I catch a glimpse of our reflections in the bathroom mirror. Two bodies pressed together, water cascading over us. And on both our chests, glowing softly through the steam, the bond marks pulse with crimson light. Brighter now than before. Responding to our passion, our connection, the pleasure flooding through the bond.
Beautiful. We're beautiful together. Marked. Matched. Mated.
I'm still shaking when he carries me out of the shower, both of us dripping, neither of us caring. He makes it as far as the bedroom before I pull his mouth down to mine.
"Again," I say against his lips.
"You need to rest."
"I need you." I pull him closer, feeling his want surge through the bond despite his protests. "We have eternity to rest."
He kisses me. Deep, consuming, nothing held back. Then my back is against the wall, and he's lifting me, and I wrap myself around him.
When he slides back inside me, we both moan at the sensation. The bond has settled into something steady now, a constant current of shared feeling that makes every touch electric.
"I can feel how much you want me," I murmur against his ear.
"I've wanted you since the moment you walked into my life." He thrusts deeper, and I gasp. "Every night. Every hour. Every moment."
"Then show me."
He does.
He takes me against the wall with a ferocity that leaves me breathless. Hard, fast, desperate. I feel his need through the bond, raw and consuming.
"More," I demand, and he gives me more.
The orgasm builds fast, fed by the feedback loop. His pleasure fueling mine, mine fueling his, spiraling higher with every thrust. When it crashes over us, I cry out against his shoulder, feeling him shudder inside me as we break apart together.
But it's not enough. Not nearly enough.
I'm still shaking when he carries me to the bed, both of us trembling, neither of us finished.
On the bed, he's different.
"Now," he says, settling over me, "we do this properly."
The desperation has faded into something else. Still hungry, still wanting, but controlled now. Deliberate. He settles over me, bracing himself on his forearms, and just looks at me.
"What?" I ask, suddenly self-conscious under the intensity of his gaze.
"I'm memorizing you." His fingers trace the line of my jaw, my throat, the curve of my shoulder. "Every time I almost lost you, I kept thinking, I don't have enough memories. I need more."
"You have eternity now."
"I know." He lowers his mouth to my collarbone, pressing a kiss there. "And I intend to spend every moment of it learning you."
He starts at my throat, mapping my skin with his lips. Slow, reverent kisses that trail across my shoulders, down the valley between my breasts, over the curve of my ribs. I feel his focus like a laser, the way he catalogs every shiver, every hitch in my breath, every spot that makes me gasp.
"Here," he murmurs against the inside of my elbow, pressing a kiss to the sensitive skin. "You like this."
"I like everything you do."
"I know. I can feel it." He smiles against my skin. "But some things you like more than others."
He continues his exploration, finding places I didn't know were sensitive. The inside of my wrist. The curve of my hip. Thesoft skin behind my knee. Each discovery sends ripples through the bond, my pleasure feeding his satisfaction, his attention making me feel like the most precious thing in the world.
By the time he settles between my thighs again, I'm trembling with need.
