Zara sat on the edge of the oversized stone bathtub, watching steam rise from the scented water as Lucien approached behind her. The villa's master bath glowed in the soft amber light of twilight, the windows open to the salty breeze from the sea. She wore nothing but a silk robe, loose and undone, her skin marked with fading bruises from their earlier passion.
Lucien knelt in front of her, his hands finding her thighs, his gaze reverent. "You haven't said much since this morning."
"I've been thinking," she said, her voice low. "About how something this perfect can still scare me."
He leaned in, kissing the inside of her knee. "Do I scare you?"
"No. But how much I want you does. How much I'm willing to burn for you."
He stood, took her hand, and guided her into the bath. The warm water wrapped around them, easing tension from their muscles. Zara settled between his legs, her back resting against his chest, his arms looping around her like armor.
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
"With everything except my heart. Because you already have that, and I didn't even get to choose."
His mouth pressed against her shoulder. "I'd never break it. I'd kill for it."
Her breath hitched, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she reached down, guiding his hand between her thighs. "Then show me."
Lucien's fingers slid against her slick heat, slow and deliberate. Zara arched against him, one hand gripping the edge of the tub, the other pulling his head down to kiss her neck.
"God, Zara... the way you fall apart in my hands—it's addictive."
Her moan answered him. He circled her clit with maddening control until her legs trembled, then plunged two fingers inside her. Her cries echoed through the room, raw and beautiful.
When her orgasm hit, she twisted in his arms, biting his shoulder to muffle the sound. He didn't stop. He lifted her effortlessly from the water and carried her to the marble counter, setting her down and spreading her legs.
"I need you again," he growled.
She pulled him closer, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Then take me like I'm your only truth."
He entered her in one thrust, and they both gasped. Her nails scored down his back as he drove into her, the cold marble beneath her contrasting the heat between their bodies.
Their rhythm was brutal and desperate, filled with whispered demands and promises. He kissed her like she was oxygen, like he'd drown without her. She met every thrust with the same ferocity, needing him just as wildly.
When they climaxed together, it was shattering. Zara clung to him, trembling, her forehead pressed to his.
They stayed locked like that, sweat-drenched and silent, hearts beating like war drums.
Lucien finally spoke. "Marry me tomorrow. Forget the politics. The press. Let's just disappear."
Zara's eyes softened. "And let them think we ran because we were afraid? No, Lucien. We marry in the blaze of our empire. Let them see exactly who we are."
He nodded, pride swelling in his chest. "Zara Raine, you are my beginning, my middle, and my last breath."
She kissed him again, slower this time. "And you, Lucien Vale, are my fire."
The night stretched around them like velvet. And for the first time, they let themselves believe in forever.