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I took in a deep, unsteady breath. This might be the worst idea I’d ever had. And yet, I reached for the hem of my top and started to pull it up.
Atlas reached out, placing a steady hand over mine.
“We don’t have to do anything, Wren.” He sounded pained, as if he were slowly being strangled.
I stilled, frowning. “I want to, Atlas.” The truth of that statement hit me hard. I wanted him—wanted him so desperately I was willing to chance all the pain that came with it.
Atlas groaned, but it sounded like the good kind. The kind that sent a shock of heat low in my core.
“I’m so glad you said that,” he rasped, and before I could even smile, he was on top of me, his lips hot and desperate against mine.
My mouth parted, and I tasted him everywhere, peppermint and clean, summer air and the lingering sweetness of honeysuckle nectar.
He held his body close, but far enough that he wasn’t crushing me, his forearms shaking slightly.
I took his face in my hands, pulling him closer as our tongues explored each other. His stubble was rough against my skin, causing an intense juxtaposition to his soft lips. A sound escaped me, something from deep within my chest that I let out almost involuntarily. Atlas groaned in response, and he leaned to one side, his right hand tugging my top the rest of the way up and tossing it away.
He paused as he looked at me and a wave of self-consciousness hit me. I wanted to cover myself, to cover the bite mark that I knew looked ugly and distracting. I looked away, but Atlas caught my chin, making me meet his gaze.
“Don’t,” he warned, eyes flashing and voice a low growl. “Don’t look away, like you’re ashamed.” He leaned down, kissing me softly. “You are the most stunning thing I have ever seen, my sweet starlight.”
His words drifted over my exposed skin like a thousand velvet rose petals. A soothing balm to my torn and broken soul. I breathed those words in as if they were oxygen and I was suffocating.
I nodded, my eyes filling with tears.
And then he lowered his head, my heart jumping to my throat as he pressed his lips impossibly gently against the bite mark on my chest. He didn’t stop there. He kissed every scar on my body, ones I’d forgotten were even there. Ones I’m surprised he even noticed.
But Atlas noticed everything.
When I thought I was going to burst with overwhelming fondness for the man above me, he pulled away, coming back up to meet my mouth again. His hands roamed my exposed skin, finding new ways to make me burst.
I was suddenly aching and relished in the feel of his hands against me, making me writhe. Touching me in ways I’d never been touched before. I had no idea it could be like this.
Atlas seemed to know my body better than I knew it and suddenly I felt weightless, as if he were the only thing tethering me to this earth.
I cried out his name, and he made a noise deep in his chest that sent electric shocks across my skin. My core tightened, my body begging for release. I arched my back and suddenly his hands disappeared as his arm slipped under me, crushing me so hard against his body I almost couldn’t breathe.
My nails dug into the smooth skin of his biceps as our bodies found a rhythm. I was spiraling, lost in his smell and his movement and his strength as he held our bodies together—as if we had been made that way—as if we had been born as one and only now found each other again.
I surrendered to the chaos inside me, the uncontrollable pleasure building under my skin. I surrendered to him.
I was a star, falling through the night sky in a shower of brilliant sparks and light.
“Atlas,” I whispered. Only it wasn’t a whisper, but a plea.
His breaths echoed in my ear as he said my name, and it was a song of worship on his lips.
Only then did I finally, completely burst.
I cried out, my body trembling and grasping onto him as hard as I could. My whole self was cracked wide open, pouring out before the man I now realized I had fallen completely, deeply, in love with.
As my thundering heart slowed and the thrum of my body waned, Atlas laid beside me and wrapped me in his arms. His embrace felt like a shelter, a safe haven in the unpredictable chaos of life. But as the fog of passion began to clear, a strange fear gripped me, snaking up my spine until the hair on the back of my neck rose.
Loving Atlas felt like a safe place, but there were consequences to love, no matter how perfect it seemed. I knew that firsthand.
I buried my face in his chest as he stroked my hair, trying not to let him see the panic starting to bubble up within me. What we’d done, it had changed me. Somewhere in my very core, Atlas had branded himself on my soul.
Yes, what we were doing here would have consequences. I only hoped I could survive whatever happened next.
