And still, he is the most breathtaking man I have ever laid eyes on, and I am straddling his hips while we rock gently in the night.
“I shouldn’t have come,” I whisper, chest tight with the realization that I royally fucked up.
His big, rough hands drift along my waist, frame my ribs. His thumbs arch along the underside of my breasts. “You belong here.”
My hands drop to his chest. My fingers curl around the braided roots as I arch my spine. Offer him my chest. The hard points aching for his touch.
“I can’t stay,” I tell him, and expect an argument.
But his head cocks like he’s listening to something in the distance. Eyes, polished pits of black glass, fix me to my spot without judgment. Without anger or impatience. He simply and quietly processes my confession.
“Tell me why,” he says at last.
His thumbs sweep over my nipples. His cock thickens against my walls. Growing all over again. This definitely isn’t going the way it’s supposed to. I’m not supposed to want to snuggle into him and let him stay inside me forever.
But he smells so good.
So familiar and safe.
It’s such a powerful musk of earth and man, and that warmth of a lazy Sunday in bed. It’s making it impossible to think straight.
“I have to return to my parents.”
The undertones of orchards fill my senses. My head. I’m dizzy with the faint kiss of grapes, warm under the sun, and baked earth.
“Rina.” He straightens and winds his arms across my back. I’m drawn to him. “Tell me why, my love.”
This close, our every breath tangles together. Our noses bump. His eyes are infinite and so deep, I’m drowning.
“I can’t leave them.” I rock my hips up and over him. The knot keeps him locked in place, but the pull and friction is enough to make me catch my breath. “They need me.”
He lets me ride him. Lets me close my eyes and feel him fill all the places he belongs. His face drops to the hollow of my throat and his lips graze the vein pattering to his heartbeat.
“Let them go, my love,” he says gently at long last. “They are in a place you can no longer be.” His teeth scratch the skin and I shiver. “Your place is here. You know it is.” It’s true and I know it’s true, but desperation has me peering into his eyes with tears in mine and heartbreak in his sigh. “You are already gonefor them, Rina. By morning, they will be mourning their loss. Returning will do nothing but cause you both more grief.”
“Is there no more time?” I ask, remembering Ciaran’s comment about time working differently between the worlds. “Am I too late?”
He cradles my face. “You are not, but please reconsider. I cannot go with you and if you don’t return in time, you will be gone forever.”
“I need to say goodbye.” My voice cracks. “Please, just let me say goodbye. I promise I’ll come back.”
It’s as if my heartbreak is his, the way he watches me. His answer is all the seconds he doesn’t answer.
“I would give you anything—”
“Then give me this. Please! Please don’t keep me here without letting me see them one last time.” Tears well and spill hot down my cheeks. They burn with grief and the pain lodged in my chest. “My dad is sick. If I don’t come home, he’ll...” I can’t even bring myself to say it. “I’m begging you. Please. Just let me explain—”
“You can’t, my heart.”
A sob cuts through my chest and I shove him. I hadn’t meant to. But he accepts the attack silently.
He takes every ounce of my agony without a word. And when I can’t anymore through the heaving wails, he gathers me up in his arms and bundles me to him. He pulls me tight to his chest and smooths his hands down my spine. Through my hair.
“Please,” I keep begging in between hiccups. “For just a second. I promise. I swear, I’ll give you anything you want.”
“I can’t.”
I lift my head and search the mournful lines of his face.
