Her appetite hadn’t fully returned over the three weeks since she’d lost her father, but she’d started to put weight back on. Even the bite marks had faded to dark smudges upon her skin thanks to a daily dose of Braith’s blood. Though he still stubbornly, and annoyingly, refused to feed from her. “I did.”
She smiled as she rested her hand on his chest, pressing it flat against the solid wall of him. His flesh was warm and smooth beneath her palm as she slid it slowly down the length of him. His body stiffened, his muscles shifted and flexed subtly beneath her touch.
Her fingers slid unhurriedly back up his chest as she explored him. It fascinated her how different his body was than hers. From the wiry hair that brushed against her fingers, to the unyielding hardness of his body in areas that on her were supple and giving. He fascinated her in every imaginable way and she couldn’t get enough of him as her fingers slid lower. “Aria…”
She moved closer to him, pressing her br**sts against his chest. Her skin prickled; even through her nightgown she could feel the warmth of his skin. She felt a strange urge to cry but she fought it back. If she started to cry now he wouldn’t allow this to continue. He would think it was out of grief that she was seeking him out, and perhaps a part of it was grief, but mostly it was because she loved him, she wanted to have this experience with him, and for once she craved something for them. Not for anyone else, but simply just for them.
“I love you Braith.”
“I love you too.”
Her lips were trembling as she pressed them briefly against his mouth. His hand enfolded hers. He pressed it flat to his chest, over the place where his heart would have beat, but even though it remained still she knew that his heart belonged to her. Then, he released her hand, slid his hand into her hair and kissed her with a tenderness that left her limp and desperate for so much more. His tongue slid into her mouth, the faint hint of spices assailed her as it brushed over the roof her mouth, and tasted her in long leisurely strokes that left her breathless. There were so many things out there that she was scared and uncertain of, but here and now, she had no uncertainty, no fear as he held and kissed her with a reverence that awed her.
His mouth was heated against her skin, his hands tender as he slid the nightgown from her. Goose bumps covered her body; electricity seemed to pulse through her as her nerve endings screamed for more. She could scarcely think; her mind was spinning as her entire being became solely focused on him and the pleasure he elicited with each stroke and passionate kiss. She wanted more, craved more, but she didn’t know what it was that she was craving. She only knew that she couldn’t seem to get close enough to him as her fingers curled into the carved muscles of his back.
Everything else fell away, she forgot about all the horrible events of the past month as every cell in her body became centered upon him. His hands slid over her skin in caressing strokes that left her trembling and weak. She tasted the salt of his sweat as she kissed his neck and jaw and savored in the press of his body against hers. His hungry gaze slid over her, but unlike before, when she would have felt insecure about her body, knowing that she was too thin, that she wasn’t experienced enough, she felt only love as fire lit his gaze and his mouth came back to hers.
“Are you sure?” His voice was hoarse, strained as his hand stilled upon her thigh.
Though she sensed the tension in him, and his passion for her, she knew that he would stop if she asked him to. She knew that he would pull away, that he would accept her decision, and continue to wait patiently for her. It only made her want him more. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”
A low groan escaped him before he reclaimed her mouth and gently pressed her into the mattress. She was trembling and aching, lost in sensation as his hands awakened her to pleasures she’d never known could exist until he touched her.
When she was certain she couldn’t take anymore, certain that she would scream from the unfamiliar tension curling through her body, he moved over top of her. There was pain, but he eased it with soft kisses, and whispered words of love, as he waited for her to adjust to the new sensation of joining with him. He held her and stroked her with a reverence that made the pain ease and steadily rekindled her desire for him.
She could almost feel the bond encircling them, tightening around them and linking them together irrevocably. But it was more than the strange bloodlink that vampire’s experienced, it was deeper and stronger, it was a love so pure and right and true that she came to believe it could conquer anything. Even death.
Her body fractured, splintering apart as pleasure swamped her and she was taken into a realm of bliss she’d never known possible. His body trembled as he rolled to the side, pulling her against him as he encircled her within the steel band of his arms. This was it; this was where she had always belonged. There was no past anymore, not for him and not for her. There was only the present, only the here and now and she cherished every moment of it.
“I love you,” he whispered against her ear. She heard the vulnerability in his voice, the awe that more than matched her own.
“And I you.” His hands clasped her face and he kissed her trembling lips lightly.
The look on his face tore at her soul as he pressed his fingers against her lips. “I will love you until the end of days Aria; never doubt that for a moment.”
“I couldn’t possibly.” She traced the contours of his face before wrapping her hand around the back of his head and guiding it toward the hollow of her neck. “Please.”
He hesitated for a moment before biting down, she sighed with pleasure as they were once again joined together.
Chapter 18
Braith found her with her brother; their heads were bent close together, their shoulders touching as they sat on the bench before the fountain in the garden. Their hair, identical in color, was a shimmering deep auburn in the radiance of the sun. Their words were hushed, their arms in front of them as they seemed to be pulling and pushing at each other. It wasn’t until he was closer that he realized they were holding hands, and attempting to pin each other’s thumbs down as they tugged at each other. Though they were playing a game, they were also talking about their father, reminiscing in a way that made them both laugh. Heartache had weighed heavily on them and they wore it similarly in their thinner frames, and halfhearted smiles.
William pinned her thumb down and grinned at her. “You’re slipping sis.”
“You cheated,” she accused laughingly as she pulled her thumb free and they began to battle again.