Queen of Ruin(Book three of the Immortals Series)
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE REAL LIFE

"Harder, baby. Please." Preparing to go back to real life was unbearable, so Tessa did her best to convince Rafik to stay in the tender shelter between her legs until the last possible moment.

Every charm imparted on her by Fate was like a custom-made concoction designed especially for him, and no matter how many substances he had immunity to, this was the one that slipped through unnoticed. He was powerless to its effects. They spent the last two days tangled up in messy, sweat-drenched, white Egyptian cotton sheets as they tasted and touched every part of each other. No inch of her went unexplored or unloved, but it wasn't enough for the young lovers. "Yes. Oh, baby. That's it. Just like that."

Slapping his sweaty hips against her round, slick ass while she cried out into her down-filled pillow, he grunted against the back of her head. As the bed smacked the wall in perfect rhythm to the pleasured noises they both made, the sound of their moist skin smacking against each other echoed through the scantily decorated apartment.

She may have been his student in the cold, damp basement at that old castle, but within the four corners of the bed they shared, Tessa was the master. She made him do everything with the care and perfection that he'd been demanding of her the entire week.

Yesterday morning had started with sweet innocence as they eased into each other's bodies, but her need for pleasure was insatiable, and he existed to satisfy her. No matter how far she begged him to go, he happily went over the edge with her and did everything she asked of him.

Deprived of each other for too long, they spent every spare moment bound as one being in breathless, sticky bliss.

Wrapping his long pleasing fingers around her jaw, Rafik pulled Tessa's face up to meet his as he claimed her salty lips and captured her moans of pleasure on his tongue like snowflakes as they fell from the sky. If he could, he would swallow them all down to feed the hole in him that only she filled.

While she whimpered into his palm, she quaked from the inside as her thirsty body swallowed his pulsing liquid again.

Having tamed his naughty witch once more, Rafik slowly released the Firestarter from his grasp and backed away like a lion tamer escaping the Queen of all beasts. Collapsing on the bed beside her, he panted for air and pushed his curly wet hair off his face as his heart pounded against his chest.

While the oxytocin pumping through her veins made her fall deeper for the bronzed god that laid beside her, Tessa turned her head to look at him and smiled. "That was amazing, baby."

Chuckling out into the air, he closed his eyes as stars shot across his darkened field of vision. "Yes. Amazing. Every time has been that way."

She kissed his shoulder and pushed her forehead against it as her body sought him out for more. Sensing her desire building again, he rolled to his side and caressed her back with his fingertips. "We should be going soon. We can't hide here forever, as much as I want to.'

"

As she groaned at the thought of leaving the warm, soft bed and walking back into the harsh reality of the world outside their bedroom, she pouted her lips and batted her eyes at him in a last-ditch effort to seduce him yet again. "Do we really have to? Let's run away somewhere beautiful and spend every day like this. I have more money than I can ever spend and a string of properties I've never even seen. Let's just disappear. No one will even care if we do; everyone thinks we're dead anyway."

Pushing her wet hair off her shoulder, he laughed at her childish whining. She was still just the little spoiled girl he kissed in Savannah, no matter how old she got. "Someday, my love. For now, you have much to learn, and I promised to show you everything I know."

Her frustration came out in a throaty groan, and she turned over to her back. Her bare breasts curved up to the ceiling and called to Rafik to touch them. Licking his lips as his tongue recalled the saltiness of her skin, he leaned over and captured a nipple in his mouth. He sucked gently, then pulled away once he'd savored one last sip of her. The coldness left behind as his warm lips left her skin made Tessa shudder and pull up the blanket to comfort her aching body. The mattress dipped beneath his elbows as he pushed himself back off the bed and sat on the side while he stretched his back and arms. Tessa had taken him to task physically, and he was sore in places he never knew existed until his eager sexual explorer found them. "Besides, you'll be by my side tonight again and every night from now on. This is far from over, Tessa. We have all our lives for this."

As her fingertips slid down his back when he stood from the bed, she buried her face back in the pillow. "You better believe it, mister. We haven't even started yet."

The way his buttocks moved against each other when he walked to the bathroom made her hurt inside. She rolled away from the magnificence of it because she knew he meant business this time, and she was getting herself worked up for nothing.

