His heated eyes locked on mine. Spreading my legs, he pushed back inside me. He moved slowly at first, staring into the very heart of me. My heart thundered with every sensual thrust, and I moved my hips in time with his, like we were in a dance of our own making.
When he began to shudder, I reached up and dragged both my hands up his horns, lingering at the tips. Tormund’s pace quickened. A raw animalistic need tore through his eyes, and the growl he emitted resounded through the cave.
As the wild look in his eye got even wilder, so did my need to give him as much pleasure as he’d given me. I arched my back, grinding against his hips. I dragged my hands up and down his horns—faster, harder—until he gripped my hips and exploded inside of me.
Tormund roared. The ground shook. Rocks tumbled down from the walls, crashing into the pond and spraying water into my face. His shadows pulsed against my skin, faster and faster until—everything exploded.
Darkness took my mind.
26
TORMUND
Everything hurt. Groaning, I lifted my head from the ground and peered around with blurry eyes. Rocks were scattered around me, consuming what had once been the pond where Astrid had so gloriously bathed herself.
Shock jolted me. I leapt to my feet and nearly fell flat on my face, rubble crumbling beneath my feet. But the one thought blaring through my mind kept me standing.
Where the fuck is Astrid?!
Horror twisted my guts as I spun in a slow, agonizing circle. There was nothing surrounding me but boulders. What had once been a cavernous space was a tiny little cave now. I dropped to my knees. Rocks punched through my trousers, but I barely felt the pain.
Unshed ears burned my eyes. My power had done this. It had caused the entire cave to come crashing down on us, and…
I choked. My worst nightmare had come true. I knew I shouldn’t have gotten close to her. I knew it would only ever end in this.
“Tormund!” a beautiful, sweet, perfect voice called out, muffled behind all this rock. I threw myself toward the sound.
“Astrid!” I pressed my face against the nearest boulder, my voice more panicked than I’d ever heard it before. “Where are you? Are you hurt? Oh gods, I’m so sorry. I never should have lost control of myself like that.”
“I’m still here beside the pond, Tormund. And I’m fine.” A pause. “You’re the one who’s trapped.”
Frowning, I eyed my surroundings again. What I’d thought was the pond was clearly nothing more than a pile of pebbles. In my panic, I’d seen things that weren’t there. But none of that mattered. All I could imagine was Astrid shivering on the other side of these rocks, surrounded by boulders as big as a dragon.
“Are you’re sure you’re fine?” I called out. “You can still move around all right?”
“It’s like you drew all the falling rocks to your own body,” she answered. “Tormund, what happened?”
I closed my eyes, lowered myself to the ground, and dropped my head against the boulder. “I…I’ve accidentally caused something like this before. People got hurt that time. I’ve never been able to forgive myself, because deep down I knew it would happen again.” Heaviness settled onto my shoulders. “And I was right.”
“All right. I see. But can you tell mehowit happened? I’ve never heard of shadow demons having this kind of power. You brought down hundreds of rocks.”
“I wish I could explain,” I muttered.
“What was that?”
I cleared my throat and raised my voice. “I wish I could, Astrid.”
A long silence answered. I could picture her face in my mind, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. How I’d known so much about curses. How cagey I’d been about my power. HowI’d pulled away when we got too close and never had a good explanation for it. Astrid was a smart woman, and she knew how curses worked all too well.
“Well,” she eventually said. “What kind of curse amplifies powers?”
“The kind that wants me to go through life never fully letting go,” I said. “I have to remain tense. I have to keep a tight leash on myself and my emotions. Because this…this is what happens when I don’t. I destroy everything I love.”
Love.The word spilled from my lips. I swallowed, wondering if Astrid had noticed.
“Then you have to find a way to accept your powers for what they are,” she said, sounding far too calm about this entire situation. “That’s how you break your curse.”
I laughed bitterly. “Astrid, this is it for me. I’m surrounded by boulders and piles of rocks. What just happened completely sapped my power. It will return to me eventually, but it could take days. I’m not strong to move all this stuff out of the way.”
