“Please, Luke.” She gripped my face, forcing our eyes to meet. I saw the glimmer of emotion threatening to spill out of her lovely blue orbs.
The shaking began immediately as my cock lengthened. My need for Kara came so strongly and easily. I couldn’t deny her, and I feared she had already learned the power she had over me. “Last time, and I control the pace,” I warned.
She nodded, but when the tears spilled down her cheeks, my throat tightened. Before I could say anything, she was kissing me and dragging her hand down to my cock. My dick jerked into her hand. I felt like I was gasping for air, but all I needed was to be inside her.
“Quickly,” I urged. “Before the head swells. It’ll make it easier.”
She adjusted her legs around me and guided me inside. We both groaned, foreheads locked together as she took me inside her once again. She was shaking as much as I was.
“I control the pace,” I ordered as I caressed her ass and guided her back up, then down on my cock.
Every move was ecstasy.
She nodded before throwing her head back to moan. I took that opportunity to kiss her neck. She wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me close as I rocked her into her next two orgasms so slowly that she was begging for me to stop edging her.
By the time we finished, it had left us as we were to begin with. Like, none of our touches had scratched the surface of what we needed. I hadn’t felt sated, though I tried so hard to savor her. It would never be enough, but the crossover began to call me to it.
It was time to face my choice.
Chapter Forty-Four
Kara
Luke was an excellent cuddler—not that he’d ever admit it. Not even to himself.
He kept his hands on me even when my body gave out. Even when I was too sore, too full, too human.
I couldn’t believe I cried during sex. Luke didn’t mention it. Luke was an exceptional lover, and I never imagined I’d say those words about my mate. He tended to me well, always looked and touched me with care instead of the brute force I expected when fucking the Dark One. The tenderness he showed me made the following hour so much harder. Every kiss, every stroke of his hand felt like something I’d have to give back. Like I was borrowing his love on a ticking clock. And that made the coming hour unbearable.
I knew what I had to do. He knew what he was going to do. And that was that.
Still, I let him hold me until the very last second. Until he stiffened and was the first to pull away. He looked toward the tree, the big one in the distance that stood out so much bigger than the rest. The crossover. My heart gave a little pathetic thump.
There was a sudden tug in my chest, and I winced. It eased when I took a step in the direction I didn’t want to go.
It’s time. I felt the pull deep in my chest—sharp, invisible, undeniable. Which meant they would feel it too. My siblings would know. The end was coming, and it would find us all.
A tingling crept into my fingertips—pins and needles at first, like I’d slept on my hand wrong. But then the sensation dimmed into numbness. Absolute, terrifying numbness.
I lifted my hand and gasped.
The hollow feeling in my stomach grew. My fingers were becoming see-through—fading like Dad’s had, right before the end.
“Kara…” Luke’s voice was sharp from a distance, then I heard his loud footfalls approaching.
But I was too stunned to do anything more than stare at my hand until he grabbed my wrist. The lines on his forehead were harsh, lips flattening into a murderous expression as he inspected me.
“Does it have to be this way?” I whispered, reaching for him with a hand that was barely even mine anymore—barely there. He was the last thing I wanted to hold on to. And the only one making me let go.
“This is the only way.”
But I love you.
Something in me cracked—jagged, deep, final. He’d never let me say the words. He didn’t deserve them. Maybe he never had.
I shut my eyes. I couldn’t look at the man I loved. Not when he was walking me to my end.
When I found my composure, I opened my lids to see Luke, still glaring at my hand as if it offended him.
