“I want to take it slow tonight,” he said tenderly. His tongue flicked over my nipple, and he groaned when my chest pushed into him for more. “I’m going to stretch out every hour with you. It seems there’s no rest for the wicked since you’re adamant that we can’t stay here for a few more days.”
“It’s a race out there. For dragons and for key pieces.”
“You’re right. Though a part of me still wants to convince you to watch the world burn with me, because I’d still have everything. I’d have you.”
It was then, in his beautiful words and unwavering devotion, that I knew no matter what wounded my heart it would always be healed. As long as I could find him, I would never be lost. I was made of many fractured parts, but Nyte was all the light and darkness between the cracks which held me together. That made something broken feel stronger than ever before.
I kissed him deeply. The kind of kiss that warmed and tangled in our souls.
When we broke apart, our faces stayed close, and I traced my finger idly over his scar across his cheek. The one I’d carved on him during a time I thought he’d betrayed me. It was always in the most perfect moments that vulnerability clawed within. Recalling the chaos we’d escaped from at the temple, a new fear had been unsettling me.
“When you found me—when I wasLightsdeath—I didn’t know who you were. I remember it all now, but at the time… your soul was so dark all I wanted to do wasreap it.I don’t ever want to look at you and not remember who you are, and I’m scared I don’t know how to control this new power inside me.”
Despite my confession, Nyte didn’t appear the least bit concerned.
“I know,” he said thoughtfully, playing with the wet lengths of my hair. “We’ve been through this before with Nightsdeath, and you never left me. I’m never leaving you, even when you want to kill me.”
His lips twitched in humor, and it released the tension from my body.
“I need to learn to control it. With all we’ll face, Lightsdeath is going to surface, and I don’t want to be afraid; I don’t want it to be a curse. I want to use this power.”
“Good. We’ll practice every moment we can on our journey.”
He kissed my arm, my chest; Nyte was so relaxed and unafraid that it was contagious.
Then something disturbed him. “I can’t apologize enough for what you suffered because of me.”
I was confused for a moment before I realized what he meant.
“Nightsdeath isn’t you.”
“You’re wrong.”
“No. We are not our worst selves. There is so much good in you, Rainyte.”
“For you. But if you left me again… I wouldn’t just watch the world self-destruct, I would collapse it myself. If I’m poison, you’re the antidote. If I’m fire, you’re water. I am completely destructive without you. That has not changed.”
I contemplated his words. “If I’m the star, you’re the night. If I’m the rose, you’re the vine. I’m completely lost without you. So I think it’s in everyone’s best interest that we win this war together.”
Nyte’s smile was so endearing it hurt before he kissed me softly. My fingers threaded through his hair and tightened, my mouth opened for the sweep of his tongue. I moaned lightly in the breaths that shorted between us.
When my hips next rocked forward, his cock lined up perfectly to sink into me unexpectedly when I eased back. I couldn’t stop the noise that left me then, breaking our kiss suddenly.
Nyte reprimanded me with his teeth pinching my nipple, which had the opposite effect.
“I wish we were alone so you could scream for me,” Nyte said, voice gravely with lust.
Neither of us moved with him seated and fully inside me. Nyte’s fingers reached for the tangled wet hair over my shoulder, pushing it behind me so I could marvel at his bite.
“So beautiful,” he said. “I missed you so fucking much.”
I started lifting my hips, which sloshed the water around us, close to spilling over the edge.
“I want to fuck you, but we’ll flood the place if we stay in here,” Nyte said.
I gasped, clamping around him tightly when he stood with me from the tub.
“We’ll soak the sheets,” I protested in a near squeal when he was about to drop me, my skin dripping wet, onto the bed.
