He refused to give her that satisfaction.
She moved skillfully, caressing and kneading, up and down, up and down.
Acacius’s breath hitched, the last of his willpower draining through the cracks of his resolve.
But to his surprise, her face came into focus through the all-consuming cloak of her power. Like nightfall under the moon, a silver gleam spilled through the temple windows and formed a chiaroscuro around the goddess.
Her long hair lay spread around her face against the altar. Her hand stopped moving between them, and she stared at him, mouth slightly parted, regarding him in a slight awe that he wasn’t sure he was meant to see.
He searched her face, baffled as to why her Night had lifted. The realization that they could see one another didn’t break the spell that she was under.
Instead, the aggressive, cold energy between them softened, like dawn melting away the darkness of the world. The shackles of his divine power dissolved from her wrists.
He held her eyes, dark like fresh espresso.What are you thinking?
Marina guided his length back to her entrance, never letting go of his eyes. She ran her hands behind his hips and pulled him into her.
He understood her request and entered as deeply as he could.
She bit her lip back but maintained the connection with his gaze.
Acacius studied every flicker of muscle and motion dancing across her face as he glided in and out at a gentle pace. The urgency was still there, but alongside it was something new. A longing for time to slow, and for this gathering in his chest to never cease.
He enjoyed watching her unravel, display her true self. Perhaps, she’d subconsciously lifted her Night, curious to see what pleasure she evoked on his face. Her curiosity felt sacred. It brought him a bizarre sense of pride.
He reached up and delicately brushed the white strip of her hair from her face.
The tender gesture snapped her out of whatever spell she’d fallen under with him, and she flinched. Her mouth closed into a tight line, realizing her mistake.
His unrivaled animosity crept back into his chest, smothering whatever sentiment he felt in that moment. The goddess was still the one who betrayed him, and he yearned to see her vulnerable, just to make it hurt all the more when he took retribution.
Acacius gave her a wolfish smirk and pried his fingers into her mouth—the same two that were inside her only moments before. “Good girl.”
The sharpness glinted in her gaze as she sat up, deepening the angle of where they were joined.
Acacius ground his teeth at the sparks shooting down his spine as he watched her take his fingers down her throat.
She leveled him with her hooded gaze as she pushed her lips to his knuckles.
His brain stuttered, delirious from the swirl of her tongue and the way her throat suctioned his fingertips.
He sucked air through his teeth. “Fuck.” His length twitched inside of her, and the muscles in his stomach clenched to keep him from spilling.
I won’t survive this.
She dragged her teeth over his skin as she pulled his fingers out, popping the tips in between her lips. “I did as you said.” The coarse, seductive timbre of her voice snapped the rest of his restraint. “Now fuck me until I’ll feel you tomorrow.”
He grasped the backs of her thighs and yanked her forward. Her back hit the cool rock of the altar. “Such a ruthless mouth.”
He thrusted deep, pounding and filling her until she swallowed him whole, again and again. The need for her was carnal, and his only choice was to sate the craving.
“Ohgods!” she cried out, tightening around him.
His eyes glazed in exaltation, almost lost in the feeling of becoming one with her. He couldn’t give in, though, not when he needed to drag their feud out as long as he could.
This small frame of euphoria was their only escape from the grief and the pain rotting their hearts. Sinking in their loneliness together made it tolerable. He wanted the reprieve to go on forever, to torture her as much as he could.
Acacius maintained a rough pace, ensuring she felt every inch of him leaving her, every inch filling her. Her face etched in rapture—eyes squeezed shut, mouth open, the divot on her chin visible, creases lining her forehead. Emotion, even the darkest, most primal kind, was divine on her.
