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“Cali.” He groans and guides my hips, circling me against his groin.

I push myself up, but he reaches out, grabbing the back of my neck.

Brows tipped up, a look of panic swirls in his eyes as he stares up at me. “I can’t tell you how many dreams I’ve had. Just like this one. When I woke to the sounds of suffering and the howls of mutations. The endless darkness of that place.”

In all my agony over Cadmus, I’d forgotten that Valdys has suffered, too.

I run the pad of my finger over the scar across his lip, the one at his forehead, and down his nose. His eyes flutter shut, and he breathes hard through his nose, as though savoring the touch. Fingers tucked under the hem of his shirt, I slide the fabric upward, and he sits up, allowing me to yank it over his head. More scars mar his body, new ones I didn’t notice in the shower earlier, evidence of his survival in that place. Every fight for his life has been etched into his skin with horrific gore. Jagged, irregular lines pass beneath my fingertips, while I run my hands across his skin. If possible, more tears gather in my eyes at the sight of his ruined flesh.

I lean forward and kiss them, every one of them, from his stomach that flinches beneath my lips, to his throat that hammers with his quickening pulse. I kiss the one at his forehead, and across his nose, pausing to notice his eyes rapt on my lips. Tracing my finger across the scar on his mouth, I lean forward to run my tongue across its rigid surface, and kiss it, also.

His brows are furrowed, as always, knit with the austerity of a man who’s had to deny himself happiness and pleasure. One who undoubtedly waits for it to be torn away by nightmares.

“I’m here, Valdys. I’ll never let you wake to that place alone again.”

Eyes softening with what I surmise as awe, he stares up at me, stroking his hand down my hair. “I knew you were something special when I first met you, but I had no idea that you were an angel. That you would risk everything to find me.”

“Because you would do the same for me.”

He slides his hand to the back of my neck, and his face hardens. “There is nowhere I wouldn’t go, nothing I wouldn’t kill, to keep you at my side. Now and always.”

Lips bruising mine with his fervency, he runs his hand up my thigh, drawing me back on top of him, and rolls the two of us over, until I’m lying on my back, the cool flat rock pressing against my spine. He looks down my body, slipping his hand beneath my shirt, where he rubs his palm across my belly, before his hand snakes down inside my pants. When his finger meets my wet seam, I tip my head, eyes rolled back, and feel his stubble graze my throat. Teeth find my collarbone, as he pushes his finger up inside of me, and I bite my lip, writhing with pleasure.

Every stroke and caress holds the passion of a reverent man, a strong and virile Alpha powerful enough to crush bones with his bare hands. And yet, he touches me as if I’m made of glass, fragile enough to break with the tiniest pressure.

Skin hot with a rush of blood, I still just long enough to see him yank my shirt up, exposing my breast, which he sucks into his mouth. I scrape my nails across his scalp, while his teeth pull at my nipple, and I arch into him, wanting to cry with the torment.

“Oh, Valdys, I’ve missed you.”

Pants slip down my thighs, as he tears them away. In the pause that follows, I open my eyes to see him remove his own pants, revealing the body of a god. Chiseled and hardened, he looks like a warrior standing before me. A map of veins pulses blood through the straining erection that sticks up from his thighs, thick and hard, brimming with the promise of pain and long-awaited release. The lust and longing burning in his eyes, as he stares down at me, stroking himself, casts a shiver down my spine. He falls to his knees, and my body is lifted from the rock. Once again, I’m straddling him, as he eases back and settles me onto his groin, my knees hardly touching the ground over his hulking body. Hands squeezing the back of my thighs, he licks his lips and stares back at me, the fascination in his eyes mirroring my own. He breathes hard through his nose, brows tipped up, as if looking at me is a torment in itself.

Coarse stubble tickles my skin when he buries his face between my breasts, pausing to drag his tongue over each nipple. Hand to my nape, he pulls me in for a kiss. “I wanted to take my time. To savor this moment. But I’ve waited for you for too long. I’ve been starving for you,” he says in a ragged voice against my lips.

“I’m yours to take. However you want.”

Strong palms prodding the back of my thighs, he urges me higher, up his body, until I’m on my knees straddling his face. Wet lips latch to my flesh, and the chasing suction pulls at my core, my hips thrusting involuntarily toward the source of my torment. I open my mouth to moan but breath hitches in my chest as my mouth gapes for a sip of air. Threading my fingers through his hair, I stare down at him, hands curled into fists, and rock my hips against his unforgiving tongue.

“I’ve forgotten how sweet you taste.” His deep and guttural voice rumbles against my flesh. He glides his lips along my seam, and my hips buck forward, my slick folds captured in his greedy mouth.

“Oh, God, Valdys!”

The need building inside of me swells with every long and slippery drag of his tongue, until I can’t stand it anymore. I want to take him into my body and feel his pain and suffering burrow deep within me. I want to let it writhe in my belly, snake behind my ribs to squeeze my heart and awaken what’s been dead for too long.

Sliding back down his body, I lift myself just high enough to impale myself on his cock. I lower myself down, arms wrapped tight around his shoulders like hot steel beneath my palms. A gasp slips past my lips.

He shudders a breath, his strong hand gripping tight around my waist, and his lips curve into a slight smile. Eyes locked on mine, he holds me still, while circling his hips forward, stirring his cock as he seats himself deep inside of me. The stretch of his girth adds a twinge of pain, abated only when he withdraws. Then, once again, his hips jut forward, creating a smooth glide as my arousal wets his shaft. With every thrust, his breathing hastens, jaw ticcing with a downward curve of his lips.

“What is it?” I ask, running my fingers down his sweat-slick temple. “What’s wrong?”

The intensity of his stare sharpens with a shaky blast of air through his nose. His body tautens, trembling, eyes wide and unfocused. A sharp yank of my arms, and his solid chest smashes against my cheek, as he imprisons me in his unyielding embrace. The incessant pounding of his heart matches the unsteady breath that falls against the top of my head.

“Valdys?” Lying against him, I take in the jerky flex of his muscles, and his grip tightens around me, banishing the air from my lungs. “Valdys, I can’t breathe.”

A groan rumbles in his chest, but his hold loosens just enough to push up, where I can see his eyes screwed up, face turned away from mine.

Tracing my finger down his cheek, I guide him back to me, and press my lips to his. The rigidity in his muscles softens as he seems to calm.

“When I look at you,” he says against my mouth. “All I see are those things swiping you up. Stealing you away from me.”