Page 130 of How to Lose at Love

And then with one brutal thrust the crescendo meets its highest point and I let out an earth shattering scream.

I’ve obliterated into another planet. One where my mind is in a fog of beautiful bliss and I can’t feel my limbs.

I’m only half aware of Constantine still pistoning inside me until he too finds his release.

A heavy weight presses on my back and I relish in his warmth.

I feel the faint brush of his lips planting kisses along my slicked skin.

Then the delicious weight of him disappears as he eases out of me. I know I’ll feel the pain of our fucking later but right now I’m too high on pleasure to feel it.

Body completely languid and useless he takes over. Turning me around he then swoops me in his strong arms, cradling me against him. My head falls against his chest as I weakly lay an arm around his neck.

Tenderly he places a kiss on my forehead.

And somehow the act of a forehead kiss is more intimate than the intense fucking.

His affection continues as he drapes my silk robe over my body. Placing it to effectively cover all the intimate parts. I manage to raise a brow in question when he responds, “Only I get the pleasure of seeing you naked.”

I rest my head back against his bare chest feeling the safest I have ever been in my life.

And suddenly I’m overcome with a flood of emotions. Tears press at the back of my eyes as a lump forms in my throat.

Tenderness. Affection.

I had ached and yearned for it all of my life. Believed after my rebirth that I no longer deserved it.

It was a dream the young girl in me had to kill.

And yet now I have an infinite amount of tenderness and affection in a man who is known to show neither.

Not only has Constantine brought me back to life, he’s healed the broken parts of me I thought could never be healed.

My heart beats twice as fast as the realization of what I feel for him sets in.

Dio mio.

I love him.

I love Constantine Donati.

Constantine walks us out of his office, him still naked and me covered by a silk robe, but none of that matters because I love him.

He carries me throughout our penthouse, opening the door to our room, and sits on the bed with me cradled in his lap.

His thumb swipes away the tears that I didn’t even realize have slipped. “As much as I love your tears, Carina, I only love them when you’re gagging on my cock.” He leans down and licks the tears from my skin.

I love him.

Tears gone he does it again. Another tender kiss to the forehead.

“Constantine,” I say his name softly, vulnerably.

He smiles down at me. Truly smiles. And it’s breathtaking. “I do love it when you say my name.” He brushes his knuckles along my cheek. The touch so sweet I fear my heart may burst out of my chest and land in his hands.

“Constantine,” I say again and he hums with utter content. Those butterflies return in my stomach except this time I welcome them. He’s chosen me at every single turn. Never once hiding his affections for me. Never once has he silenced them. And it’s about time my affections for him aren’t hidden. “You have dug yourself under my skin. Embed yourself deep in my soul. You’re the blood running through my veins. The very air I breathe. And the mere thought of a life without you terrifies me. Every part of me belongs to you. And this wretched heart of mine only beats for you.”

In one swift movement I’m straddling him. My legs hook around his back as my arms loop around his neck. He frames my face preciously in the palms of his hands. The depth of love I see shining in them has me feeling euphoric.