My hands find his back, my nails rakingdown his spine. He hisses and drives himself deeper, the angle hitting something inside me that makes sparks explode across my vision.
Mine. His. I’m his and he’s mine and I’ll piece his broken soul back together and he’ll take me, have me, never let anything hurt me, never go another day without making sure I have everything I need, everything I’ve ever wanted.
We melt together. Burn as one. We become a wild tangle of pleasure, of wet skin and sliding bodies and the soul-deep pulse of the bond. Every thrust drives me higher until I’m teetering on the edge of something I don’t care if I ever come back from.
I only care about this. Aboutyesandmoreandharder, about him giving me what I crave without the need for conscious thought. His whole body tightens, ragged curses spouting from his lips as I… As he… As we…
The pinnacle slams into me, screams flowing from my throat as my body arches off the sand. He hangs on tight, his nose buried in my neck while we shatter together. Again and again, a shower of glittering pieces that break the whole world as they fall.
My body turns to stardust. Pleasure sweeps me up and wrings me out and finally leaves me panting and sticky and limp in his arms.
He collapses, his hand cupping the back of my head, his weight pressing me into the sand. We lie there, surrounded by the sound of ragged breathing and the gentle burble of the stream.
Time slows to a trickle, long seconds getting lost in the combined thud of our heartbeats. Minutes pass, maybe. I don’t know.
“Shadows take me,” he murmurs against my neck.
I somehow scrounge up the energy to skim my nails down his back, which earns me a shiver.
I chuckle. How pliant this bulwark of strength becomes with a simple touch.
“Do that again,” he says, a rumbling command.
I do, eliciting an even deeper shiver, this time.
He growls his contentment, then raises his head and stares down into my face. I stare back, struck by the weight behind his eyes, by seeing his two halves shine forth at once.
Because in this moment, I have both of them here, inside me. Onesoul pinning me to the sand, gazing down as if I hold the secrets of the universe in my palm.
For a while, we stay like that. Just…being. Existing.
Basking.
But I can’t lie here forever, and eventually, I reach up to frame his face in my hands. “I need to go,” I whisper. “I need to finish.”
He kisses my palm, his eyes alight with some new glow. “I know,” he murmurs.
My brows shoot up. “You mean you’re not going to fight me? Like Amriel did?”
He chuckles. “No. I’m going to help you.”
He leaves the rest unsaid, but it flows into me through the bond—he’ll carry me to the end, up the cliff and across the land bridge so I can reach the hourglass. Shatter it before he changes at sunrise and chases me.
Then he’ll wait with bated breath to see which door I choose. Hope with every fiber of his being that it’s the one he wants.
At that, I ease back, disengaging our bodies and rising on unsteady legs. The moment we separate, aches bloom in my joints. The Shadow kneels on the sand for a moment longer, his hands resting on his knees, staring up with a devotion that takes my breath away.
“Thank you.” He infuses each syllable with such meaning that my eyes prickle. “I think I can die happy now.”
I hold his gaze. “I’d rather you didn’t die at all. At least…not today.”
His mouth crooks, the tips of his fangs peeking out. “No. Not today.”
Something inside me unclenches. I nod, and we break apart by some unspoken agreement, me pulling on my wet clothes while he goes to retrieve the dagger from wherever it fell.
When we’ve both dressed again and all my various gadgets and weapons are accounted for, I quickly braid my hair, then consult my bracelet.
Only a sixth of my time remains. Enough to last the night, probably until just past sunrise. I hold out my wrist for the Shadow to see. “Is this enough?”
