He was massive, overwhelming, and even though they’d done this countless times, it still felt like too much, like he was splitting her in half.

"Fuck," Dimitri groaned against her neck. "You’re perfect. Always so perfect for me."

He didn’t wait for her to adjust. Just started moving....hard, deep, relentless. The angle had him hitting somewhere inside her that made her vision blur, made her unable to form coherent thoughts beyond more and please and don’t stop.

"Look at me," Dimitri commanded.

Eve opened her eyes, when had she closed them?....and met his storm-gray gaze. He was watching her with that intensity that always made her feel completely exposed, like he could see straight through her skin to every thought, every fear, every desperate need.

"This is what you’ll remember," Dimitri said, punctuating each word with a thrust that made her whimper. "When I’m gone. When you’re scared. When you think I’m not coming back. You’ll remember this. You’ll remember how I feel inside you. You’ll remember that I promised to come home. And you’ll believe me."

"Dimitri...." Eve gasped, feeling the familiar tension building low in her belly. "I’m...."

"Not yet," he said, slowing his rhythm just enough to keep her on the edge. "You don’t come until I say so."

"Please...."

"Beg prettier, cara mia."

Eve wanted to be angry....wanted to push back against his control, against his commands....but her body was betraying her, responding to him like it always did. Like it was programmed to obey.

"Please," she whispered. "Please let me come. Please, I need...."

"What do you need?" Dimitri asked.

"You," Eve admitted. "I need you. All of you. Forever."

Something shifted in his expression....something raw and vulnerable that he usually kept hidden.

"You have me," Dimitri said quietly. "You’ve always had me. Since you were eighteen and kissed my cheek at Mike’s graduation. Since you walked into my club drunk and devastated. Every moment between then and now. You have all of me, Eve. Every dark corner, every brutal truth, every impossible choice. It’s all yours."

He thrust deep and stayed there, grinding against her in a way that had her seeing stars.

"Come," he commanded. "Come for me now."

Eve shattered, the orgasm ripping through her with an intensity that made her scream his name against the tile, against the water, against the reality that in seventy-two hours she might lose him forever.

Dimitri didn’t stop. Just kept moving, kept claiming, kept pushing her toward something beyond pleasure into territory that felt dangerous and necessary and absolutely vital.

"Again," he said. "I want another one."

"I can’t..." Eve started.

"Yes, you can," Dimitri said, adjusting his angle slightly. "You can, and you will. Because I need to feel you fall apart around me. I need to know that when I’m in that facility, when everything is falling to pieces, I can close my eyes and remember this moment. Remember you. Remember what I’m coming home to."

He pulled out suddenly, making her whimper at the loss and set her down on shaking legs. Before she could protest, he turned her around, pressing her chest against the tile, pulling her hips back.

"Hands on the wall," Dimitri commanded.

Eve obeyed, bracing herself, knowing what was coming.

He entered her from behind....deeper at this angle, brutal and perfect....and Eve couldn’t stop the moan that escaped her throat.

"That’s my girl," Dimitri said, his hand fisting in her wet hair, pulling her head back. "Take everything I give you."

He fucked her hard, there was no other word for it, each thrust driving her higher, pushing her further, until she wasn’t sure where her body ended and his began. The water pounded down on them both, and the sound of skin against skin echoed off the tile, obscene and perfect.

"Touch yourself Cara," Dimitri ordered. "Make yourself come while I fuck you."

Eve’s hand moved between her legs, obeying before she’d consciously decided to....and the moment her fingers found that sensitive bundle of nerves, she knew she was done for.

"Dimitri..." she gasped. "I’m going to...."

"Do it," he said, his voice rough. "Come on my cock, cara mia. Show me you’re mine."