Page 56 of Secrets of Ruin

She belonged with this man, and only she could ease him. He would never ask her for it, never push her into something she wasn’t ready for, but while a part of her remained raw and ragged, the rest thrummed with growing excitement.

Releasing his face, she gripped her skirt and pulled the dress over her head. She wore nothing underneath, which was the way she preferred to be when she wasn’t fighting for her life.

Brokk still wouldn’t look at her, but he’d figure it out soon enough. Stepping closer, she rested her fingers on his chest and inwardly wept when he flinched.

“I should go.” His fangs distorted his voice as the muscles in his neck stood out.

Rising onto her toes, she kissed his neck. “Don’t leave me.”

When his eyes flew open, she wasn’t surprised by the vivid red depths staring back at her. They burned brighter when they flashed over her naked body; she almost groaned when his thick shaft jumped against her belly.

“You. Are. Not. Ready.” His words came out clipped and angry.

“I’ll be the one to decide that.” He stepped away, but she wouldn’t let him leave. “You’re not the only one who needs this.”

“Too. Soon.”

Every word sounded like it was being pulled from him as they grated out between his teeth. She kissed his cheek again and then his lips while she waited for him to give in, but the stubborn man remained unmoving.

Kaylia stepped away as she formulated a new plan. “If you won’t give me what I want, then I will.”

His eyebrows drew together in confusion as she stepped away and walked back toward the pool. On the other side of the crystalline water was a mossy bank.

Stepping into the water, she sighed when its pulse of life flooded her system and sent a current of power through her. It felt fantastic when she was wearing her dress, but naked—as she much preferred to be in nature—it filled her with its potency.

Her nipples hardened, and desire grew within her as an ache spread between her legs. She was coming alive again, and she relished it.

Kaylia waded through the knee-high water to the other side. She sat on the spongy ground and scooted back to lean against one of the trees while keeping her toes in the water.

Brokk remained rigid on the other side of the small pool; his red eyes fastened on her as she swirled her feet around the water. She took it as a good sign that he hadn’t left yet, and his attention remained riveted on her.

Closing her eyes, Kaylia absorbed the magic of the water and land beneath her. The pulse of it crawling through her reminded her of the time in Doomed Valley when she was near the riverbank, basking in its powerful life force and aroused for the first time in centuries.

Then, she’d denied herself release, but she wouldn’t now as the world flooded her with its energy, and she was determined to show Brokk she was ready. She was far from healed, but she was even further from broken.

The revelation of the potion rattled her confidence, but she was still her… more so now than a week ago because Fabian’s hold on her had broken. As the energy of the trees, earth, and water pulsed around her, her body awakened again.

Unable to stop herself, she trailed her fingers down between her breasts and over her belly. Everywhere she touched, her body tingled with a need that had been buried beneath the onslaught of her distress and grief.

That need transformed into a demanding beast that refused to be left unsatisfied. When she slid her hand between her legs and grasped her breasts, she gasped.

Closing her eyes, she imagined her hand was Brokk’s as it moved between her thighs. “Brokk,” she whimpered.

She could bring herself to release and enjoy it, but she’d far prefer to have him touching her.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

He should turn and walk away, but his feet remained planted in place while he watched Kaylia. When her legs parted and she moaned his name, every part of him became a divining rod, and she was the one it sought.

Even if he’d wanted to, he couldn’t stop himself as he pulled off his boots and clothes.

I won’t hurt her. I won’t.

Those words became a mantra as he waded into the water and crossed toward the beautiful woman whose back arched as her breaths came faster.

“If you won’t give me what I want, then I will.”

Her words returned to him as he waded into the middle of the pool. It would not be her.