Chapter 214: I Promise You, Cara Mia. I’m Coming Back

Eve came with a broken cry....harder than the first time, her whole body going rigid as the pleasure crashed over her in waves that seemed endless.

Dimitri groaned, his rhythm faltering, and she felt him pulse inside her....hot and claiming...as he followed her over the edge.

They stayed like that for a long moment, both breathing hard, the water still streaming over them.

Then Dimitri pulled out carefully and turned her around, pulling her against his chest.

"I love you," he said again, like he needed her to hear it. Like he needed her to believe it.

"I know," Eve whispered against his skin.

He turned off the water and grabbed a towel, drying her with a gentleness that contrasted sharply with the brutal way he’d just taken her. She stood still, letting him take care of her, too wrung out to do it herself.

When they were both dry, he picked her up, she was too tired to protest, and he carried her to the bed.

"We’re not done," Dimitri said quietly.

"Dimitri, I can’t...."

"Yes, you can," he said, laying her down on the sheets. "Two more. I need two more from you."

He positioned himself between her thighs, and before Eve could process what was happening, his mouth was on her....tongue and lips and teeth working her with a precision that spoke of endless practice, of knowing exactly what she needed.

"Oh God...." Eve gasped, her hands fisting in the sheets.

"Not God," Dimitri said against her skin. "Me. Just me."

He licked and sucked and bit until she was writhing beneath him, until she was begging in broken sentences that made no sense, until the only word she could remember was his name.

When she came for the third time, it was with his name on her lips and tears on her cheeks....overwhelmed by sensation, by emotion, by the reality of what was coming.

But Dimitri still wasn’t done.

He moved up her body, kissing her deeply so she could taste herself on his tongue, and then he was inside her again...slow this time, deliberate, making her feel every inch as he filled her.

"Look at me," Dimitri said.

Eve opened her eyes, meeting his gaze. And what she saw there....the raw vulnerability, the desperate need, the unspoken fear....broke something inside her chest.

"I’m coming back," Dimitri said quietly, moving inside her with slow, deep strokes. "I promise you, cara mia. I’m coming back."

"Don’t make promises you can’t keep," Eve whispered.

"I’m not," Dimitri said. He leaned down, kissing her softly. "I’m making a promise I’ll kill to keep. And you know better than anyone that I’m very good at keeping my promises."

He shifted his angle slightly, and suddenly every stroke was hitting that perfect spot inside her that made her vision blur.

"One more," Dimitri said. "Give me one more, and then I’ll let you rest."

"I don’t think I can...." Eve started, but her body was already responding, already building toward that familiar peak despite her exhaustion.

"Yes, you can," Dimitri said, his hand moving between them, finding that sensitive spot and circling it with devastating precision. "Come for me one more time. Come so I can remember this. So I can remember you falling apart beneath me."

The combination of his cock inside her and his fingers on her clit was too much. Eve felt the tension coiling tighter and tighter, felt herself approaching that edge even though she was sure she had nothing left to give.

"Dimitri...." she gasped. "I’m...."

"I know," he said, his own control clearly slipping. "I can feel it. Come with me, cara mia. Let me feel you."

When Eve came for the fourth time, it was with Dimitri following right behind her....both of them crying out, both of them clinging to each other like they were drowning and the other person was the only lifeline.

They collapsed together....sweat-slicked, exhausted, wrapped around each other like they couldn’t bear to be separated even for a moment.

Dimitri rolled to his side, pulling Eve against his chest. His hand stroked her hair, her back, soothing touches that gradually brought her back to reality.

"Sleep," Dimitri said quietly. "I’ve got you."

Eve wanted to protest, wanted to stay awake, to memorize every detail of this moment....but her body had other plans. Exhaustion pulled her under like a tide, and the last thing she remembered was Dimitri’s hand in her hair and his heartbeat beneath her ear.

***

POV: DIMITRI

Dimitri waited until Eve’s breathing evened out, until he was certain she was deeply asleep.

Then he carefully extracted himself from her embrace slowly, gently, not wanting to wake her. She stirred slightly but didn’t wake, just curled into the warm spot he’d left behind.

He stood beside the bed for a moment, looking at her. At the woman who’d changed everything. At the woman he was about to leave for a mission that might kill him.

She looked peaceful in sleep, vulnerable in a way she never allowed when awake. Her dark hair was spread across his pillow, her face soft with rest, her lips slightly parted.

Beautiful.

Dimitri turned away before the sight of her could change his mind about what needed to be done, and pulled on a pair of black pants and a t-shirt. Then he walked barefoot to his home office.

The door was already open. Marco was inside, sitting in the chair across from Dimitri’s desk, laptop open, already working.

"You’re early," Dimitri said quietly, closing the door behind him.

"You said seventy-two hours," Marco replied without looking up. "I’m maximizing the timeline."

Dimitri moved to the small bar cart and poured two fingers of scotch. He didn’t offer one to Marco....the man never drank when working.

"Talk to me," Dimitri said, settling into his leather chair.

Marco turned the laptop so Dimitri could see the screen. Files upon files of information...research, background checks, personnel records.