My mind is a mess of surprise and desire, and I don’t fucking care that I’ve landed on my ass. All I can focus on is her.
She drops into a straddling position over me, her knees on either side of my hips as she wraps her hand around my cock and leans forward, her other hand planted beside my head, her nipples brushing my chest, her lips nudging my jaw.
“Let go,” she says.
I hum a note, groaning through the heady rush of sensation.
Her hand pumps my cock. Not softly.
Her lips are parted, her breathing still near moaning. The tremble in her thighs tells me she’s coming through the aftermath, her eyes closing as she presses her pelvis to the base of my cock, her sigh satisfied and then…growing needy.
I buck beneath her, resolutely pressing my hands to the floor because if I lift them for even a second, I’ll grab hold of her hips and move her onto me.
She darts forward, pressing her lips fully to mine, and that’s all it takes for my muscles to tighten. Sensation crashes through me, leaving me groaning on the floor, completely at her mercy.
I don’t fucking care.
Her hand loosens. She arches back, stretching out, beads of sweat on her brow and a satisfied smile growing on her lips.
Dropping onto me, she sprawls across my torso, her chest rising and falling as rapidly as mine is.
We stay like that for a long moment. Until I finally give myself permission to stroke her back, draw the sweaty strands of her hair from her neck while she does the same for me.
I’ve never felt so warm.
Not even before I became heartless.
I don’t question it. I want to stretch out the heat between us and push back against the reality of the day.
She finally lifts her head, but only to whisper a determined, “No.”
I trace the curve of her lips, bemused. “No…what?”
She sinks back to my chest, but her voice becomes softer and I don’t like the hint of despair in it. “I don’t want to think about the world that exists outside this room. I want to hold on to these impossible moments.”
Her hand pressesto my heart.
Then she asks a question that breaks me. “How do I feel so safe with you?”
She shouldn’t.
Not really.
She’s safe to share her body with me.
But safe to share her fate?
The perils outside this room are only growing worse.
I warned her I play by my own strategy. That I’m patient, I plan, and I’m not afraid to wait for the perfect strike.
For the last seven days, I’ve bought time. I’ve held back the inevitable, but the pieces are moving and the final strike is coming.
She asked me how she could feel safe with me and I could answer her with manipulative lies. I could tell her she will never feel pain again. She will never have to feel afraid again. Not as long as I’m at her side.
Only one truth is unbreakable. “I will do everything in my power to make the world safe for you, Thyra.”
She lifts her head, shadows forming in her eyes. “I know it.” She edges forward, the shadows fading, pressing the softest kiss to my lips as she repeats, “I know it.”
