“Of course I don’t want that.” Ilryth drags his feet toward the far end, away from the opening, and sits on one of the wide roots that slowly arcs down before plunging into the sand. “But I’m not sure what else we can do.”
I cross the few steps it takes to get to him, still looking for any potential openings on my way, but finding none. “We could try and overpower the knights? If they untied us, they’re clearly not thinking we’ll try to escape. We’ll have the element of surprise.”
“I doubt it.” Ilryth sighs and shakes his head. “There are too many of them.”
I walk away, then back, then away again, beginning to pace. My feet dig a trench in the sand from the repetition. On one of my turns, I nearly slam face-first into Ilryth. He catches me with both hands on my shoulders. Our chests are pressed together and I’m instantly aware of how his heartbeat seems to match mine. The pulsing that underscores the song we share.
“Relax your mind, Victoria,” he soothes.
“But—”
“Panic isn’t going to help anyone. If there’s a way out of this, it’ll come to us when it’s meant to. In the meantime, try to ease your worried thoughts.” Ilryth’s eyes flutter closed as his hands shift, grabbing mine on his chest, clutching them between us. His forehead gently presses into mine. Instantly, I relax into him. He murmurs, “I wish we had more time.”
“No.” I shake my head, pulling away. I see what he’s doing. The resignation, the encouragement to let go. “Donotstart with goodbyes.”
Ilryth chuckles as he brushes a strand of hair from my face. “Goodbyes between us are pointless. I already stole you from death’s Abyss once.”
Yet, when he leans in to kiss me, there is an air of finality to it. The kiss burns with everything that’s left unsaid. All the things we wish we had time to share in the slow unfolding of a relationship at its own pace—a luxury stolen from us. Our hands tremble. He pulls away, our breaths mingling in the damp haze of this place that has now become wholly our own. The walls are a little closer than the last time my eyes were open, the light a little dimmer. The sun is setting on what might be our last night alive.
“Don’t,” I whisper again, the word quivering upon my lips.
He smiles, and kisses me again as his response. This time he tastes of hope, but he moves with the hunger of desperation. Something within me breaks and I’m lost to it. If these are our final moments, then I submit to the need growing between us. The desperation. I submit to his tongue and fingers and hands pushing me against the back wall, slipping down my torso to grab my breasts.
Somewhere between my hands on his chest and them landing on his hips, he’s pushed me onto the root where he’d sat. Ilryth looms over me. Eyes locked, shining with the tears we both refuse to shed.
“If these are our final moments, then let us make a song that will echo into eternity,” he whispers across my face.
“No.”
“No?” A frown tugs at his lips.
“No,” I repeat with more conviction. “These willnotbe our final moments. But I will have you all the same.”
His frown shifts into a smirk as he parts my lips with his tongue, deepening our kiss. I ache for him in a way that continues to both excite and terrify. Longing and despair swell within me, replacing any hesitation or sorrow with a burning that threatens to consume me. I cannot pull him close enough—grip him tightly enough.
Ilryth steals my breath as he grabs my waist and sends a jolt through my body. Our movements become frantic, kisses shifting with teeth and tongue. Hands urgent. There is too much of him, too much of me, and not enough of us. All I want is to condense the distance between us into nothing but burning skin and delighted sighs.
Grabbing behind my knees, he pulls me toward the edge of the root. My legs wrap around his hips on instinct and I arch upward, my arms gliding over his shoulders. Our eyes lock as he positions himself. I’m more than ready and he enters with ease. My eyes flutter closed and my whole body is alight—awash with waves of pleasure from a small, yet infinitely consuming act of being completely and utterly filled.
And then he moves, setting my every sense ablaze.
The rhythm is easy to find, tempo increasing with every second. I respond on instinct, helping as I’m able. When I press my forehead to his, Ilryth is all I see; his body is all I feel. There is nothing else but those deep, rumbling moans that thunder through his chest and resonate in mine. We are one entity, blended in an intricate harmony that is solely our own.
Shifting, he takes both my hands, eyes never leaving mine, and positions them over my head—wrapping my fingers around a root above.
“Brace yourself,” he growls in my ear, hands moving to my hips.
I do as I’m told and I’m certain my soul leaves my body as he plunges into me with a ferocity that steals rational thought. His breath rasps against my throat as his teeth follow his tongue, as though he is trying to lick off the swirls painted on my skin. The way he ravages me is feral and I give in to the frenzy completely. I care not for bruises I might leave on him or the sounds I might make. There are only his hands—only the feeling of him sliding in and out as his thumb swirls attentively over every spot on my body that pleasure can be derived from.
My body quakes in anticipation. Back arching. Eyes fluttering shut.Break me, I want to say. All that escapes my lips are moans. Yet, I think he hears.
The climax comes hard and fast, leaving us breathless, gasping into each other’s faces as Ilryth collapses over me, forehead pressing into mine once more. My fingers finally unravel and they glide across the glistening expanse of his chest. Cupping my face, he kisses me, over, and over. Sweet yet passionate. Hungry, and yet also satiated.
“I could have you a thousand times, and it would never be enough,” he pants softly.
A tiny, wicked smile cuts my lips. “The night is yet young.”
CHAPTER51
