“No,” she said in a breathless voice. “Just kiss me.”
Brushing a strand of hair away from her face, and with a languorous lick, he sucked her lower lip and when her tongue touched his upper one, he captured it and deepened the kiss. Reaching between them, he stroked her again, his thumb lightly caressing her clit. The tempest surged once more. She could do nothing but hold on, arching her hips, her nails digging into his forearms.
Blaéz removed his hand from between her thighs, laced their fingers and pinned them beside her head. As his cock breached her entrance then slid all the way into her, his gaze held hers.
Her breath caught. The moment so powerful…intense.
He withdrew then thrust into her in a smooth glide. Her focus lowered to where they were joined and her world centered on the overwhelming pleasure of him moving inside her. As desire built, he quickened his pace, taking her back to the pinnacle.
He brought her hand between their bodies and worked both their fingers on her clit. Her breath caught at the erotic sensuality of touching herself with him. Desire swelled. Her orgasm surged then erupted in shockwaves through her body as a prism of light coalesced through her, so intense, Darci could do little but let it sweep her along…
* * *
A need of urgency shot through Blaéz to possess, to meld with her.
She was his one, his only. He didn’t care how short their time together was, there would never be another for him.
Freeing her hand he’d trapped between their bodies, he drove harder, faster into her. She grasped his forearms and her hips rose to meet his every thrust, her inner muscles clamping around him. His own orgasm rolled down his spine, tightening his groin. Her raspy whimper filled his ears and triggered his release.
“Christ,” he grunted, impossible pleasure sweeping through him as a luminescent light flooded his entire being, filling him with warmth…with love. And all he could do was hang onto Darci and breathe his life into her.
After several seconds, minutes, he had no idea which—and feeling a little dazed—Blaéz raised his head but Darci’s eyes were closed. Short breaths escaped between slightly parted lips swollen from his kisses. His heart fisted, his feelings for her engulfing him like a tidal wave.
Resting on his elbows and keeping most of his weight off her, he kissed her eyes, her nose. Her lips. “I’m insanely in love with you,a leannan.”
The corners of her mouth curved. Her eyelids flickered open and her dull, hazel-brown eyes smiled back at him.
At the thought he would never see them, never hold her this way again, grief slid through his heart like a blade, slicing at the brief glow inside him. He eased away from her warmth, lay down beside her and flung an arm over his eyes.
She shifted and rested her chin on his chest, her hair a tormenting caress on his skin. “What is it?” she asked softly.
Shaking his head, he pushed off the bed and prowled toward the window, trying to rein his pain. A palm braced on the wall, he stared into the dark night. Seconds later, her warm, naked body pressed against his back. He squeezed his eyes tight as she put her arms around his waist and simply hugged him.
Pivoting, he pulled her into his arms and he buried his face in her neck.
She didn’t say anything, just held him. After a while, he set her aside and picked up their discarded clothes. He helped her dress before pulling on his jeans. As he zipped up, Blaéz glanced at her. And went motionless.
In a flash, he closed the small distance between them and cupped her face. Right before his very eyes, he watched the dull brown, yellow and greens of her irises give way to a brighter hue as if her very soul was healing, mending…
His soul was strengthening hers.
“Blaéz?”
He barely heard her, staring into those gorgeous, bright, sunflower-colored eyes once more. He swayed, thought his knees would cave. Darci grabbed his arms. “Blaéz, what is it? You’re scaring me.”
He shook his head to clear the haze. By the heavens, after everything they’d endured, he had to be sure before he said anything. He willed his obsidian dagger—his mate’s dagger back. Nothing. The weapon that could never be stolen, never be given away didn’t appear.
He grasped her shoulders. “Darci, where’s the dagger I gave you?”
She winced in guilt. “Nora knocked it from my hand when I tried to stab her.”
No one could claim that weapon permanently, unless it was intrinsically linked to them. The blade had chosen him after Gaia had handed him a range of daggers to select from when he’d first sworn his allegiance to her. It had started to glow the moment he’d touched it.
Gaia had called it a symbol, the embodiment of his one weakness and ultimate strength.When it fails to return to you, you have found your salvation.
And Darci was. She was his very heartbeat, his life.
She picked up a hairgrip from the bedside table. “We can go back there and look for it?”
