Page 91 of Edge of Darkness (Night Prowler 4)
White fire and aching, breathlessness, heartbeats pounding against chests. She ran her hands down his back, loving the flex of his muscles, the softness of and heat of his skin, and cupped his hard ass, pulling him deeper inside as he thrust into her. He dug his fingers into her hair and held her head in place, staring down at her as his breath came harder and more uneven, little groans working from his throat.
The world shrunk to the few short inches between their faces. Christian whispered her name.
It was the way he said it that finally pushed her over the edge. The urgent, desperate plea was both tender and rough; it made her feel wild and delirious. Combined with the expression on his face—astonishment, rapture, stark worship beyond the primal pleasure—it made her feel beautiful.
It made her feel loved.
The orgasm that ripped through her was so hard she couldn’t even make a noise. She arched against him, mouth open in a silent scream, eyes clenched shut, the pulsing throb in her core so glorious and enc
ompassing she could only cling to him wordlessly as he continued to pump inside her. He lowered his head and took her nipple in his mouth, sucking hard, and she jerked against him, her throat finally opening to let out a sob.
“Yes, baby.” His teeth and hot, wet mouth drove another cry from her throat as he suckled her. “Make noise for me. Let me hear you come.”
She moaned, loud and wanton, clawing at his back.
He shuddered, his entire body tensed. “Oh God,” he said in a gasped whisper. “Ember—I’m coming, too—angel—”
She opened her eyes, locked her gaze to his and panted, “Yes, Christian…now…give it to me. Give it all to me now!”
Her words drove him wild. Hard and uncontrolled, he crashed into her, pounding deep, groaning, all his muscles in his body flexed and rippling. She clenched her thighs around him harder, digging her fingers into his back, moaning louder with every furious thrust of his hips.
Then, with a strangled groan, he faltered. He pumped deep. Once, twice. He gasped her name and came inside her. She felt it—throbbing, twitching, a spreading heat—then he collapsed on top of her with a gusted exhalation and crushed her against his chest.
They lay fused together for long, silent minutes, letting their heartbeats slow, catching their breath, both of them wracked by the occasional spasm, sated and flushed.
Christian inhaled a slow, deep breath against her throat. Then he roused and slowly nuzzled her neck, rubbing his face into her skin, her hair, the space between her throat and shoulder.
Without withdrawing from her body, he shifted and moved slightly lower to rub his face against her breasts.
He did it slowly, with an almost reverent solemnity, dragging his face one way and then the other across her chest, down her ribs, back up to her neck and shoulders, caressing her with his lips and hands, the slight stubble on his jaw tickling her over-sensitive skin. All his wild tension and that edge of raw danger seemed to be gone, replaced by sweet, possessive tenderness.
“What are you doing?” she whispered, stroking her fingers through his hair as he lifted one of her arms and rubbed his face against her bicep, burrowing into her armpit with his nose.
“Marking you.” She thought for a moment she’d misheard him, but he lifted his head and gazed at her, his eyes heavy-lidded and warm. “With my scent.”
Her lips parted, but there didn’t seem to be a correct response to that.
“Because you’re mine,” he softly explained, seeing her bewilderment. “And I’m yours. And the animal inside me is yours. No matter what happens from now on, Ember, that will never change—I want you to remember that.” His eyes grew soft, and he almost looked haunted. “Come what may.”
For a blind, breathless second, she was consumed by panic. “Why does that sound like a good-bye?” she whispered, searching his face.
He smiled, a charming, lopsided quirk of his lips. “I just told you I’m bonded to you, and you take it as a goodbye?”
His smile loosened the knot in her chest and she breathed a little easier. She lifted her hand to stroke his cheek. “Bonded?”
Still buried inside her, his weight heavy and wonderful on top of her, he cradled her face in his hands and said, “It’s the way of my kind. Like swallows and swans, we mate for life. For us, love creates a mark. A fingerprint, if you will, except on the soul. Something is changed inside of us. The bond between two mates is sacred; even attempting to interfere with it is a crime punishable by death. There’s no divorce, no affairs, nothing at all that can separate a bonded Ikati from his mate. Not even death.”
The knot in her chest reappeared. Another one formed in her stomach. Her eyes filled with tears and she whispered his name.
His voice both soft and firm, he said, “I’m going to take care of you for the rest of your life, I want you to be very clear about that. You are the most precious thing I’ve ever known. And you’ve given me the most amazing gift, one I’ll always treasure.”
She stared at him, her heart clenched inside her chest, the hand on his face trembling.
Eyes shining, he murmured, “You make me feel free.”
This time she couldn’t even whisper his name, the emotion was so intense. So overwhelming.
“My entire life I’ve been constrained, restricted, forced to follow rules I didn’t create and never wanted to obey. But I did. I had no choice. Until I met you, and you made me realize I do have a choice. There was always a choice. I just never had anything valuable enough to risk my neck for. And because you’ve given me all that you have, I’m going to ensure that you never again have to worry about money, or the future, or anything at all.”
