Page 37 of Marked for Life

And for the first time, I don’t fight it. I don’t want to. Because I’ve already lost—lost myself, lost my autonomy, lost any hope or desire of escape.

Dante growls deep in his throat and tears glisten in his eyes before he crashes his lips onto mine. “I never thought I would hear you say those words.” His voice breaks as he’s overwhelmed with emotion.

He crushes me against him, his hands greedy and desperate, like he can’t get enough of this moment, of the words I’ve finally said. His lips find mine again, and he kisses me like a madman, like he’s starving for everything I am.

“Say it again,” he demands, his voice rough with need as he lifts me into his arms. He carries me to the bed, laying me down with surprising tenderness. “Tell me you love me.”

I gasp as his fingers trail over my skin, igniting a fire that burns away every thought except him. “I love you,” I whisper, and it’s like a switch flips inside him. His mouth is on my neck, my collarbone, moving with a frenzied devotion that makes my head spin.

“Again,” he growls, slipping off my clothes with an urgency that leaves me breathless. “Say it again.”

“I love you,” I cry out as he moves over me, his body pressing against mine with more passion than ever before. It’s different this time—gentle but consuming, tender but fierce. He’s everywhere all at once, and I’m lost in him.

He thrusts into me slowly, deliberately, each movement claiming another piece of my soul. “Never try to leave,” he orders between ragged breaths. The demand is raw and pleading all at once.

“Never,” I promise as his rhythm takes over every part of me. “I’ll never leave.”

He shudders at my words, his control slipping as pleasure and emotion crash through him. “I’ll always worship you,” he vows in a hoarse whisper, his eyes burning into mine with an intensity that steals the air from my lungs. “Like the princess you are.”

“Yes,” I moan as we spiral higher together. It’s overwhelming—it’s everything—and I can barely breathe around the force of it all.

“Hannah,” he gasps out, my name a prayer on his lips as he pushes us over the edge and into oblivion.

When we finally come back down to earth, Dante holds me close, his heart pounding against mine in perfect sync. His grip is ironclad and protective—as if he's afraid I'll vanish if he lets go.

“Say it one more time,” he murmurs softly against my hair.

I curl closer to him because I know there is no escape—not from this room, not from him, not from what we’ve become together. And now, I don’t want there to be.

“I love you.”