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“Then what were you talking about?”
He didn’t answer. He never did when it came to questions like that. I tried a different tack. “You once said that reapers make love by combining energies. Can we at least attempt something like that, if you’re so set against physical lovemaking right now?”
“We could.” He hesitated. “But I doubt it would be any wiser, and for even more reasons.”
“Damn it, Azriel, just this once, why don’t you forget reason? What the hell do you want?”
For a moment I thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he sighed and said, almost inaudibly, “You.”
And with that, he turned around, took me in his arms, and kissed me fiercely.
Chapter 5
There was nothing sweet about this kiss, nothing soft, because it was filled with all the hunger of a man in desperate need. I wrapped my arms around his neck and returned it in kind, and for what seemed like ages, there was nothing but the kiss and the desire that exploded between us.
When he finally pulled back, his eyes burned with a hunger deeper than anything I’d ever seen before. “Just so you know, reapers do not engage in kisses like that.”
“Well, they sure as hell should.”
He smiled, then caught my hand and led me toward the bed. “I agree that there is something rather satisfying about flesh-on-flesh contact, be it lips or something more intimate.”
“Something more intimate?” Amusement bubbled through me. “That’s a polite way of putting it, I guess.”
“I am nothing if not polite.” He released my hand and sat cross-legged on the bed, then motioned for me to do the same. “Press your knees against mine.”
“If a reaper’s idea of sex doesn’t involve more touching than this,” I commented, “I don’t think I’m going to like it very much. Especially given I’m naked and you’re not.”
“Trust me, our state of dress will not matter.” His smile creased the corners of his eyes and made my heart do a happy little dance. “And I am not entirely sure this will even work—although there is enough Aedh in you that it should—so behave.”
“I am yours to command.”
“If only.” Though his voice was bland, it held a hint of sadness that tugged at something deep inside. “Because you are still flesh based, we will have to take this slowly. Are you ready?”
I smiled. “You should know me well enough by now to guess that answer.”
“True.” A smile briefly lifted the corners of his mouth; then his expression became serious again. “Close your eyes and concentrate on nothing more than your breathing.”
“That hardly sounds like fun.”
“Stop talking and concentrate if you want to do this.” It was softly said, yet held a note of iron.
I shut up.
“Now,” he continued. “Let go of the awareness of all that is around you, until there is no sound, no scent, just you and every intake of breath.”
Meditate, in other words. I closed my eyes and concentrated on nothing more than breathing in and out. My heartbeat began to even out, and a sense of peace settled around me. As the minutes slid by, my breathing slowed further, until I was on the edge of an almost trancelike state.
“Feel,” he said, picking up my hand and placing it on his chest. His skin was warm under my fingertips, his heart a steady, strong drum. “The rhythm of my breath. Breathe in as I breathe out.”
My fingers rose with every movement of his chest, so even though I couldn’t hear his breathing, it was easy enough to set mine on a separate course to his.
“Now, feel my breath on your lips,” he continued softly. “Let it run across your tongue and into your body. Let it fill you, become you.”
Warm air teased my mouth. My lips parted and I drew it in, filling my throat with his taste and my lungs with the scent of him, until all I could feel and all I could sense was the energy of his presence. In me, around me.
“Open your eyes.”
I obeyed, and stepped into an ocean of blue. It was beautiful, that ocean, beautiful, but turbulent, and oh so powerful. My body began to tremble, not just with expectation and desire, but also fear. I was reaching for something I didn’t understand, and it was far more dangerous than even Azriel thought. My throat tightened, and the rhythm of my breathing momentarily faltered. His fingers came to rest on my chest, his touch warm, electric.
