With an almost tortured groan, he broke the kiss and inhaled deeply against her neck. “Wild cherries in the sunshine. Heat and magic.” He licked where her neck met her shoulder, then bit down, holding on. Her eyes flared, and her mouth popped open as a hot jolt burst between her legs. He swirled his tongue over her skin. “I’ll never get enough. I want to lick every part of you until you pant my name and beg for my cock.”
Shock hit her first, then arousal overtook everything else. She didn’t fear thembeing a couple anymore, but if she’d had any fears left, the wild inferno in her blood would’ve incinerated those worries on the spot.
“Beg?” She arched in to him, trying to relieve some of thepressure winding her tight. “Only in your dreams.”
“You’remy dream.” His teeth gently clamped down on her neck again.
Sensation rushed through her. Her breasts tight, her skin a wash of shivers, she laughed, the sound low and rough. “It turns out I like kissing. Who’d have thought?”
“You like kissingme.” Carver trailed his lips up her neck again and captured her mouth, his deep, hungry kiss so scorching that her magic felt weak in comparison, as if the true power were here, in this. She lifted into him. She tried, but she couldn’t get close enough. They kissed, touched,devoured. They joined as thoroughly as they could and like nothing else existed until a gull screeched directly overhead, breaking them apart.
Bellanca blinked herself out of the passion haze, breathless, her heart pounding. They steadied each other, the thickets around them rustling as a light, sun-hot wind blew over the summit, reminding them of where they were and what they faced. Desire gradually faded, and Atlantis came back into focus—along with everything else.
She exhaled slowly. Letting go of Carver’s arm, she glanced down at the valley they needed to cross to reach the woods. Far below, a glittering stream running toward the coast split the green terrain in half. There was no path on the other side of the hill. They’d have to forge their own, keeping the sea on their right and Mount Olympus ahead. She sighed. Their journey awaited, but before they took another step, it seemed imperative to unleash the words that had been clogging her throat for months.
Turning, she drew her shoulders back and snagged Carver’s gaze with hers.
The sudden, wary cock of his head told her he didn’t think he’d like what came next. His eyes narrowed, and she put a hand on his chest to reassure him. Or maybe it reassured her, thatsteady heartbeat and vital strength.
“Carver…” She swallowed. “I never told you…thank you. Thank you for coming with me. You don’t know how my heart exploded when you insisted. I know I argued, but I was so glad.” Her voice cracked, and she sucked in a breath. “So glad and grateful. I know you gave up everything when you took that path.”
His already troubled gaze went storm dark. “You don’t have tothankme.” He reached out and gripped her head, forcing her to keep her eyes on his when she tried to look away from his flash of hurt. “I didn’t give up everything. Ikeptyou.” His fingers tightened, pressing into her hair. “All those months of antagonism? Of inseparableness? Don’t you understand? The heat of the entire cosmos burned inside my chest. It was torching me alive. I didn’t know what to do with it until you were about to walk out of my life.”
Her throat thick, she said, “The entire cosmos?”
“Every godsdamned star,” he growled. “I knew right then, down to the very deepest corner of my soul, that if I didn’t follow the fire, I’d regret it forever and die miserable and cold.”
Her heart wrenched. Chills stung her from the inside out, raising goose bumps on her arms. “That sounds awful.”
The corners of his lips jerked up, but his eyes stayed hard. “For once, we agree.”
She breathed shallowly, her lungs refusing to expand. “I guess I would’ve died miserable, too, then.”
“I don’t know. I’d have to hope not,” he said, releasing her.
She shivered, missing his touch. “Because soulmates don’t usually find each other? And they survive just fine? Live their lives?”
He shrugged. “But we’d already met. We’d known each other for months, through trials and battles. Through workingtogether, day in and day out. And some part of me knew. I just…knew, even if I didn’t understand yet.” A swallow bobbed in his throat. “I would’ve followed you anywhere.”
Her eyes stung, and the screams in her heart when Persephone ripped that doll in half howled inside her again. “I didn’t understand either yet, but the absolute certainty that you’d follow me through that gateway was the only reason I had the courage to go. And now…” Her voice quieted, turning hoarse. “I want more. I want us. I want to be yours.”
“And I want to be yours,” Carver whispered back, lowering his lips to hers again.
The rightness of them infused her as their mouths moved and their bodies pressed. Emotion swelled in her chest.Thiskiss—so tender and fierce. It was the kiss of every blazing fire, of every burning sun, of a thousand years together, and then a thousand more to come.
“Is this claiming?” she asked breathlessly. Mutual claiming would bind them in life, in death. Right now, she couldn’t imagine anything she wanted more.
Carver drew back, a slow smile spreading across his face. “You’re very curious about something you ridiculed for months.”
“Is it?” She gripped his tunic, keeping him close. “Carver?”
His eyes heated. “I told you. I’ll be inside you, and you’llknow.”
“I want to know.” Sun-flare magic wrapped around the desire coursing through her, warming her whole body. “I want you.” It was an invitation. It was acceptingthem, their future, however, whenever, as soon as possible.
He stared at her. Her pulse thumped hard, but instead of fear, all she felt was anticipation.
He finally closed his eyes, his nostrils flaring on a long,deep breath. When he opened them again, he’d banked the fire. “Of all the places to tell me that.” He glanced around. “There’s nothing but rocks and dust here.”
