Everything. I feel everything with Ere. As my breath catches in my throat and my heart beats wildly, I’m momentarily stunned to silence over that admission to myself. Every moment is intense and full of passion with Ere, especially when our bodies are so close. It’s hard to deny or hide from the truth.
“I’m afraid of what my heart feels for you. It’s like there’s a depth to it I can’t fully grasp,” I admit, the words rushing out with no filter.
He sighs, his grip tightening around my hands, refusing to let me go. I open my eyes and his fiery gaze burns into me. “I have so much I would like to say to you, but it is not the right time yet. It kills me every day that you cannot remember our love and the bond we shared for nearly a century. You have the freedom to choose or control whatever you would like. My only hope is that you choose me in the end.” He swallows, his grip loosening as he rubs his thumbs across the tops of my hands. “However, there are things about me which you cannot control, either. One is the absolute satisfaction I will feel while mercilessly slaughtering anyone, immortal or otherwise, who dares to stand in the way of me having you by my side. And you will not control the way my anger rips through the entire world if you are taken from me. I will not lose you again.” His fingers tremble, flexing slightly as he frees my hands.
I stand frozen for a moment, hands still pressed to his chest, a heated shiver running down my spine as I struggle to grasp the depth of his feelings for me. I knew he loved me, but this possessive, ‘I’ll burn the world down for you’ passion is new, and although his words and the truth they hold should probably scare me, they only make me want him more. His intense gaze flickers away as he turns to leave, and without pausing to reconsider, I grasp his face in my hands and force him to stop. To not leave. To stay here with me. The warmth of his cheeks burn my palms as I kiss him with an intensity that could make the entire realm combust into flames. In this moment, I would burn the world down for him in a heartbeat.
He stands still for a moment, shock written across his features, then in one swift motion he lifts me off the ground and I cling to him. I wrap my arms and legs around his muscular body and hold on for dear life, wishing and praying I’ll never have to let him go again. His large hands grip my hips and press me against him harder, pulling me in closer, and a rush of arousal forces its way in and burns me to my core. His mouth against mine is passionate and hungry and urgent as if we may never get the chance to do this again. His kiss and his ravenous tongue are a dangerous mix of desperation and possessiveness that I’ve learned to crave, a kiss that makes me fearful it’ll be the death of me one day. Tendrils of shadows envelop us in a blanket of darkness, dancing and spinning and brushing against my sensitive skin, forcing our bodies closer together. Oxygen escapes my lungs in breathless moans to make room for him deep within every part of me.
As he deepens the kiss, his fingers tighten around my hair, getting lost within the moment. My scalp burns from the pleasure of that small amount of pain, and I melt into his arms. A desperate moan escapes into his mouth, begging for release, for more, for him to never fucking stop. I need him. I think of nothing else as I pull my lips from his, my entire body coiled in tension and burning with a desire I’ve never known before. This moment with Ere is one that could never be forgotten or stolen or replaced, it’s a moment that will forever be etched into my memory.
“I want you,” I whimper, squeezing my thighs tightly around his hips, my forehead pressed against his as I close my eyes.
“Not good enough, my little flame,” his voice is dark and taunting, and I know he’s smiling without even looking. He grips my ass and presses the hard length of his cock against my center, slowly and torturously grinding against my clit again and again, and I writhe back and forth desperately. The bastard.
“Please. I need you,” I beg, thighs now trembling with desire and need as I force my eyes to meet his. I want to prove that I’m thinking clearly and that I’m sure and that I have no other thought besides him and I.
“I thought you might never ask.” His smile is playful and cruel and delicious in a way that makes my insides burn.
His eyes are glowing orbs of hope and his shadows a menacing power that others might fear, but in this moment, I feel lucky that he only has eyes for me. I can’t deny there’s something special between us. It could all really be true, couldn’t it? We might be fated to be. If that’s the case, then I will thank the gods for allowing me a chance with such a sexy, terrifying, amazing creature, because Ere is what many women’s dreams are made of. I would be lucky to have him.
