Page 113 of Roses Are Dead
I swallowed.
“It should scare you, but it doesn’t scare me.” He slipped his hands around me to squeeze my ass again, then caress it. “Maybe I’m lying. Maybe I’m a fool. But you are perfect just the way you are. Don’t be frightened of that.”
Without thinking, I bent toward him. My hands tangled in his hair and my fingertips rubbed his scalp so I could pull his face close. “I’m yours.”
“So am I, sweetheart. We’ll own each other, okay?”
I nodded against his nose, relishing the feel of his skin against mine. Balancing against him, I slipped one knee, then the other onto the mattress until I straddled him.
He reached under me to retrieve the condom and get it placed before I lifted up so he could position at my entrance.
I sank down, feeling him stretch me wide. As turned on as I was, I was still lacking a little lubrication, and the movement sent a tiny twinge of pain, but I ignored it because even that felt exquisite.
Bear grunted as I tilted my hips to get him as deep as possible in this position.
“You’re killing me, Rose.” His breath came quickly, his eyes were shut tight.
I arched my back and used my thighs to work along his length. “I need you alive,” I whispered against his ear.
His eyes shot open. “I’ll show you alive.”
With a heave and a mighty lift, he flipped our positions. I was the one on the bottom, my back resting on the mattress and my hips and legs cradled in his grip. The flex of his body hammered into me with intense passion. I met him with every thrust and tense arch. My fingers clawed at his arms because I couldn’t break his grip. Nor did I want to. I wanted him to merge with me. To pound so hard that we fused as one.
My body was just a vessel for him to shatter against so our fires could merge as one flame.
“You. Are. Mine.” He thrust with each word, the strain in his voice making his neck muscles bulge and his skin red.
Then he seated deep.
I cried out. “Mine!” The orgasm broke free and the walls between us shattered as he pulsed into me and I gripped around him. My heart beat wildly and I breathed shallowly to lengthen the moment into a trancelike state where my spirit form slipped into that other realm that shadowed the real world.
Once there, I touched him. He was a being of red power, not quite flame, but an essence of something caught between forge and hammer. Glowing like a molten god.
My essence was ghostlike, lit with white blue, ethereal and as solid as smoke. Were there cracks I could find to slip inside? Could I give him a piece of myself to carry under that iron hide? Would I burn?
I didn’t care. I loved him. Trusted him. My lips met his in that world. He inhaled and I sent a tendril of life into his. He’d carry me with him until the end of time. Yet that piece clung to my conscious mind. Almost screaming that I’d abandoned it. I caressed his face. Take care of that piece. Don’t hurt m?—
His eyes snapped open, and I was in my body again.
The fear hung between us. “What did you…?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t tell him. He’d never believe me.
He glanced at our bodies, still interlocked. He smiled and slid free. “I’m beat.” He tapped my hip to get me to move to my side of the bed. Instead of joining me right away, he took care of the condom and brought a towel back from the bathroom. “Here. I’m going to crash for about a day or fucking three.” He face-planted onto the mattress, but still had enough energy to wrap a hand around my leg. His fingers loosening as he lost the battle with Morpheus.
I cleaned up and sat beside him.
That glowing god was just a man.
I stroked down his broad back. One hell of a man.
He fought battles daily. Maybe not always physically, but always dominating others. He would never be fully happy unless he was at the top of the food chain.
There were few others who could beat him physically. And he’d proven he was able to see beyond appearances and view the intent under the surface. He could sense magic. That was dangerous. Without the power to thwart it, it left him open to be exploited.
I gently laid my palm on his back, right between the shoulder blades. With it in place, I called to the piece of me I’d left. Grow. Glow. Protect. Keep him safe from those foes. Make him stronger. Give him my will and my intent, and most of all build the walls he needed to keep the spirit realm out.
I kissed him there to seal any openings I’d made through the connection.
