My hands sweep upward, exploring her curves as she drives herself fully down and pleasure spikes through me.
She responds to my groan with a certainty that awes me, pulling my hand to her core, rocking against me, her moans full of need.
I give myself over to her wants, stroking her, holding myself back, maintaining my grip on my own pleasure until she drops her mouth to mine and whispers, “Let go.”
I drive myself upward as she plunges down. Again and again, her wild breathing and her cries sending me into an upward spiral until she crashes hard against me.
She takes me with her into a crash that only makes me thirsty for more.
Her moans are still washing over me as I wrap my arms around her, my stomach muscles bunching as I sweep us upright, carry her around the stairs, and push her back against the nearest wall beside them.
I hesitate for the briefest moment, but she anticipates my question.
“Yes,” she gasps as her back connects with the wooden surface, her breathing erratic, her kisses demanding more as I drive into her again.
Her hands grip me hard, digging into my back, her legs hooked around my hips, her needy moans only increasing as I give in to the storm building between us.
Every thrust binds me to her. A connection between us that defies all the darkness we’ve escaped.
“Asha,” I groan.
She captures my mouth, kissing me hungrily before she draws back, her eyes meeting mine, seeing me.
Always seeing me.
I move, harder and faster, until she arches into me with a scream on her lips, her fingers clawing into my back as her body thrashes against me, bringing on my own release.
My thoughts splinter, a breaking that feels endless.
I struggle to fill my chest, aware of the way she’s also dragging at the air, her chest heaving.
“Erik,” she whispers, her voice a bare rasp as she gasps for breath. “Don’t…”
I wait for her to continue, my body shivering, my hands softening around her sides, supporting her.
“Don’t betray me,” she says.
My breath catches as I remember the question I would ask her every time I gave her Malak’s tools and commanded her to kill another monster in the wasteland.
I would ask,“Will you betray me?”
And she would reply…
“Never,” I whisper. I slip my arms behind her before I slide my body away from hers, not caring about the mess as I pull her close again.
As quickly as I can, I carry her to the fire, where we clean up with the cloths we find tucked inside the fur there. Then we settle beneath the warm pelts.
She lays her head onto my chest, nestling into my side and moments later, when I move to speak, I find her eyes closed.
I press a kiss to her forehead and let her sleep.
A soft howl makes me alert, my wolfish nature instantly responding to the call.
The fire is warm and so is the air around us. Midnight may be less than an hour away—the time when Graviter said he would return.
Asha is fast asleep, her breathing remaining even. She looks peaceful, even if seeing her here again takes me back years to fleeting moments in time when hope seemed possible.
Not wanting to wake her, I carefully extract myself from beneath the fur and quietly pull on my warm clothing.