Refusing to leave the warmth of her bed, she dozed off again just to wake when her stomach started to growl from the aroma of whatever he was making for their very late breakfast.

As she accepted her defeat, Tessa pushed herself up out of bed and pulled his white cable knit sweater over her head, then wandered through the living room and took a seat at the bar in the kitchen. Laying her arm across the warm wood bar as she waited, she glared at the lonely bare finger by her face. "I don't have a ring. No one will know we're married."

Rafik slid a plate in front of her then sat beside her. "I'll buy you one as grand as you wish. If you'd like, we can go before we leave for the castle to pick out anything you want."

Pouting at the disappointment of not being marked like her parents were, she shook her head. "No. Just surprise me."

She placed the napkin across her lap, and she gasped as it occurred to her that she never told him, but she knew the minute he kissed her on the balcony that it was true. "I love you, Rafik. I've always loved you, even when I thought I hated

you."

If she never let the words come from her mouth, he had no doubts about the bond between them. "I know that, Rohi. I love you too. It lingers in the air, and even when I'm gone from you, you will be bathed in it." The flip-flop in her chest made her slap her hand over the flutter. "I know. It's right here."

After breakfast, Tessa sadly packed her things away in her bag of holding as Rafik got dressed. While he hooked his watch back on his wrist, he glanced up to her. "Perhaps next weekend we can go see your family in Greece." Growling at the thought of having to share him with anyone else yet, she wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes away. "I'm all filled up on them for a while; they can wait."

He took her in his arms and shook his head. Tessa and the hodgepodge family they made up was all he had to his phony name, and it was worth dying for to him. "Family is everything, my love, and we have so little of it. We must hold close to what we have at all cost."

She pressed her face against his chest and closed her eyes. "Until we have our own someday."

"Ah!" Squeezing her a little tighter while his hands rested on her bottom, his nose rubbed hers. "Even more so. Children need plenty of love to grow." He kissed her forehead and pushed her away gently. "Are you ready to leave?" Pouting her lips, Tessa shook her head. "No!"

Rolling his wrist, the leather strap of her bag wound itself around his arm as he wrapped his arms around her. "Just say the word."

As she sunk into his chest again and closed her eyes, she encircled his back with her arms. "Anywhere with you, Rohi."

When her feet touched solid ground again, she opened her eyes to the dimly lit suite that Rafik lived in at the castle. It was as she expected it to be, with walls lined in old books. It was one of her favorite smells and would forever link him to the feelings of comfort and stability in her memory.

As he backed away, he set their bags on the bed before taking her hand and tilting his head to the door. "Come. We need to talk to Delia about all this."

Sauntering down the stairs together, they caught a few double-takes from his colleagues as they walked hand in hand unashamed. After years of being alone in this world, he was proud to have his wife for all to see. Coming to Delia's office, he poked his head in the door and knocked on the jam. "Are you busy, madam?"

Delia put down her book and closed it as she shook her head. "No. Please, come in."

Pulling Tessa ahead of him, he closed the door behind him and motioned for her to sit. Standing behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders. "We needed to tell you that we intend to live as husband and wife now." Delia grinned a tight-lipped smile and clasped her hands in front of her. "I'm happy for you both." Lifting her brow, she turned her head slightly. "I suppose a reception is in order."

Waving his hand in front of his chest, Rafik grinned and shook his head. "No, that's not necessary. We just wanted everyone to know."

Delia shrugged and pushed out her lips. Life was quite ordinary for the Order's Elders, and they enjoyed the chance to relive their younger days. Being able to share in the joy of Tessa and Rafik's union would do the trick. "We don't come across many chances to celebrate something wonderful happening; it's not a bother at all."

Tessa glanced up at him and nodded as she grasped his fingers. She couldn't be prouder of belonging to him, and she would love the chance to show off to everyone. "I agree. It's alright, Delia. That would be lovely."

After kissing Tessa's hand, Rafik glanced at Delia and smiled, knowing that he didn't have a choice in the matter, anyway. "Very well." As he let go of her hand, he put his fingertips under her chin and lifted it to look at him. "Now, my love. I'm going on a mission to replace you that ring. Please, behave yourself while I am gone."

He dropped down to her to place one last kiss on her too-often sucked on red, swollen lips. "I won't be long." He had something in mind already, and he hoped Tessa would replace it worthy.