“Yes,” I replied, my gaze drifting toward the floor.
I felt Malakai gripping my chin making me gaze upwards.
“No need to be embarrassed.” He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.
“Then it is easy. You just need to think of these moments of desire and push everything else out of the center of your mind.” I felt his fingers gliding along my jaw, his fingers brushing the corner of my lips.
“And what if I can’t find him in my mind and answer him?”
“Then I’ll help you, for as long as it takes,” he said, his fingers brushing against my lower lip.
I closed my eyes… trying to use my connection, my desire, to find Xavier. To locate him… wherever he was.
And I almost lost all hope, before I felt a small shadow wrapping around my mind like silk.
“Xavier?” I asked quietly. It felt so weird to try to talk with a shadow of my mind, but I started to get anxious. What if it wasn’t Xavier? What if I failed all of them?
Malakai’s hand slipped from my chin to the curve of my neck, his fingers tracing the line of my collarbone with reverent slowness, almost like he tried to ground me.
“Don’t be afraid… open your mind. Think of him.”
He leaned in again, kissing the spot just below my ear. His touch relaxed me.
I was thinking about the first time I saw Xavier back in the tunnels… how much I’d hated him for bringing me here, and how much I truly wanted him. Every time Xavier glided his hands down my side until they settled at my waist, I felt my body heating up. It almost felt like his touches pulled my body into devotion.
Gwendolyn?
It was a question from… it was Xavier’s voice.
I answered with a nod, the kind that came from the heart, not just the body.
My achingly beautiful, stunning little creature… Tell me where you are.
Although Xavier only spoke with me in my mind, it felt like he whispered against my skin, as if the words hurt him to say aloud.
Damien and I found Malakai… he was trapped in some underground cave, beneath the Ancient Springs.
It was silent between us… nearly unbearable until I perceived his voice again.
Are you safe?
Damien is gone, Malakai and I are waiting for him.
I’ll save you, my love. Nothing is ever coming between us.
I could feel his forehead pressing against mine, although he was only there in my mind.
Suddenly, Malakai’s thumb brushed my cheekbone, leading me to open my eyes.
His gaze was intense, clear, and full of knowing.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his thumb brushing strokes over my face.
I gazed up at him, tears welling in my eyes before I could stop them. “I don’t know where Damien is… I don’t feel him. I don’teven know where Xavier is… if he is able to find us, and you…” My fingers trailing along all the painful red wounds, brushing softly across them.
“I don’t even know what happened to you here… I couldn’t save you.”
He cradled my face with both hands, his thumbs wiping the tears away. “You have saved me.”
