Page 82 of Curse of Darkness
“Vi. Gods,Vi.”
Hot seed spurts within me.
My knee slides down his arm to his elbow and I can’t help moaning a little as stretched muscles soften. Collapsing back on the floor, I gasp for breath. That was intense. Even for him.
Every inch of me feels alive, my skin marked in a hundred different places. Sliding my hand up the curve of his spine, I cup his nape, digging my fingers into his sweaty hair as I close my eyes.
This moment, right here, is the closest I’ve ever been to peace.
Slowly Thiago lifts his head, pressing the gentlest of kisses to my swollen lips. Easing his weight off me, he pulls free in a gush of wetness. Both of us moan, because he’s still hard. And this need, this desperate urge, smolders within us like the banked fires of a hearth.
“If you look at me like that,” he whispers, nuzzling against my lips, “then this isn’t going to end here.”
“Oh, no?” I kiss him back. “What did you have in mind?”
“I want to throw you over my shoulder, haul you upstairs and lock the door for a month.”
A husky laugh escapes me. “Thalia will only break the door down.”
He groans.
I wince, undulating against the cold stone floor. I swear there’s gravel rash on my ass but I have no regrets. “But why don’t we revisit the first part of that equation? Hmm? As grateful as I am to have you in my arms again, I’d much prefer the bed.”
Thiago laughs, kissing his way down my throat as he hauls me up into his lap. “As you wish, my love. It’s also much easier on the knees.”
“Whose knees?”
“We can discuss that upstairs,” he growls, wrapping the cloak around me and surging to his feet with me in his arms.
* * *
We collapseinto the sheets hours later, sweat-soaked and aching.
Every inch of me is marked with bites and bruises; the kind I demanded of him. I don’t want to let him go. I don’t want to close my eyes or leave this bed, just in case it all vanishes like a mirage.
The first sob catches me by surprise.
“Vi?” Arms curl around me, hauling me against his chest.
It’s been so long since I’ve lost myself in his arms. Making love to him has always been electric, butthis…. To know true safety, true happiness.
I don’t even know where these tears are coming from.
I bury my face in his throat, unable to stop my shoulders from shaking. “Don’t let go.”
Don’t ever let me go.
I can’t go through that ever again.
Thiago’s hand strokes through my hair, and then he kisses the slope of my shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere,” he whispers. “I promise once. I promise twice. I promise thrice. I’ll never leave you again.”
My tears burn. “I’m going to hold you to that promise,” I tell him, resting my head on his chest. The hypnotic beat of its heart soothes the ragged edges inside me.
And then, for the first time since the Black Keep, blissful, unbroken sleep beckons.
* * *
I wake sometimeduring the night, reaching for Thiago.
