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“And you are okay with that?” A tear slips from my cheek. “If we take a step forward, it could be our last.”
“A moment with you is worth the price I will pay.”
“Your darkness? What about that? Once we leave here, it’s going to come back.”
He stands and cups my cheek. “Please, Ember.”
Tears burn my eyes as I shut them, trying to think rationally. I want this. Desperately. I’ve made my stance known, even understanding the consequences. So why the hell am I so afraid of leaping now?
“Tell me to stop, and I will.” He raises a hand and trails a finger over my jaw, and I lean into his touch. It’s complete bliss, his finger caressing my skin. “You may be dying, but I am damned. A damned man who wants something so pure, so beautiful, even as I know the darkness in me will destroy it.”
“I’m not pure,” I tell him.
“You are the purest soul I have ever seen, Ember of Austin.”
I shiver at his finger trailing down my arm. Forcing my eyes open, I meet his. My body burns for him. My heart. Soul. They’ve belonged to Rafferty since the first moment I saw him in that dungeon. Reaching forward with shaking fingers, I touch his chest, and he lets out a breath, his lips parting, eyes closing.
I feel as though we’re a grenade, one moment away from an explosion, and so help me, I want desperately to pull the pin.
“I’m going to die, Rafferty,” I remind him again. Because if we do this, if we take this step, it has to be even as we both know the sacrifice that will be made.
He opens his eyes.
“Ember—”
“No,” I interrupt. “I’ve come to terms with it. Is it selfish of me, though, to want you even knowing that?” A tear slips from my eye.
“If it is, then I’m one hell of a selfish bastard.” He steals my lips in a dizzying kiss. Hands tangling in my hair, I wrap my arms around his shoulders and open beneath him. His tongue slips into my mouth, tenderly, gently, passionately, and I long for more.
For so much more.
My heart slams against my ribs as my hands begin to shake, my heart shattering and coming back together all at the same time.
He pulls back, and his fingers drift from my face down to my shoulders. His fingers burn my skin in the best possible way as he slowly moves the straps from my shoulders, and I close my eyes, terrified of what he’ll say when he sees what’s beneath the dress.
It flutters to the floor, and Rafferty sucks in a breath.
I expect him to give an excuse. To walk away.
Hell, I expect him to laugh. To cringe. To vomit.
What I don’t expect, though, is for his massive hands to go to my hips. I don’t expect him to run those hands up over my rib cage, or for him to kneel and press his lips to my abdomen. “Ember.”
I open my eyes to see him staring up as though I’m the most perfect thing in the world. “You don’t have to pretend,” I manage, though my throat burns with emotion. “It’s okay. I understand.”
“I don’t believe you do,” he replies, voice soft. “You are spectacular, Ember. Beyond beautiful. And I cannot wait to show you just how much I crave you. How much I’ve craved you since the moment I first saw you.”
The tears spring free, and I choke on a sob as he pulls me down to straddle him. The thin fabric of his pants is all that separates us as he presses his lips to my jaw, trailing them down over my neck, my shoulder.
His hand palms my breast, his thumb and finger gently rolling my nipple, and I lean my head back, muscles turning liquid as a soft moan leaves my lips. He leans forward and rests my back against the blanket then positions himself between my legs and draws my other nipple into his mouth.
I bury my hands in his hair, urging him to continue. My body turns liquid beneath his touch.
“Tell me to stop,” he whispers.
I reach down and cup his face, tilting him to look up at me. The rings around his irises are pulsating now, the dark magic trying to reach him even as the magic in the air prevents it. I lean forward and press my lips to his cheekbone. Then, I whisper, “No.”
The bands contract, and he takes my mouth as his hand trails lazily down my body until he reaches the apex of my thighs, and I buck against his hand, moaning into his mouth.
