Nausea flared in her stomach at the feel of it, wet and sticky on her skin.
But then she found his eyes again, two steady beacons guiding her through the night. She held onto them, fighting to stay in the present moment.
She was with Acacius—she was secure. And she’d never felt more alive. Whether they were fighting or laughing or doing this. Somewhere in between trying to kill her and ruin her life, Acacius had wormed into the chambers of her heart and lulled her weary soul back to life.
If she was his chaos, he was her darkness—a nebula of vicious night, beckoning her to step inside of his jaws. A place where their hurt and shame could be devoured as one.
“How do you feel?” Acacius’s thrusts accelerated just to slow again, the inconsistency of his speed driving her mad. She felt every inch of him fill her, just to be removed entirely.
“Terrified.” She ground her teeth, too occupied with the ache between her legs. “Liberated.” She smeared her fingertips down his marbled chest, smudging the stains like paint on a waiting canvas. Acacius’s pupils swallowed the aureate gleam of his irises. “Frustrated.”
He drove in her, all the way, curling the tension behind her navel. “You are safe, Marina, here, with me.”
His words reached her most scarred self. She felt that version of her let out a breath. The part of her that had continued trudging tirelessly through life, scouting out the dangers of gods, exhausted down to her bones.
In him, she found rest.
Marina bit down on her bottom lip, chasing his length with her hips. “Acacius,please.”
He smirked. “I do enjoy when you beg.”
He hooked upward as he continued driving in, massaging the spot inside of her bundled with dense nerves.
Her lips fell apart, and breathy whimpers spilled out. “Yes, right there.”
She arched her body into him, prying her nails deep into his back. Rivers of blood trickled over his shoulders and dripped onto her cheeks. It coated her fingers, painted her palms, along with her bursting release.
As pleasure shuddered through her, she ran her trembling fingers together, slick with his blood.
This, she sang his name as he pulsed inside of her,will be what I remember.
Part Three
Pain is a Lesson
25
LET’S GO FIND A MONSTER
Acacius
Marina stepped backand assessed his appearance, her lips pursed tightly, as if she were resisting a smile.
“What?” Acacius ran a hand through his short hair with a sly grin. “Brunettes your thing, Rina? Or is it the cut? Perhaps the fact that I am about a foot below my usual height? I wouldn’t mind if you stepped on me, just a little.”
A rose tint shaded her cheeks as she rolled her bottom lip out and caught it between her teeth. “Youare my thing.”
Acacius’s heart fluttered, and his grin broadened. “Are you… flirting with me?”
She ignored him and spun to browse through the endless rows of earrings on her vanity.
After ripping her skirt, she needed a replacement of clothes. They’d teleported to her home in Tenebris where time had slipped away from them again. A quick bath turned into another sensual round of rough kisses and greedy hands. Needless to say, the list of locations they’d slept together was quickly growing.
She worked in a pair of black tourmaline earrings as her long hair crawled up her shoulders, their ends meeting her jawline.
“What’syourthing?” She tilted her head, looking at him through the mirror. “Blondes?” The black of her hair paled to the shade of buttercream. “Redheads?” The blonde crisped to the color of a ripe persimmon. Freckles dotted across the bridge of her nose, and her dark gaze altered to cornflower blue.
Acacius slipped his arms around her waist from behind, inhaling her vanilla and amber fragrance. “You’remything.”
