I could feel the pressure building within me, anexquisite ache that throbbed more intensely each time he hit that magical spot.
I needed more.
Gripping Kaden’s hair, I lifted my hips and felt him twitch inside me. The storm within me raged and howled until I came with a broken cry.
Kaden hissed as I clenched around him, shouting as he found his release.
Slowly, he allowed his weight to settle over me until I could no longer discern his heartbeat from mine.
For several minutes, we just lay there, the musk of our joining merging with the scent of cedar and night. Our breaths became one with the light breeze and the quiet things that scampered along the forest floor.
With Kaden’s sweat-slicked skin pressed against mine and his powerful body warming me, I didn’t ever want to move.
“I thought of you every moment, you know. Every second in that wretched chamber. Each time Fleshtalker pushed me to the edge — made me want to die — all I had to do was think of you.”
My breath hitched.
“This,” he whispered, “is what I thought about. Moving inside you. Feeling you . . .”
He pressed a tender kiss to my temple, and I clenched around him. “Other times, I thought of you at the House of Perpetual Twilight, smug and beautiful, sitting inmyseat. Trying your very best to hate me.”
“I did hate you.”
Kaden chuckled. “Turns out you’re not very good at that.”
“No,” I sighed, reaching up and brushing a strand of hair out of his face. “Apparently, I’m not.”
Kaden pulled back to study me with eyes that were much too still. For once, no storm raged within them, and it was like standing in the eye of a hurricane. Unnerving, but also breathtaking.
“Even so,” he mused, pressing a chaste kiss to my lips. “I can’t help but think I might yet meet my demise at the end of your blade.”
“Not a chance,” I breathed.
“No?”
I shook my head. “If I killed you, I’d have no one to argue with. And what fun would that be?”
Kaden chuckled, but there was a sadness to the sound that put me on edge. “Still, if I have to die, I’d rather it be at your hand than anyone else’s.”
My stomach dropped. “Should I be flattered?”
“You should.”
He paused for a moment, and a chill raced down my spine. “Whatever time we have left together, Lyra, you should know . . . You have been the highlight of my existence.”
My breath caught, and I struggled to fill my lungs. It wasn’t just his cryptic message but how his words seemed to twine around my heart, twisting and pulling in a way that I didn’t think I would ever get used to.
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I swiped them away before he could see.
It was no use. The male missed nothing, and a crease appeared between his brows as he studied me, his own throat bobbing with emotion.
His lips found mine again, his kiss so gentle that Icouldn’t stop the tears from coming. They flowed down my cheeks in thick rivulets, and I tasted salt.
When Kaden pulled back, his own eyes were glistening with an emotion I didn’t understand. He seemed . . . melancholy. Or maybe it was the aftermath of relief that his father could no longer access the bond.
Slowly, Kaden helped me into my discarded clothes, tucking his own jacket over my shoulders to guard against the chill. When he was dressed, he took my hand and led me back to the house.
Chapter
