Page 143 of Lightlark
“Ruined?”
He nodded.“Ruined.Tortured. You haven’t stopped tormenting me since the first moment I saw you.”
Isla opened her mouth. Closed it. Considered apologizing, even.
Grim continued. “A few conversations with you, and I was ready to make the most disadvantageous trade—all of me in exchange for any part of you you’d be willing to spare.” He shook his head. “You have invaded my mind. I have questioned my sanity. I think about you all the time.”
The way he saidall the timehad her cheeks burning with its insinuations. “All the time?” she repeated, voice breathless.
“Late at night, I ache for you. I ache for youall the time,”he said, face truly looking tortured. As if he had waited a long while to say those words. As if she had been a curse worse than all others.
Then he kissed her.
She gasped, just a little, and he pulled away.No.Before he could get far, she pressed herself against him, arms around his neck. She tilted her head back to meet his gaze. All anger was gone, replaced with emotions that made Grim’s eyes darken.
Before he could grin, she pressed her lips to his. He was cold as stone, and she became even colder as he pinned her against the glass. Their kiss deepened, mouths opening, heat burning its way down her center. Her head fell back, and he kissed the length of her neck, teeth just slightly grazing her throat, below where her necklace sat.
He moved her cape aside and ran his lips along her bare shoulder. She made a sound, the cold making her skin prickle, and his hands gripped her waist, pressed her harder against the wall. She reached up to unbutton his cape, and it fell soundlessly to the floor.
His eyes snapped to hers. But she was already pulling at his shirt. He let her take it off in one quick movement. Then she paused. And stared at him.
Built for war. Toned completely. A ruthless warrior towering over her. A large scar marred the center of his chest. It sat inches from his heart. She pressed her hand against it, and he watched her movement, his breathing a bit unsteady, as if he was trying very hard to stand still.
“What is this from?” Her pulse was already racing. So was his.
Grim shivered as she traced the scar’s jagged mark. “Just someone trying to kill me.” He placed his hand over hers. “Hearteater,” he said, the ghost of a smile on his lips.The name was back.“Right now,you’rekilling me.” His voice was deep as the dreams she’d had the last few weeks. The ones he had sent her. The ones she now wanted to make real.
She took his crown between her fingers. Let it drop to the ground with a loud clatter. She did the same to her own.
The ruler of darkness and the ruler of the wild, both breathing a little too quickly. She stepped over her crown, to him, and he took her into his arms. This time, his kiss was desperate, like the sun was setting and they only had a few more minutes left, like the glass room was just a moment from being blown to pieces. He held her tightly, as if afraid she might just float away, a bird uncaged.
Her legs locked around his center, and she couldfeelhim—every inch of him against her, even through the fabric of their clothes.I haven’t told you what you do to me.His words echoed through her mind as she found their meaning.I ache for youall the time. He was aching for her now. She moved herself against him slowly, and a low growl escaped his lips. With a burst of unchecked desire, he gripped her by the backs of her thighs, fingers digging sharply into her skin, and ground himself even closer. Her eyes fluttered closed at the friction, her head falling back. He leaned her against the glass as his hands went to the front of her dress, making quick work of the ties and straps. Before she knew it, the fabric was gone, and Grim’s mouth was on her chest.
The world could fall to pieces, and she wouldn’t notice. Her sole focus was on the path of his tongue and teeth. She was burning for him, for his taste, his touch, the way he made her skin feel like a path lightning had struck.
“More,” she said, or moaned, she didn’t know, all she knew was that she wanted every single thing he had to offer her.“Please.”
He held her close to him, and she gripped his arms, bit down againsthis shoulder to keep from making more sounds as he lifted her higher and his hand finally reached right where she wanted it. Over fabric. Then, under it. Isla groaned at the first press of his calloused fingers against her, and they quickly began to wander slowly, steadily.
More.He gave it to her, and she gasped against his mouth as he used them to explore her deeper. Deeper. Need overpowered everything else, and Grim cursed as she started to move against his hand. “That’s it.” His voice was barely above a growl, coaxing and strained, as if he was enjoying this just as much as she was.
Before she could wonder what she might do next, he angled her head back up at him and said, “Look at me, heart. I want to watch you come undone.”
She dug her nails into the back of his neck. Their foreheads pressed together, and she had never felt more alive, more bare, than she did in that moment, having him watch as endless sensations overcame her. Grim looked her right in the eyes as every feeling intensified, saturated, more than she had ever thought possible.
And something about it all was so familiar, like falling asleep, or humming to the rain, or breathing. Like she had already done it all a thousand times in her dreams.
CHAPTER FIFTY
SLEEPLESS
Isla did not sleep. She spent her days and nights in the library, and they slipped away as easily as the rain racing down the hundred windows of the Place of Mirrors, during the storm that had locked her and Grim in the glass box for hours.
As she flipped the pages, she felt the memory of his hands against her skin, his lips against her shoulder. They hadn’t done everything she had wanted to in the moment, and part of her was relieved that instead of making any move to remove his clothes, he had pulled her into his lap on the floor. That they had watched the rain instead, her head against his chest. His chin resting where her crown should have been. Before they left, she had made him promise to find Azul, wherever he was hiding. And bring him to her.
Oro watched her like he could sense the places Grim had touched. She knew he must have noted her daydream eyes. But he hadn’t said a word. Part of her didn’t want him to know. To suspect.
Isla dug her nails into her palm, forcing herself to focus. Breaking the curses and winning was now more important than ever. She was her, Terra’s, and Celeste’s only hope.
