He laughed softly. “You already own me. Your presence obliterates the world. There is no one else, El. Not for me.”
“There never need be,” Elloven whispered. Her hand rolled over him in gentle, smooth strokes, his hips drawing closer. “Nothing terrible could ever come from us, Jess, no matter what others have left us to believe, no matter what they’ve done to hurt us. It’s our turn to be happy.”
The tears welling in his lower lids spilled when he nodded. When he pressed against her, she flipped him onto his back and climbed over him instead.
Elloven sidled over him, shifting her hips. The vulnerability behind his eyes belonged to her, and she would never take it for granted. She pulled him forward, folding herself into his arms, so she could listen to his heart beat. So she could kiss him again and properly, before everything changed.
“Say you do,” she whispered, running a hand through his soft hair. “I need to hear it.”
Jesstin’s strong hands traced her back, rubbing downward before clawing upward. “Yes.” They rested on her bottom and guided her into place. His jaw clenched. “I do, Elloven. More than anything. With you, I do.”
Elloven’s heart was already his. She relinquished the past and offered the rest of herself with the same passion.
There was a moment, a flash, when her old darkness tried again to return, but its influence over her had been supplanted by something with far more power.
Jesstin’s eyes rolled back when his desire took over. His fingers dug against her thighs as he moved in rhythm with her, each thrust a gradual, purposeful choice his eyes guided them through, traveling up with his moans, then back to her when he drew breath. “I was made for this. To be inside you.”
“Yes,” she said, lifting to nip his lip between her teeth, a move his body responded to, “you were.”
“How could I have ever thought...” He exhaled. “I want to feel...” The dominance in his tone was intoxicating. She squeaked when his fingers slipped between her legs. “I need to make you come. I need to feel it.” He clenched. “I won’t last. I won’t last much longer.”
Elloven could have held back her pleasure, but she let go, to offer him the same gift he’d given her. His parted mouth pressed to her temple, and Jesstin let go as well, cementing the bond that had never required magic to be real.
He rolled them sideways and nestled her against his chest. That, too, felt right. Everything felt right when he was near, even when it hurt. “That was so fast. Bloody hell, I’m so sorry.” He sounded embarrassed but also a little puzzled, like he’d been expecting better self-control. “I don’t know what happened.”
“Don’t be,” she said lightly, despite that every cell in her body craved more. It was astonishing to her that she was looking forward to sex, and how she’d been fully present in the act, even if it hadn’t lasted long. “You flatter me.”
“It won’t be like this next time.”
She kissed his neck, bathing in the bliss of next time. “I look forward to it.”
“I really didn’t intend for this to happen, Elloven.”
A whisper of her tension returned, but she held still and trusted him to finish his thought.
“I would never want you to feel taken advantage of by me,” he said. His eyes closed in frustration. “What I’m trying to say is I didn’t come here to seduce you.”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. “I think I’m the one who seduced you, Jesstin.”
Jesstin grinned down at her. Her heart skipped several beats at the sight of him, flushed and sated in the afterglow. “Yeah? Yeah, I think you did.”
“I did ask first.”
“You did.” He laughed and squeezed her. “But my code, whatever I believed I was doing... What was I doing?”
“No one expects half of what you expect of yourself.” She reached up to caress his face.
“No, it’s not like that. It wasn’t some noble sacrifice. I just couldn’t... I couldn’t bring myself to participate in an act that only reminded me of the men I come from.”
It broke her heart to think of him carrying such a heavy burden, when those actually responsible walked around as light as a feather. “And now?”
“Now I know nothing is so simple.” He exhaled and drew another, deeper breath, then released it slowly.
“Tomorrow isn’t ours. All we have is right now, holding each other in the right here. We don’t know if you can save me, or?—”
“Not ‘if.’ When.” He nudged her even closer. “I’m very serious, Elloven. I’ll bring the entire world down around us if I have to.”
Elloven smiled against his neck. Her heart was so full. Their circumstances could not be more dire, but her heart was so beautifully full. So whole. “Which one?”
