Page 63 of Fighting With Light
“Liam,” she cries out again. I pulse my hips, quickening our pace. She groans long and low, and I slide my hand over her dewy body, grip her throat, and squeeze.
She gasps and surprises me, as she clenches her abdomen sitting all the way up to wrap her arms around my neck, throwing me off balance. I fall back onto my butt, too taken by this goddess of a woman, and I hold her ramming my hips up. Aelia cries into my ear as her rough breaths brush against my cheek.
“Yes,” she moans.
I groan, knowing this can’t last much longer because she overwhelms every inch of me. She slips her hand between us, and I push it away, replacing herthumb with mine. Her eyes spring open as she looks down at me, holding the back of my head so we are a breath apart. She kisses me and we pant against each other’s mouths, sharing every breath as we fall over the deep and warm edge together.
Aelia sputters, gripping my hair for purchase as ecstasy rolls through her and consumes me. Our bodies continue rocking together, still chasing the heart-bursting effect that we have created with each other.
Laying her back onto the bed, I throw myself next to her and she curls into my chest, nuzzling her nose into my neck.
I lost track of time a while ago, but we lay in silence for so long the rain soothes me to sleep and Aelia’s soft hand comes to my cheek. I open my eyes and she stares for a moment before pressing her lips to mine. What we just shared was so…soft.
An ache blooms in my chest at the thought. I’ve never had that before. I’ve never had someone hold my heart in their hands, let alone hold it without hesitation to keep it safe. Aelia has done that. She has taken my heart and she has no idea what that means.
Now, I can never let her go.
I knew it would hurt if I ever had the chance to fall, but I never could have predicted it would be with a woman who was supposed to be my enemy.
24
Aelia
There are no words.He is the key to my locked up, tight heart, and he just sprung the door wide open. This was not just amazing sex. Liam made love to me and I savored every bit. I am well and truly screwed, and it hurts more than I could have predicted.
His chest rises and falls against me, and I take a deep breath of him. I’ve never wanted to attach myself to someone as much as I want to with him. He made my body sing, but he made my soul roar because I found him.
Or maybe he found me, but I can’t keep him. I can’t keep the one I know I’m safe with. I can’t keep the man that was meant to be mine because the world we live in wouldn’t accept it.
When I told him we would be temporary and it may hurt when we leave, I meant that, but never expected to leave my heart with him. I never considered I’d give a piece of myself that I’ll never get back. Our time isn’t up, but the thought hurts like hell.
Taking a deep breath, I try to push the burning in my nose away. I’ll cry later. But now I want to be with him, memorize him so I never forget the way he looks at me like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, like he wants to burn down the world around us just to keep me safe. Like I’m the only one for him, like I was meant to be alone until I found him.
No, this doesn’t just hurt; this is torture. All I want to do is suffer more for the sake of knowing him because there is no doubt it will hurt even worse when I have to leave him. I have no other choice.
With my ear pressed to his chest, I listen to his heartbeat, hoping that mine will somehow sync with his. I learned on one of my trips that herds of horsesprotect each other by syncing their heartbeats, so that if a predator is near them, they will all know something is wrong. I want that to be us, so when we are apart, I’ll know his heart is still beating even if it’s not beating with mine. I want to know he is still walking this Earth, living in spite of everything around us. My eyes close against my will to the soothing movement of his chest and the steady rain outside.
Lips press against my body softly, bringing me back from dreamland. I open my eyes to find Liam kissing every inch of me with methodical attention, as if he’s trying to commit every detail to memory. He’s kissing my breasts, lingering over the sensitive skin. A flicker of heat shoots through me, and need surges back through my veins. Liam lifts his head and looks at me. I reach for his hair and push it back because it’s always falling in his face.
“I need you, princess,” he whispers across my skin, over my heart.
I nod, and he sweeps his lips across mine before claiming me heart and soul.
***
Liam’s alarm goes off and his groan wakes me up. It’s six in the morning and it feels like Groundhog Day because I swear we’ve done this before. My cheek is on his chest and his arm is around my back, with our legs all tangled together. I wish we could stay in this bed because there would be nothing to bother us or tell us that being together is a bad idea. But staying here wouldn’t put either of our fathers away either.
His hand drags up and down my back and I keep my cheek on his chest with his strong heart pumping in my ear.
“Did you sleep okay?” he asks me.
I nod against him. I feel wrung out like a rag. The physical exhaustion is a good thing, the emotional is both good and bad. I know he felt what I did last night. I could see it in his eyes, and the way he whispered French in my ear. I wish I knew what he was saying, but based on his tone, I know I would have liked it even more.
He knows what happened, and he knows that there is nothing we can do about it, and I don’t know what pisses me off more. When he fell asleep again, I untangled myself from him, went to the bathroom and cried. I cried for so long my face puffed up. If he was awake, it’s not something I could hide from him. But I was able to slip back into bed because he was sleeping like the dead.
“Hey, Aelia?” he says and grabs my chin. He lifts his head to look down at me, still on his chest.
“I just don’t want to leave this bed,” I mutter and press my lips to his skin.
