“Oh, hey.” Penelope’s gaze shifted over her shoulder.
He offered the female a smile, then planted his hands on Orianna’s shoulders, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“We’re almost finished, actually,” Penelope said, a grin forming. “In fact, I was about to head upstairs.” Her hand rested on her swollen belly. “Figured I’d grab a snack before the morning meal.”
“Don’t run off on my account.”
A knowing grin had Penelope’s fangs flashing. “Why don’t you give him a tour?” she told Orianna.
“I’ll do that.” Orianna turned to face him. “Although I’m not sure you need one.”
He stared down into her beautiful face. “I wouldn’t mind a tour.”
“There’s no privacy down here,” she whispered, clearly picking up on why he’d sought her out.
“If you look in the right places, there’s always privacy.”
Taking her hand, Eclipse led her through the medical section to the rooms beyond. In an effort to give the brother and sister healers some private space, they’d turned a good portion of the underground rooms into their private quarters, including two separate bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, and an area for them to kick back and chill. Eclipse had no idea why Apollo and Amethyst wanted their own separate space, but he had agreed with Penelope that they might need time to acclimate to being on Earth. It was quite a change from Heaven.
“Is that why you came down here?” Orianna asked as he led the way into one of the empty bedrooms.
“To seduce you?” He pulled her against him, then backed her to the wall. “Absolutely.”
Granted, it had only been two hours since he’d last had her, but that damngathenyahad its claws in them both. Getting ahead of the heat was the only option at this point, the only thing keeping him even remotely sane.
Orianna moaned softly, her hands sliding up his chest to his neck. A chill danced down his spine when her fingernails sensually scraped his scalp.
Ever since the morning he’d come to their room to find her writhing on the bed and he’d had no clue she’d needed him, Eclipse had been keeping his senses tuned to her. He had no idea how he’d managed to get distracted enough to have missed it, but he blamed Michael’s appearance for part of it.
What had bothered him most was the fact Orianna had honestly believed he had abandoned her. She had needed him, and he hadn’t known, otherwise he would’ve been at her side in an instant. Those tears had broken his heart, reminding him how fragile she was. Not on the outside, of course. Orianna was a strong female, one of the strongest he’d ever met.
“Didn’t we just do this?” Orianna’s breathless words had Eclipse pulling his mouth from hers.
“It’s been two hours.”
She laughed, a sound that made his chest swell.
“Well, in that case…” She pulled his mouth back to hers.
“I want to put my tongue somewhere else,” he whispered against her lips.
“Is that right?”
Eclipse slid his hand up her thigh, sliding higher until he reached the waistband of her leggings. He loved that she favored these things because they made it extremely easy to get her naked. Pretty soon, though, he was going to insist she wear skirts because … yeah, that would take no effort at all.
Theamnighhad all but consumed them, and though Eclipse knew what they needed to do in order to offer them relief, he was having a difficult time suggesting it. The thought of slaying the female he loved more than life itself was not something he could fathom. After the hell he’d put her through when he’d brought her back from Oklahoma, he couldn’t imagine hurting her again. Knowing he’d been the one responsible for her pain had leveled him.
On the other hand, being the one who took her life… He wasn’t sure he would survive it.
However, the alternative was going to be keeping her drugged, and he already knew her feelings on that. Obsidian had assured him it was the only option aside from going through with thelintamair. They’d already agreed to discuss with the healers when they arrived, to see if there was something they could do in the future, but that wasn’t going to benefit Orianna. Again, she wasn’t going to succumb to being drugged.
As he tugged her leggings down her thighs, Eclipse went to his knees, trailing kisses over her hips as he uncovered the soft, smooth flesh beneath.
“Eclipse!”
He smiled. “I love when you say my name like that.”
Eclipse looked up at her as he lifted one of her legs and draped it over his shoulder.
