The Score by Bethany-Kris Page A

to understand, and love—sex had been the link between them, and it worked. But, for the first time in their relationship, Viviana found both her and Anton were relying on different modes to make that familiar connection keeping them so close.
    There were off days and some were worse than others. There were also hits and sometimes misses, like earlier in the day when Viviana assumed she understood the depth of her husband’s pain, or lack thereof, over her miscarriage. If Anton was anything, he was good at wearing masks. He’d been doing it his whole life, after all. Some habits were hard to break. Viviana recognized his need to be a solid foundation when everything else around them seemed to be crumbling, but sometimes she needed to see his cracks, too.
    Hell, they didn’t even have time to deal with one thing before the next came in to wreck and destroy. Were they being tested? It certainly felt like it. Were they winning? That was harder to tell.
    Viviana’s fingers ghosted down over the faint stubble shadowing Anton’s jaw before allowing her fingers to trail down further to his neck, where the pulse of his heart beat against her skin. For a moment, she reveled in that feeling.
    I breathe for you. My heart beats, and breaks, and bleeds only for you.
    God, she loved this man.
    “Vine?”
    Like an electric shock to her system, Viviana jerked at the sound of her name on Anton’s mouth. She attempted to pull her hand away from his skin only to find him holding her fingers in place. Suddenly, his heart rate had picked up under her touch, beating much faster than before.
    “What are you doing?” Anton asked a little groggily.
    “Nothing.” Viviana glanced up into the heated blue of his eyes. “Watching you, I guess.”
    “Sleep?”
    “It’s the best time to. I’m not so focused on you watching me, then.”
    “Ah,” Anton murmured, his lips quirking up into a lazy grin. “I unsettle you, hmm?”
    “Sometimes. Most times you just consume me.”
    “Consume. I like that better.”
    “Yeah,” Viviana said, feeling unsure under his watchful gaze. “I always know when you are. It’s like everything just fades away. You’re not seeing anyone else when you look at me and I know it. All of me centers in on that. Like a camera with a million viewers just zoned in on only me. I can feel it, if that makes sense.”
    “Sure. Why do you think I just woke up, baby?”
    Viviana sighed in the dark, feeling his hand encasing hers squeeze tighter.
    “It is unsettling, though,” Anton added quieter. “Knowing there’s only one person in the whole world who has that kind of effect on you. It makes you vulnerable in some ways, and in others, you feel stronger. No one else is ever going to make every instinct you have react so completely. One heart brings you to your knees, makes you want to scream, fight, laugh, or cry. There’s only one—you, I mean.”
    “Do you think we’re different from other people?” Viviana asked.
    Anton shrugged one shoulder, reaching out with his free arm to wrap around Viviana’s waist. “I think we’re us, Vine. I’m perfectly happy with loving one woman enough to give every part of me over to her—mind, body, and soul. It doesn’t frighten me. Other people, they might not feel the same way, but they still love. You can’t judge the worth of their love based on the amount of themselves they hand over. Some people need to keep something for themselves. It could be the part of their soul they gave to their first love, or maybe it’s a broken piece they want to protect the person they love from it. Whatever it’s for, protection, sanity, it doesn’t matter. They need to keep it. No two people are alike.”
    “But we’re—”
    “Anton and Viviana,” he interrupted. “That’s all. When I fell in love with you all those years ago, every inch of your soul tattooed itself inside mine. There wasn’t any way on earth I was getting rid of you. You were in my system, bleeding me