Page 113 of Synodic

The scale of stars and moonlight was tipping, tipping, tipping until it spilled over entirely, bursting and filling me to my every horizon with a pleasure I could have never fathomed. I cried out Rowen’s name. Releasing all the tension, strain, and suffering I’d been holding on to, my body quaked and shivered in utter captivation.

Rowen slowed his rhythm and brought me down gently, melting me into a pool of shimmering silver. Completely drained but entirely filled, I sagged forward into Rowen’s hard chest, his arms catching and holding me from drowning.

His hand landed on my bare back, slowly caressing me up and down my spine as he held me tight, kissing my ear, temple, and brow. Rowen had just given me the gift of mind-numbing pleasure that healed my soul just as much as it destroyed my demons.

And I wanted to return the favor.

I drowsily fumbled at the front of his sodden pants, my fatigued body desperate to touch him.

He placed his large hand over mine, stopping me.

“Let me touch you,” I said, trying to fight my mutinously tired body. I wanted it more than anything, and I could blatantly see that he wanted it just as badly.

“Keira, you’re exhausted, your body entirely spent. I want you wide awake and rested when you touch me.”

I was fully prepared to argue with him and get my way, but I must have drifted off as he continued to caress me in our never-ending pool of swirling galaxies, because the next thing I knew, he was whispering low and throaty in my ear, “Let’s get you to bed.” His full lips skimmed the shell of my ear, and no matter how much I wanted to stay in this suspended animation, I knew it was time to go.

Rowen moved me to the side, reluctantly letting go. “I’ll be right back. Don’t fall asleep again,” he warned, and I sleepily agreed, although I couldn’t make any promises. It felt like I had been repeatedly hit by a speeding bullet train, and the horrifying reality was that that wasn’t too far from the truth.

A sweeping bit of adrenaline coursed through my veins as I watched Rowen rise to his full height. His waterlogged pants hung dangerously low on his hips, revealing the deep creases of his lower abdomen. He turned to walk up and out of the water. His slow descent down the pebbled staircase gave me plenty of time to take in his broad back that tapered into a pert backside.

I hadn’t had the time or leisure to fully take in his shirtless body, but I found I immensely enjoyed it.

“I can feel your eyes on me, Keira,” he said with a side smirk.

I lowered my chin and mouth into the water, still peering at him with my eyes. He disappeared into the bathing suite’s anteroom, returning a few minutes later wearing dry pants and carrying a long piece of fabric.

At the top of the stairs, Rowen held the garment up with outstretched arms, inviting me in. With exhausted limbs, I met him at the tub’s entryway, where he wrapped me in a blushing terracotta robe dress. The three-quarter length sleeves ended in frayed strands that fell to my wrists, and a delicate loose threadwork rimmed the entire kaftan.

The lightweight garment hung open on my body, and Rowen’s eyes didn’t miss an inch of my exposed skin as I turned to face him.

“The things I want to do to you, Keira,” he nearly growled like a starved beast against my ear. I thought he was going to rip the robe right back off and devour me, but instead he closed the two sides of the robe and sealed it with the tassel-trimmed tie around my waist.

His self-control was astounding. I definitely couldn’t say the same for myself.

I knew there were things he needed to say to me before we went any further. For both our consciences’ sake, he wouldn’t touch me again until I knew everything.

Appreciation for Rowen wanting to share the details of his past while I was of sound mind swelled through me, but I didn’t know if I could wait that long, his dark gaze was already stirring another pooling ache in me. “Then do it.”

“You need to sleep.”

“I’m not tired,” I lied, still trying to get my way. But my heavy legs almost gave out from underneath me and gave away my lie.

“You are. And believe me, it’s taking every ounce of my control not to have you crying out my name like that over and over again, but I will see to it that you get your rest, you’re going to need it for what I have planned for you.”

I gulped. Rowen had just given me a taste of his capabilities, but I knew his large, muscled mass was capable of much, much more.

Before I could further protest, Rowen swept my legs out from under me and carried me away.

* * *

I was weightless, floating above the ground on an invisible track that carried me on a wild breath of the forest.

My eyes slanted open, revealing the night sky overhead. The bespeckled stars glimmered like flecks of lambent paint on the broad canvas of night. Normally they looked random and chaotic, but not tonight, tonight they lookedfamiliar.

The sky…it was becoming my own.

“What are you smiling about?” Rowen’s voice rumbled deep in his chest, vibrating against my cheek, and I remembered he was carrying me.

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