Silence stretched for a moment, before Ilya said hoarsely, “You have me.”

My lips parted as a short breath left my mouth. Ilya’s unwavering eyes never strayed from mine. And I felt it, I felt the truth of his words. I felt my heart beat louder and faster—a beat created just for him.

“You have me, too,” I replied, and laid my hand on the side of his neck. Ilya took in a slow breath. Chest filling with light, I closed in and kissed his bruised mouth. But Ilya didn’t seem to feel the pain. Instead his hand raced up my back to thread into my hair. I moaned as he pulled me closer against him, my breasts now flush with his chest.

And we kissed. We kissed and we kissed until I broke away on a gasp. But Ilya stayed close by, his hands traveling over my bare skin, making it bump in their wake. My eyes fluttered shut at the feel. Ilya groaned as my hand ran down his chest, my finger stroking his lower stomach. I opened my eyes just as Ilya rolled me onto my back. He moved to climb above me, but as he did, he hissed out a pained sound. I stilled, seeing his teeth gritting together. “What is it?” I asked.

Ilya flopped back to the mattress, his muscles tense with pain. “The fight today,” he said in a low, husky voice. “It drained me.” I roved my eyes along the expanse of his body. Severe wounds and large black bruises covered almost every inch of his skin. When I met Ilya’s eyes, he confessed, “I want you.” He swallowed and added, “I need you. I have to have you with your name on my lips and mine on yours. Us, together, each as someone.” My lungs held in a breath as he added, “More than the numbers Master forced us to be.”

Needing it too, I exhaled and moved above him. Ilya watched me with hunger in his eyes as my hand drifted to his hard length. His cut lips tightened when my fingers wrapped around him, and he hissed a guttural groan when I began moving my hand up and down.

My skin began to heat at the sight of this warrior as he closed his eyes and arched his back. I knew I had taken many males before, but never like this. I knew I hadn’t, even though I had no memory. Because no one else could ever make me feel like this. No male could ever make my heart beat like Ilya.

I drank in his hard muscles and dark tattoos. Then I suddenly cried out when Ilya moved his hand to the apex of my thighs. I moaned as his fingers ran along my core. The pleasure he brought made my hand work faster on his length. Ilya growled a low, savage groan. I saw fire light in his eyes, and as I leaned down to kiss him, to join his lips with my own, he pushed his finger inside my channel and I burst apart with light.

My breathing was hard and heavy as my body jerked against his. When I raised my head, Ilya said, “I need you.”

Acting on instinct, I released his length. Lifting my legs, I carefully straddled his waist. Ilya’s hands immediately planted on my hips and his expression showed his possession, the approval of where I now sat.

I moved a hand to cover one of his own, and as I did, we both stilled. I met his eyes and he met mine, and I knew, without words, what was being said: We had each other.

Ilya and Inessa—the High Mona and the champion.

Forbidden.

Reaching behind me, I guided his length inside me, slowly leaning back until he had filled me so impossibly full. I gripped his hand as my head drew back at the feel. Shivers raced up my spine as Ilya began guiding my hips to move. I lifted up, then lowered back down, building speed in tandem with pleasure.

Ilya’s hands roamed over my body. My eyes snapped open when Ilya palmed my breast and whispered, “Inessa.”

I froze as I stared down at him. He was watching, waiting to hear my response. Moving my hips, seeing his nostrils flare, I replied, “Ilya … my Ilya…”

As his name left my lips, something in Ilya broke. His control snapped, unleashing a hungry snarl that ripped from his mouth. This time, despite his pain and injuries, Ilya lifted his torso. With strong, unyielding arms, he wrapped them around my waist and flipped me on my back. Ilya was over me in seconds. His body blanketed my own. His thick neck was corded with veined, tense muscles. Positioning himself between my legs, he pushed forward. We both cried out as he filled me again. As he braced above me, I turned my head and placed kiss after kiss on his wrist. I felt his racing pulse flutter beneath my lips. When I looked back up, Ilya was staring at me, his hips rolling, piercing me with pleasure. Reaching up, Ilya panting harshly above me, I ran my hands down his broad back. At my touch Ilya, groaned, head tipping back.

Pressure began building at the bottom of my spine. When Ilya looked back down, I whispered, “I’m close…”

Ilya’s eyes glittered and his skin glistened with a sheen of sweat. “Yes,” he groaned. I knew he was close, too.

Needing to see his face when I found pleasure. Needing to watch him come apart too, I slid my hands until they palmed his cheeks. Ilya lowered his head and pressed his chest against mine. His warm, quick breath washed over my face. His lower stomach pressed against my bud of nerves, and unable to hold off anymore, I felt my channel contract as pleasure took me in its hold, my scream of release echoing loudly off the cell’s stone walls. “Ilya!” I moaned as the hedonistic feeling didn’t fade.

Hearing his name usher from my lips, Ilya jerked in his movements and, with a final hard thrust, spilled inside me. His eyes squeezed shut as he gave in to his release. Then, like an answer to every wish I’d ever had, Ilya’s mouth opened, and he called out, “Inessa!”

My vision blurred as he crushed his heavy body to mine. His lips found my cheeks and neck, and with every caress, he repeated, “Inessa, Inessa, my Inessa.”

Ilya tucked his head into the crook between my neck and shoulder. I gripped hard and ran my hand through his blond hair. Ilya muttered something against my skin.

“What?” I asked breathlessly.

Ilya slowly lifted his head. When he met my eyes, he said, “I want this.” He inhaled. “I want this every day. I…” His words cut off, but he forced himself to finish, “I want to be forever with you.”

I blinked quickly to rid myself of tears. But my stomach still plummeted. Ilya’s face dropped. “How would that be possible?” I questioned, the cave in my tunneling returning stronger and deeper. “Master will never allow it.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, hanging on with everything I had. I wanted to freeze this moment so it would never end. I wanted to stay here, just like this.

“I don’t know,” he finally admitted. He was as defeated as I was. When I looked at his face, he said, “I thought having a female would make me weak. I thought wanting someone, being with someone, needing her, would destroy my place here in the pit.” He paused, then said, “But since I let you into my heart, since I let you into my soul, you have made me stronger. I want more than fighting and death. I want more than this pit. And I want that with you. Only you.”

“Ilya,” I whispered. The only thing I could give him in response was, “I want all of that with you, too.”

He ducked his head, then lifted it to ask shyly, “You do?”

I smiled and cherished the feel of his warm skin pressed against mine. “More than anything.”

Ilya’s lips twitched. I held in my breath when a full smile spread on his cut lips. I gasped at the beauty. Moving my fingers to his lips, I pressed my fingertips to them and said, “I don’t want Master. I don’t know what life looks like above this place, but with you I wouldn’t care … as long as I could be with you. I would live in perpetual darkness if it meant I got to keep you by my side. We would be you and me. Then one day, we could maybe have more. Children. Laughter … happiness.”

The tension around Ilya’s eyes had softened at my confession. I waited with bated breath for how he would respond. But just then a cool, but angered, voice mused, “Well, this is interesting.”

Ice shattered down my spine when I recognized that voice. I stilled in Ilya’s arms. Ilya’s cold killer expression filled me with dread. Ilya’s arms shook at my sides. When the sound of the cell opening shattered the tense silence, Ilya jumped to his feet and charged for the door. I sat up on a scream as I saw guards run into the cell and push Ilya against a wall. Charged picanas were pressed against his skin, Ilya roaring out as the high-voltage charge ran through his body.