She didn’t need to be told to spread her legs or perk her backside in the air. She did it with an eager growl. A demand that he take what he needed because she intended to do the same. She arched her back even more and pressed her cheek against the fur. Urged him on. Dared him to do what he really wanted to do.
Challenge accepted, he grabbed her hips and thrust deep. Took her rough. Hard. The way every part of him craved. Not to see her in pain but to watch her do what she did. Squirm. Tempt. Want more. So he gave more. Thrust near violently. He enjoyed her strangled groans of pleasure, desperate to hear more.
And she did not let him down.
The more he took, the harder they released together, the more he seemed to remember. From the feeling of taking her young body for the first time to all the little moments they shared afterward. It was after the third time taking her from behind, then pulling her into his arms thatsheasked forhisforgiveness.
“What for?” he managed, damn satisfied but still wanting more. The weather might have calmed, but not how much he desired her. How much both he and his inner beast wanted her over and over again.
“I don’t know.” Tears brimmed in her eyes when she looked at him. She shook her head. “I don’t know, only that I did something....”
When she trailed off, too choked up to go on, he held her close and stroked her hair. Soothed her the best he could. “Whatever it is, you did it for the greater good. You’re incapable of doing anything else.”
“So you hope.”
“So I know.” He tilted her chin until their gazes were aligned. “You felt what I realized while we were being intimate. You know exactly what your soul is made of.”
“Tons of negative energy.” Raven shook her head. “It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t mine in the beginning. It’s mine now.” She hesitated but refrained from holding back. “And I like it, Tor. I’ve always enjoyed my darker side.”
“Of course you have.” He trailed the pad of his thumb down her neck. “How could you not enjoy a piece of me, Revna and Cian? The souls you helped?” He put a finger to her lips when she went to deny him. “And you enjoy the piece of yourself willing to take on that negativity. That darkness. Because, believe it or not, the goodness of the act is still there.” He pressed his hand to her heart. “You enjoy your good deeds as you should. They have, in their own way, kept you going.”
“That makes me sound sort of self-centered.”
“And there’s nothing wrong with that if you did good.” He brushed his lips over hers. “And no matter what happened, no matter what we’ve yet to remember, youdiddo good.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I know these things.” Tor shook his head. “I’ve spent my entire life helping spirits, and trust me, they weren’t all good.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Dragon mediums can sense that kind of thing.”
“Can they now?” she murmured, growing distracted by his wandering hand. “You sound so convinced.”
“Because I am.” He flicked his tongue over her lips before he made his way down her body once again, enjoying all the smooth planes and curves at his disposal. Enjoying the flaming heat of her hot skin against his tongue. Her mesmerizing dragon sheen beneath his fingers.
“Yes,” she groaned before she dug her hands into his hair and steered him back up. “No.” She licked her lips, rolled him onto his back, and straddled him. “We should talk first. Just...talk.”
The hot, moist feel of her center against his cock said otherwise.
“About what?” He was in no mood to talk but understood. She didn’t want this to be just physical but more. Which it was. Always had been. They had been talking their whole lives. They just didn't remember the conversations yet.
“I want to talk about everything.” She trailed her fingers down his neck and chest, unquestionably breaking down her own resolve against more intimacy. “I feel like there’s still so much unsaid. So much time to make up for.”
“Because there is.” He ran his hands over her soft, slender thighs, stopping just shy of where he knew she liked being touched best. “And we have our whole life to catch up.” He kept his gaze with hers, never more serious. “Then the life after that and the life after that then every one until the end of time if you’ll have me.”
He didn’t need to see it to feel her response. Her throat had thickened. It had become impossible to respond. Impossible to do anything but nod and hope. Nod because she wanted the same. Hope because she feared they wouldn’t find that end. The enemy would stop them first.
“She won’t,” he swore. “Not as long as I’m alive.”
When she responded with another nod, and a tear rolled down her cheek, he decided maybe itwasbest to talk now. To offer her as much reassurance as he could. So they chatted for hours about everything. He shared his childhood with her, not surprised when she remembered little things along the way.
“You were always so comfortable with your gift,” she said at one point. “And people sensed that about you. Liked how level you were despite what you faced daily. How many souls you must have helped transition.”
“Comfortable because of you,” he divulged. “I imagine you not only helped me survive but eased my path into becoming a medium. Not just with what you gave to me but because you were around so often from the beginning.”
“A ghost who helped make you more comfortable around other ghosts,” she surmised.
“Ja.” He smiled. “You would have shown me from the start how good spirits could be.”
“Yet according to what you told everyone here, you couldn’t remember what the girl who haunted you looked like,” she reminded. “Nor did you tell them how good I was.”
