“What?”
That familiar sting of tears scratches at my eyes. “I don’t know who or what is real anymore. Show me there’s no possible way I’ve made you up.”
“You didn’t.”
“I don’t even know ifI’mreal anymore!” I smash my palms into his cheeks, squishing his lips together. My own face crumples despite my attempt to control it. “I need to be with you before you disappear too. And I want it to hurt. Because pain is real. That I know. I want to feel you so completely that there’s not a doubt how real you are. I want you to make me believe in this moment.” I release his cheeks and run my fingers over his lips, down his chin, his neck. “In this touch.”
He’s statue-still.
I lower my hands. Maybe I broke him.
Not yet. A shallow breath escapes his parted lips. And another. Desire blazes in his gaze. He grabs my hair in his fist and pulls back so fast and hard that I cry out. Pleasure crashes through me. That’s exactly what I want—savage passion. He pants, his eyes wild.
I raise my chin, which only gives him the slack to pull harder. I whimper softly and reach between us. “Show me this is real. Show me you’re not another cruel invention of my mind to get me through this.” My hand finds his cock.
He rolls his head back with a groan and looks down at me again. “You’re still in pain.”
“Eli, I—”
“But that won’t stop me from fucking you.” He pushes me through the water until my back hits the wall. “You need release before the imbalance kills you.”
Every breath comes hard now, the need in my body so consuming, so destructive that I’m dizzy, limbs numb except for the shooting pain traveling along every nerve.
He leans down to whisper in my ear. “I’ll save you.”
“Now?”Please.
He hums in response, a low vibration from his chest, then lifts my legs up so my body floats on the surface, leaving one hand on my lower back. I throw my arms over my head and grip the ledge to keep from sinking, but he has me perfectly balanced, my body stretched across the spring. Water clogs my ears, the waterfalls on the walls now a muffled roar. He parts my legs and slides forward, situating his waist between my knees.
“I’m being ripped apart inside. I need you.” I tremble.
He puts his thumb between my legs and pushes one lip to the side, then the other, staring intently. I squeeze his hips with my legs and lift my ass from the water, trying to get more contact, but he forces me back down and continues his exploration, running his thumb along my lower lips and pulling them open.
“What are you doing down there?” I ask, no lack of judgment.
“Studying.” He circles my entrance slowly, pulsing against the walls with the tip of his thumb. “I didn’t take the time before.”
“Youmay have all the fucking time in the world with your lives, but every second for me is a countdown to my death.”
He takes another long look between my legs, his tongue sliding between his lips as if he could already taste me. “How would you rather spend it?”
“With you inside me.”
He jabs his thumb all the way into me with exquisite force, an easy glide in with the water as slick as oil. “Like this?”
“That’s”—I pant, the sudden fullness igniting me all over—“that’s one way.”
“I’m not done looking.” He pulls out and goes back to examining me.
“Why? It’s just a—” I pause.
“A what?” He continues probing, teasing me with his measured touch, each soft stroke driving me to madness.
“Nothing,” I say.
“A pussy?”
I roll my head to the side. “I don’t call it that.”
