I’m drowning in his scent, in his warmth, his strength. “Tell me about yourself. Give me a story of your past.”
I don’t think he will, but he nods, his gaze traveling over me. “Once… I got lost, pursuing a goal that wasn’t my own. I was on a mission to find a treasure and I was attacked. Racing down ravines and creeks, I accepted my fate. I was going to die there, without reaching my goal, with no way to let anyone know what had become of me. And then… there it was. A small bird. A kind of sparrow. Gray and brown plumage, with a dark crown on its head. It flew ahead of me, flying in circles when I slowed down. Showing me the way to a hiding place. That little sparrow saved my life.”
Sweetness trickles through me. This little story is so innocent and yet full of pain. Is the storm over? Is this the real Roane talking?
“I never knew I’d end up dying here,” he goes on.
That gives me a start. “Dying? Roane?—”
He sighs, lashes lowering. “Gods, you’re beautiful. Since the moment I saw you… I knew you’d break my heart.”
That’s one way to die, I suppose. My heart is feeling kind of fragile, too, at the moment.
And he kisses me, at last, a long, dark fall into forever.
CHAPTER FORTY
A DIFFERENT KIND OF PAIN
ADELINE
I’m lost in the kiss. So dark and piercing, so sweet and deep. I’m caught in a storm and he’s my only tether.
It’s like I’ve never been kissed before. I’m lost in him—his taste, the feel of his lips against mine, his tongue exploring my mouth, coaxing sounds of need from me. I’m a speck of dust swirling in the void, a tiny firefly in the night.
Slowly, my senses return—his large hands gripping my waist, fingers digging into my back, loose strands of his hair tickling my face, and his heartbeat is pounding under the hands I’ve placed on his hard chest.
Sliding them upward, I cradle his jaw and he groans softly. I feel him hardening against my stomach and it’s a heady feeling. I’m the one affecting him like this. He desires me. The evidence of his arousal is impossible to miss, long and thick, hard like a slab of stone.
His kiss turns more urgent, his hands hauling me against him, slipping down to my ass, gripping it fit to bruise and lifting me until the rod of his hard cock is pressing between my thighs.
Oh Gods…It’s my turn to make a broken sound as the arousal intensifies, the pressure in my belly and the need for relief becoming all I can think of.
I want to fall with him, on the bed, on the floor, anywhere. Fall into this heady pleasure. I let my hands drop to his shoulders and I find myself tugging on his black leather vest, on his untidy braid, on any part of him. I need him naked so we can touch skin-to-skin; so I can see and explore every part of him.
I want to hold his cock in my hands, feel its heft, its heat, taste him… I want him inside me, filling me up, moving above me, his face contorted with want, his control shattering to a thousand pieces…
“Aline…” he grunts against my lips. “This. I imagined this with you so many times. Gods, I…”
A distant boom jerks us both.
Then dust rains over us as a fainter crack sounds overhead. A piece of rock comes crashing down, and Roan grabs me and swings me away, cursing.
The rock smashes to the floor, chipping at the intricate mosaics.
“Gods.” I yelp. “What’s happening?”
“Nothing,” he says, biting out the words through gritted teeth.
“More nothing, huh?” I glance around, my heart thumping hard, wondering what is really happening. “Should we get out? Is the library collapsing?”
“No. Not yet anyway. This… this keeps fucking happening.” His breathing is coming out harsh and short as he grips my waist and glances around. His tall brow is furrowed and a grimace twists his mouth. “Hells.”
“Roane, are you in pain?”
“Always. Even more when I’m around you, ever since you arrived.”
An echo of something Talton had said. “I see.”
