Without another thought, without even thinking it through, I dropped his wrist and kissed him again, hard. His mouth tasted metallic, like my blood, mixed with his own sweet taste. I plunged my tongue into his mouth and his hands were suddenly everywhere. He needed me as much as I needed him.
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t see.
I couldn’t think.
All I knew was that every cell in my body needed this man. I needed to touch him, taste him, feel him, consume him.
Now.
I took a ragged breath and stripped off my clothes. His heat enveloped me and I ripped his shirt to remove it. His skin pressed against mine and I could no longer form any coherent thought. I knew that the Olympians could see, but I suddenly didn’t care. All rational thoughts faded away as the colors of the rainbow exploded around us as our auras materialized to me. Normally, this would be where I stopped, where I forced my hands to still so that I didn’t take Brennan’s soul.
But today, I felt stronger than I ever had when I really should be at my weakest because of the eclipse. I didn’t know what internal well I was drawing from, but I wasn’t going to question it.
I kissed Brennan, all of the fire in my veins transferring into my kiss as I bit his lip.
“I want you,” I told him hoarsely. “Right now.”
From the corner of my eye, I could see the trees on fire again and the oranges and yellows of the flames swirled into the colors our auras. My own fire raged within me and I innately knew that only one thing could quench it. And at this particular juncture, we didn’t have anything to lose anyway.
Brennan’s hands were everywhere, his breath on my skin. His tongue licked the soft skin of my neck, right before he bit. He drank more of my blood before dragging his mouth to mine. I felt weak with wanting him, but stronger than I’d ever felt at the same time. We were meant to be one. It was as natural to us as breathing. It was what we were both racing toward now. There was no turning back.
Suddenly, his fingers found the most sensitive part of me and I cried out. The intense pleasure overtook me and the solid granite altar beside us crumpled into rubble from the burst of energy. My cheeks were flushed and hot, my breaths panted raggedly. Brennan’s hands were on my back, my legs, my br**sts. And where his fingers touched, his mouth quickly followed suit. Only one thing mattered now.
Only.
One.
Thing.
I pulled Brennan to me and I could feel his hardness, his maleness, his need for me. It was overwhelming, earth shattering, mind bending. I struggled to breathe and everything was a blur. We were moving, but I couldn’t define it anymore. I couldn’t control it or myself. And then suddenly, before I knew it, we were physically one.
I gasped and Brennan cried out.
In that one moment, with Brennan inside me, I had never felt more complete or at peace. I arched against Brennan as he moved in the ancient, old-as-time rhythm and I felt tears slipping down my cheeks. Sadness didn’t move me, an uncontrollable happiness did. There had never been anything so right in my entire life. Why had I resisted it for so long?
We moved toward an unseen precipice and I braced for what would come. It built up and built up and as Brennan exploded within me, so did the sky above us. Colors and pops and cracks and supersonic booms came from every direction and suddenly, the sky was on fire.
We froze and watched in wonder for several minutes as the sky burned.
And then, as the clouds and smoke moved and parted, we saw the sun and the moon separate, moving back into their rightful places in the sky. The eclipse was over. Our power, the energy that we had created together, had torn the eclipse apart.
I collapsed onto Brennan’s damp chest and cried…from happiness, from relief, from love. He held me close and whispered sweetly to me, cradling me against him. Whatever happened to us next almost didn’t matter.
“Use your will now,” I whispered to him. “Take us to the Underworld, Bren. We’ll never be stronger than we are right now.”
The last thing I saw before I closed my eyes was the sky opening up and the Olympians descending upon us. Then we were gone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I had never been as comfortable as I was right now.
I came to that realization as I stirred, as I slowly regained consciousness. I opened my eyes and found that I was wrapped in red silk bedding, situated in the middle of a massive, soft bed. Ebony bedposts as thick as my body framed each of the four corners and billowy gauze floated above me.
Brennan sat in a chair next to me. He was clean and shaven, and was dressed in linen trousers and a white silk shirt. He practically glowed with his own brand of health and beauty. His eyes lit up when he saw that mine were open.
“Empusa,” he smiled. “How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been asleep for a thousand years,” I admitted, moving my arms gingerly. “How long has it actually been?”
“A few days,” he said quietly, pulling my hand to his lips. “Our strength was completely drained. I slept for a solid day, myself. But I’m awake now and I feel better than ever. Do you feel better?”
I considered that. I stretched each of my hands, then my legs. I felt strong. My mind was sharp. I seemed to have made a full recovery from the effects of the eclipse. To be honest, I hadn’t felt so good in a long time.
“And Zeus?” I asked hesitantly.
“Seriously pissed off,” Brennan confirmed. “There’s a storm brewing now, Empusa. But we’re together and we’re both alive. Hades tells me that the game has changed. Your significance has changed everything.”
“Yes, indeed it has,” Hades added as he glided into the room. Everything about him was so fluid, so polished. So refined.
“I knew from the moment that I first saw you that you were special, Empusa,” he continued, as he poured nectar into a sparkling goblet and handed it to me. “I just didn’t know how significant you would actually become. I do believe that you will be the key that will change everything.”
“Well, no pressure, or anything,” I mumbled sarcastically. Hades smiled at me, his teeth bright white in the cool darkness of my bedroom.