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“Hey.” I braced my elbows on my thighs, looking up at her. Even exhausted and crippled with grief, Grace was so fucking beautiful that it hurt to look at her sometimes. Before, it was because I thought it was a trap. Now, it was because I knew I’d been wrong.
No matter what else we had going on, I was still frustrated with myself for not trusting the connection between me and Grace right away. For wasting even a millisecond of the time we could have spent bonded. The time we’d never get back.
For a long moment, Grace and I stared at each other, an unspoken conversation passing between us. There was a stirring in my chest that was rapidly moving lower, and even though the circumstances were awful, we were both alone, each covered in flimsy bits of material with nothing underneath.
“Is it wrong?” Grace whispered.
She didn’t need to elaborate. I knew exactly what she was talking about.
I extended my hand, encouraging her to come closer. She took a step into the room, slipping her palm into mine slowly, as though she was savoring the very act of touching me.
“We’re all pretty different, your soul bonds,” I murmured. “Different from other daimons, but different from each other too. I’d rather sell my soul to the gods of the underworld than go to a Broadway show like Bullet.” Grace’s lips twitched. “The only thing I’d enjoy less would be jumping in the ring at Wild’s underground fight club.” At that, I got a full-bodied smile, and I committed it to memory.One every day, just like I’d promised Bullet.“Riot and I are probably the most similar, though he’s more antisocial than I am. But one thing I’ve learned is that nothing is more important to all of us than making you happy, Grace. Making you smile, making you feel safe and comforted andloved.”
Tears welled in Grace’s eyes, and without the bond, I had no idea if they were the lovey-dovey kind or if I was traumatizing her.
“So, no. I don’t think it’s wrong for us to make love to one another right now. For us to hold each other close and cherish each other while we can. It doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten the others—we both know you haven’t, that you never could.”
“Never,” Grace agreed weakly, as she clambered onto me. She didn’t so much climb onto my lap asmeltonto it, draping her arms over my shoulders and resting her forehead against mine.
“Just so long as we both remember that this might not… fix things.”
“I know.” Grace closed her eyes for a long moment before opening them again. “I know the bond is gone.”
I nodded once before wrapping a hand around the back of her head and dragging her mouth to mine for a long, slow kiss. Her hands slid down to my chest, nails digging into my flesh slightly as she held onto me like I’d disappear if she didn’t.
My fingers flexed against the back of her neck, pinning her in place as my other hand slipped between our bodies to unbelt the robe, pushing it out of the way. There was no self-consciousness this time as I stroked Grace’s skin, softly kneading one breast before taking a nipple between my fingers and teasing it to a hardened bud.
“Dare,” Grace whispered, rocking her hips slowly, trying to get closer. “I need…”
“I know.”
I traced her curves, running my fingers over the soft skin of her stomach before slipping my hand between her legs. Grace was waiting for me, angling her hips and grinding down on my palm without any guidance from me. I slid my middle finger in her pussy, pumping lightly before dragging her wetness up to stimulate her clit.
Grace let out a keening gasp, tipping her head back and circling her hips, bearing down for more pressure. The firelight danced across her golden brown skin, long wet hair swaying side-to-side with each movement.
I could watch Grace come all day.
I kept going, prolonging her pleasure as long as I could. On a different day, in a peaceful time when we were both filled with joy and not worry, I’d lean back right now. I’d drag Grace down with me and encourage her to crawl up my body and sit on my face so I could lick her pussy until she begged for a break. But today was not that day, and while there was pleasure in what we were doing, it wasn’tforpleasure.
This was about connection. Love. Holding each other tightly when it felt like everyone and everything was conspiring to rip us apart.
“Towel,” Grace mumbled, fumbling between us to undo the fabric at my waist. I shifted my hips, helping her out until there were no barriers between us before guiding her forward, gripping my shaft and notching it at her entrance.
“I know not to hope for it,” Grace whispered, slowly sliding down, feeling like fuckingperfectionaround me. “I know the bond has been destroyed.”
I wrapped an arm around her waist, gently guiding her movements while I thrust into her from below. “We’re mortal, Grace. We hope.”
She braced her hands on my shoulders as we found our rhythm, pulling each other so close that we shared each breath. It wasn’t frantic, it wasn’t fast, it wasn’t loud. It was just us. It was quiet gasps for air, grasping hands, anddesperatemovements, illuminated by the flickering firelight.
It was beautiful and perfect. And my chest was as hollow as ever, the bond so thoroughly gone it was as though it had never been.
“It’s okay,” I rasped, wrapping a hand around the back of Grace’s head and pulling her face into the crook of my neck. She nodded, a muffled sound of disappointment escaping her as she continued to roll her hips, sliding her hands down to dig her nails into my chest. “It doesn’t change anything. I loved you then, and I love you now, and I’ll love you when we’re in the underworld someday, reminiscing about the life we lived. You hear me, Grace? Bond or no bond, I’ll love you until the end of time.”
“I love you,” Grace whispered, lips moving desperately against my skin, kissing me and marking me in equal measure. “I love you, I love you.”
Never stop.
Chapter 4
