Page 22 of Bound By Fire and Magic
After drying off, she wrapped herself in a silk robe. She dug through the bathroom cabinet and found the cream she always used on bruises and scrapes. Concocted by Nana, it was an amazing mix of herbs and magick and not nearly as disgusting as Earthen. Elle went down the hall to the guest room and knocked.
“Come in.”
His voice was muffled. She saw why when she opened the door. He was lying face down on the bed, still damp from his shower. Droplets dotted his broad back and pooled in the indent of his spine, but it was the swath of raw-looking skin that riveted her attention.
He turned his head at her soft intake of breath. “Sorry; should have warned you I was naked.”
“No, it’s…your back.”
“Looks worse than it feels.”
She walked in. “Then why aren’t you lying on it?”
“All right, it hurts like a bitch. Fighting mostly naked ranks right under frying fish naked. Bad idea. I’m not used to fighting in human form.”
She held up the jar. “I’ve got some cream that might help.”
“You’re an angel. Throw a sheet over my bare ass, would you? Don’t want to be immodest.”
“I don’t care.” She let her gaze drift down to his narrow hips and tight behind. Okay, she cared. She had touched this body many times, reveling in the fact that this gorgeous man was hers. That he wanted her, only her. His golden complexion glowed in the light. His arms were bent, hands beneath his head, flexing his biceps. She focused on opening the jar before he noticed her ogling his body.
“Will it hurt?” he asked, though he didn’t sound worried.
“Oh, it’ll be painful.” To touch him and not touch him. “But nothing you can’t handle.”
As she lathered on the cream, she thought about his claim that wanting her was more than just the sex. Was he telling the truth? She could use her ability to sense him and find out. First, she had to get him thinking about it. She smoothed her fingers down his back. His muscles stiffened and then relaxed. The redness of the scrapes lessened within seconds.
“When you said you still dreamed about me…did you mean that?”
“I’ve never lied to you about how I feel, Elle.”
She laid her hand on his back and closed her eyes. Images buffeted her, and she had to hold back a sharp inhale and the way her body jerked. She saw herself in his eyes, beautiful and perfect. And now, right now, she felt how her touch coursed through his body with pleasure and painful longing all at once.
He grabbed her hand and turned over. “You were reading me, weren’t you?” He didn’t look angry, more like curious.
She wanted to deny it, but couldn’t after what he’d said about honesty. “Yes.” She released a breath. “I needed to know if you felt it, too, if it hurt so bad when we were apart that it was like being gutted, and then if seeing me again was like some part of you could breathe for the first time in months.”
Okay, maybe I’d been too honest there.
He pulled her down and kissed her fiercely, hungrily. She let herself just feel, getting lost in him. No one had ever loved her the way Kirin had. She ran her hands up his arms, over his shoulders, and across his chest.
“I dreamed about you, too,” she said between kisses. Waking up in a sweat from a dream so vivid she could still feel his hands on her body and the throbbing between her legs. And now his hands were on her for real, touching her, sliding beneath her silky robe and up her thigh.
She wanted to feel him, all of him. She untied the sash of her robe and let it slip from her shoulders. He drank her in with heavy green eyes.
He ran his hands over the curves of her breasts, making her suck in a breath. Her body ached for him, remembering his touch and the way he fit so perfectly and filled her so completely. His soft hair brushed her chin as he dipped his tongue in the hollow at her throat, and then he moved lower. When his mouth closed over her nipple, she arched and tightened her fingers on his shoulders.
Even without his Dragon energy, he engulfed her with his presence. The Dragon’s essence heated his body and lent a primal urgency to his lovemaking. She had always felt the beast just beneath the surface, ready to break out of his control. Now, he was all Kirin, naked in a way that transcended the physical.
Still, she sensed that same passion and sensuality.
His hand skimmed her waist, then went around to her backside and pulled her flush against him. He touched and kissed her everywhere, as though he couldn’t get enough. “God, this burning need to touch you, possess you.” His mouth moved over her throat, kissing her jawline and then claiming her mouth. “I could never get enough of you, Elle. I always wanted more and more and more.”
She dragged her fingers through his hair. “I know what you mean.” The power of his words ignited the memory of feeling sated and yet still wanting more, pushing their exhausted bodies because their souls couldn’t get enough. “Why, Kirin? Why is it like this with us?”
He pressed his forehead against hers, his mouth so close she felt his breath on her lips. “Because our souls crave each other. As bad as it feels to have my Dragon torn out of me, having you torn out of my life was just as gut-wrenching. When you read me just now, could you feel how being apart from you ripped me up, left me in pieces?”
She nodded, feeling hot tears sting her eyes. She pulled his mouth to hers, needing him to consume her now. Magick tingled across her skin and shot down her fingers as she ran her hands down his back.
