She grabs my face, threads her fingers through my beard.
And kisses me with the force of an avalanche.
The sound he makes is pure animal.
His arms move around me, crushing me against him. So close I feel each rise and fall of his chest. Can hear the sturdy thump of his heart, his throaty rumbles making my abdomen grow tight and tingly.
The heaviness within me begins to loosen, replaced by a warmth that flares beneath my ribs, each tender shift of our mouths untangling me from the rage of fear. From the panic of thinking he was going to die this dae. That I was going to fail this beautiful male who gives so much more than he ever takes.
But he’s here. Safe.
Alive.
He moves his hands to the side of my face, prying us apart just enough to look me in the eyes—the famished devotion in hisruiningme. Because that look … It’s a fierce reminder that his words stand true.
That he values my life above his own and nothing I say or do will convince him otherwise. Not even my threat to wreck the world in his absence.
“Creators, you infuriate me.”
“Because youloveme,” he murmurs, the faintest smile pulling at his lips when I don’t agree.
Don’tdisagree.
He presses us together again, groans into my mouth as I thread my fingers through his beard and kiss him like he’s breath, becoming achingly aware that I’ve been suffocating since our lips last met. Starving myself of his robust scent; of the feel of his rough hands moving across my skin, kneading my softness. Like he’s checking to see I’m still real.
He grips the back of my thighs with a sturdy confidence that scatters my pulse, spreads my legs, and lifts me. Keeps our bodies fused as he strides toward the pallet and sits, my knees settling on either side of his lap.
And I feel him …there.Stone hard against my vulnerable core, igniting a heat that spreads through my ligaments like the warm roots of a tree.
Weavingdown.
I roll my hips, grinding our bodies together in deep sways that donothing to satiate the sensation, instead spurring it into a molten blaze. Not helped when he takes the weight of my breast and grazes his thumb across my pebbled nipple, sending a swarm of pleasure through my nerves.
I groan, head falling back, chest pushing forward.
A silent beg formore.
He drops his head and dapples kisses across my clavicle, over the swell of my breast, his warm breath moving through the thin material covering me.
Anagonizingtease.
“This damn shirt,” I groan, ripping it open. Buttons pop as I spill free, urging him forward again.
He makes a deep throaty sound and takes my nipple in his mouth, working it into a tighter peak. Muddying my thoughts into a delirious churn with each luscious swirl of his tongue.
“Watching you row that fucking boat toward those jingling bells almost broke me,” I blurt, the words spilling without buffer—raw and unchecked. “I don’teverwant to feel that way again.”
“I know,” he rumbles against my breast, trailing kisses up the line of my throat, just behind my ear. “I know, Moonbeam.”
Not a promise.
Not a blunt rebuttal.
Just soft understanding to absorb my blow, something that pumps me full of ragingneed.
My muscles tighten, tendons stretching. I clash against him, kissing him with all the fear and anger exploding beneath my skin, that spot between my legs now throbbing with a destructive ache. Like a flame about to burn the world to bits if it’s not extinguished.
“And that fuckingrune,” I snarl, reaching between us to rip at the fastenings on my pants. Catching his hand, I urge himdown—edging up just enough to allow him better access to push past my undergarments.
