Page 9 of Reign of Light
The breath catches in my throat as I lift my hand and set it on his chest, feeling the pounding of his heart beneath my fingertips.
“I’m right here.”
In barely a blink, his hands find my face, tipping my head back as his lips crush mine. It isn’t hurried or frenzied like it was before. Instead, he soaks up each movement, like he needs the caress just as much as I do.
I revel in the feel of his hands on my skin, hands that used to reach out even when I didn’t want them anywhere near me. Since the moment I told him he could have me, that I didn’t care about our titles back home, and that I only wanted him, he hasn’t hesitated to touch me, to pull me in close, to make sure I was there and safe beside him. My body almost falters when the realization hits, and a deep sadness washes over me.
His touch. It’s the way he shows he cares. The first time I came back from a shift, his hands were on me without hesitation, searching for any injuries, the same way they had in the infirmary. I noticed every time he was holding himself back, following my wishes after telling him to keep his hands off me, but he wanted to. My heart breaks as I think about what it meant for him to be unable to touch me or to have anyone that he could. Weston has been starved of physical connection for so many years. He clearly craves it, and I know it’s exactly what he means when he says he needs me.
He needs to feel, to hold, to know he isn’t alone, and I won’t deprive him anymore.
With a gentle nudge, he walks me backward across the room, and my fingers grip the leather of his vest to steady myself. His lips never leave mine until his tongue parts my mouth, and his strokes deepen the kiss. He guides me through the room, and my breaths shorten as flutters low in my abdomen urge me to grip him tighter. The back of my legs hit the bed, and I break the kiss to look down at the laces of my vest and tug at the knots he tied so snugly earlier.
His hands wrap firmly around my wrists, lowering them gently away from the laces. My head snaps to his and tilts slightly, confusion written all over my face. Did I misread his intentions? His needs? His desires?
“No.” He drops my arms to my sides, and I stare into his darkened eyes as he reaches for the vest, his fingers twirling around the ties. “I’ll do it.”
My heart pounds in my ears, the same beating rhythm mimicked between my thighs as he pulls the long cord slowly. His fingers weave through the crossed threads, and he tugs until they loosen in his hands. The dark leather falls to the ground, only to make my heaving breaths more obvious as his gaze sets fire to my skin. It’s met with his fingertips a moment later, the spark of fire beginning to blaze along with flutters of anticipation between my thighs as he grips my shoulders. Rough calluses slide across my skin as his hands trail down before palming my breasts, and my nipples peak beneath them.
He’s taking his time, and it takes all my focus to keep myself from reaching out, and hurrying him along, wanting to feel him beneath the fabric of my now stifling clothes.
My lip catches between my teeth when he reaches the waistband, his fingers working to bunch up the fabric. He tugs gently, fisting it in his hands and lifting, and I take the silent direction. I raise my arms over my head, and it’s gone in a moment, followed by the sound of it hitting the ground somewhere across the room.
Weston’s eyes won’t meet mine, instead staying focused on his next task. They slide over my bare skin, and he moves faster, as if the sight of it has fueled his desire and increased his impatience. Thumbs hooked into the waistband of my pants, he tugs them down, leaving me in nothing but my undergarments and the prickle of goosebumps across my body.
His vest is untied and off, and buttons pop and bounce across the floor as he rips his shirt from his body, not caring at all about ruining it. He tosses it away with mine before I can even register how quickly he’s moving. In the next moment he drops to his knees, lifting my feet one by one to pull off my boots and untangle the pants from around my ankles. Firm hands wrap around my hips, and he tugs me closer. I almost stumble when my body jerks forward, but he steadies me, and tucks his chin, pressing his forehead into the flesh of my stomach.
Thick, corded arms encircle me, and the muscles ripple as he squeezes tightly, pressing his face deeper into my abdomen. When his shoulders heave with a shuddering breath, I feel a pang in my chest.
Fuck it. I can’t keep from touching him any longer.
My nails find his scalp, and I run my fingers through his hair, over and over again, massaging and soothing until he lets out a low groan and squeezes me even tighter. I slide my fingers down the sides of his face, and his beard prickles my palms as I tilt his head back so I can look into his eyes.
He rests his chin on my stomach and stares back at me. There are no tears, but the normally bright and challenging teal eyes that brought me to life are now filled with sorrow.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him hopeless.
Even when he hovered above me, begging me to breathe, he didn’t look as hopeless as he does in this moment. An ache courses through my body, and I feel like I could crumble under the weight of his pain, but I don’t.
He’s held strong for years. Now, he can let go, and I will be the strength he needs.
I trace my thumb over one of his eyebrows, smoothing away the bunched muscles and watching as they flatten. His eyelids fall closed in a slow blink before rising again, his gaze locked on mine. I push my hand into his hair, dragging it through the strands until my fingers slide down his cheek.
“I know,” I murmur, offering him the same words of acceptance he offered me, giving him the same silent permission to let go.
His eyes darken as he lowers his chin, his stubble scraping down the skin of my abdomen, only to be soothed a moment later by the brush of his lips. Kisses pepper my stomach as he presses his face into me, weaving his way across my body, until he settles on the sensitive skin just below my hip. He presses a deep kiss there, sucking the skin gently into his mouth, and the throbbing between my thighs intensifies.
His arms unwind, and his hands meet at the top of the lace below his chin. A gasp rips from my throat as his shoulders flex, and the fabric tears through the center, falling to my feet and leaving me bare before him.
Frenzied fingertips press into my hips as his lips finally release me, only to guide me back to sit on the edge of the bed. Weston remains on his knees, walking on them toward me, his eyes trailing over my entire body before falling to my lap.
“Open up for me, beautiful.” The growl of his voice breaks the silence in the room and makes my skin heat, but his words make my chest swell. His hands skate slowly up my calves, my thighs, then back down again, my skin tingling in his wake, before his palms settle on the inside of my knees. He slowly pushes my thighs apart, exposing every bare trace of me to him, and his focus is on me alone. I squirm under his gaze, the heat in his stare giving me an idea of everything he plans to do to me. As if he can’t hold himself back any longer, his face falls to my core, his tongue starting its tantalizing assault, and I cry out at the explosion of pleasure that licks up my spine.
He growls against me at the sound, the vibration causing me to whimper as my fingers fist the bedding on either side of me. His tongue swirls through me, the speed increasing as he laps up my excitement.
“You taste…” A low growl rumbles again, and my head falls back, my eyes screwed shut as my legs shake beneath his palms. He lifts away, and my eyes fly open, staring down at him, wondering why he stopped, but I only find desire in his gaze. Stubble scrapes against the sensitive skin of my thigh as he nuzzles me with his chin and cheek before lowering his mouth just above me again.
His face darkens, and I get a glimmer of the Weston I saw back in the cabin, the one who threatened Dane, who put himself at risk to protect me. It makes my breath catch as he stares up at me, a predator who is claiming his prey.
