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I could feel the press of her smile right at my pec. “Well…maybe a billion.”

“You punk,” I teased, and I had Elena pinned to the mattress before she even knew I moved, straddling her at the waist and my hands going up beneath my tee that she’d taken to wearing every night.

Fingertips digging lightly into her ribs.

She squealed and thrashed. “Trevan, you asshole…stop…I can’t…I’m gonna pee.”

“Not a chance. You hurt my feelings. You’d trade me off for a billion dollars? The audacity.”

Laughter squeaked out of her, her face so full of that life shining out of her. “I said maybe…not for sure.”

Amusement rolled through the air.

Easy and light.

“You’d better take it back and fess up that you’re mine.”

She sobered. Those eyes were so adoring as she reached out a hand and set it on my cheek. I stilled, caught in her irresistible web. “There’s nothing in the world that I would give you up for, Trevan Niles. I’m yours. Rich. Penniless. It doesn’t matter.”

My entire soul softened, and I sank down on top of her. Keeping the brunt of my weight off her while still relishing in the feel of her against me. Inhaling deep while her gentle fingers dragged up and down the hard planes of my back.

I groaned.

I’d already had her once this morning.

It was never enough.

No satiating.

No quenching.

But holy fuck, was it satisfying.

Three weeks had gone by since we’d been like this.

Three weeks of bliss.

Sneaking. Touching. Adoring.

Never thought I’d be lucky enough.

There had been no further threats made, and Elena and I had sunk into the peace.

We played and laughed and fucked.

Kissed and caressed and loved.

Dreamed and healed and filled each other up with everything that we’d been missing.

I still hadn’t told Silas, and the weight of it was heavy.

A burden on my shoulders that I couldn’t bear for much longer.

But honestly, I was terrified of losing this. Of Elena being taken from me when she was my life-sustaining force.

Her blood in my veins. Her breath the oxygen in my lungs.

This time so fucking precious that I was clinging to it like my life depended on it.