Once upon a time, I imagined my life would resemble a fairy tale, where a gallant knight would rescue me from the darkness in the world, and we would live happily ever after. Here I am being dragged into the shadows by the King of the Underworld, and enjoying every dark, blissful minute of it. Close enough, right?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Surrendering to Shadows
NORA
The bedroom is pitch black until Ere waves a hand and starts a chain reaction, one black flame flickering to life after another. He tosses me on the bed, and I squeal as I sink into the plush mattress, biting my bottom lip as his laughter vibrates within my mind, breathing life into neglected corners of my existence.
“Every time I touched you before, it killed me that I could not be myself,” he stands before me, slowly unbuttoning his black button-up shirt and slacks, tossing them onto the floor as I lean on my elbows and watch him with no shame. “This time… I will not hold back, Nora.”
“Good. I don’t want you to,” I tell him with a smile, his horns creeping closer and his glowing eyes growing darker by the second as the gold shimmer melts away.
I’m smiling but fear lingers. I’m breathless, but his presence fills the void within me, making me feel complete with no need for air. As my heart pounds out of control, I realize it beats this way only for him.
Always for him.
He crawls across the bed toward me, leaving me no time to consider how easily he could ruin me or to fear the man who looks like a demon in front of me. He roughly grips my face in his hand, the intensity making my cheek ache, but I won’t resist or pull away. No. I want this. I run my fingers through his thick hair. He groans, closing his eyes and giving in to the pleasure of my gentle touch. He’s as desperate for this as I am. Gripping my shoulders, he pushes me backward onto the bed, a playful, aroused expression flashing across his face that has me wanting to beg for more. Lifting my hips and forcing me back, he positions me comfortably at the top of the bed with my neck nestled on his satin pillow.
His eyes roam across my body and he shakes his head, gripping and tearing at the fabric clinging to my body until I’m completely naked and wide-eyed in shock. My clothes are never safe with him. Arousal burns within his eyes, and I’m both fearful and excited at the thought of him not holding back so I can experience the pleasure he truly desires in that dark, shadowy mind.
His voice, low and cruel, whispers in my ear. “Do you like to play, my love?” His teeth lightly graze the sensitive spot below my ear as he pulls away from me, putting too much distance between us.
I reach out to grab him, to keep him with me, but he moves too quickly and is standing at the foot of the bed before I have a chance to pull him back to me. A dark, charming smile spreads across his face as his gaze rakes over my bare skin. The look he gives me nearly burns me alive. A surge of need mixed with a tingling sense of fear courses through my entire body. I lift my head off the pillow just as he commands his shadows to come out and play, encircling us within them. I don’t move, not willing to risk pissing off him or his shadows for fear of what they might do to me.
But those shadows caress my skin so gently, so affectionately, that I can’t imagine them hurting me or anyone else. I shiver from their soft, torturous touch just as they retreat back into him. I moan quietly, silently begging with my eyes as I keep them pinned on him. Being denied his touch is a slow death I won’t survive, yet he simply smiles, enjoying the sight of me in agony.
The shadows reach out for me again, teasing and tormenting my nipples and clit with an intensity and hunger that surpasses any other experience I’ve had with him before this. My moans are desperate as I spread my legs wider, grinding my hips against his dark power, fully aware I should appear less needy, but unable to control myself any longer. I need more.
I am completely and hopelessly desperate for him.
Again, the shadows retreat, slithering away then vanishing completely and I throw my head back against the bed with a quiet whimper of frustration. I can’t handle the teasing, torturous, cruel man who stands before me. He will be the death of me, I’m sure of it. My flushed cheeks burn as my lust filled eyes meet his, and then my head falls with another needy whimper the moment he licks his lips seductively. He laughs, fully aware that he holds the key to satisfying my insatiable hunger for him.
“Look at you. You love it when we play, don’t you?” His wicked, seductive smile only makes me wetter, and I hate him for it. “You are so fucking beautiful when you are desperate for me to fuck you.”
“Please, Ere. I don’t want to play anymore. I need it,” I pant breathlessly, my desire for him raw and unapologetic.
