The Mirror in the Mountain (The Mirrored Trilogy #2)

16. Bash

Chapter 16

Bash

I woke up from my nightmare with a start, my heart in my throat. Eva was still curled up beside me, fitted against me so perfectly it was like we were made for each other. Locks of her hair decorated my shoulder, dark eyelashes fanning across her cheeks. Our hands were still entwined—the last thing I remembered before sleep claimed me was her hand folding into mine.

But I could see the bruising around her throat, a sharp reminder of how close I was to losing her. The still-healing bite mark that set my blood boiling. I let out a shaky breath, clamping down on the bond between us so my shame and fury wouldn’t wake her.

Eva’s warm breath tickled against my neck as I fought to steady my breathing and settle back into her. She felt so fragile in my arms, even though I knew her to be entirely the opposite. Eva had always been a dichotomy, vacillating between breathtakingly powerful and yet heartbreakingly vulnerable from all she had been through, even if she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

Thankfully, I hadn’t woken her from her obviously much needed sleep, her exhaustion pulling her too far under. Nuzzling into her hair, I breathed in an indulgent inhale as I carefully moved as close to her as I could, her warm body curled against mine almost managing to chase the worst of my thoughts away. Like how much I had failed her by leaving her in Aviel’s clutches. How he had almost raped my soul bonded yet again while I fought, and failed, to reach her in time.

Eva was breathing softly, the sound that had lulled me to sleep so many nights in the Faewilds as the stars twinkled through the treetops. I had almost forgotten how much I loved that sound; the joy of it only secondary to having her safe in my arms at last.

Her full lips parted as she sighed, turning further into my body—needing me closer even in her dreams. My stomach swooped as her dark lashes fluttered, struggling against the lull of sleep as she tried to wake.

I couldn’t resist reaching up and brushing my thumb against the smooth, tan skin of her cheeks, relishing how the color deepened at my attention. One eye cracked open, a hint of gold flashing in the morning light.

Her voice a sleepy rasp, she asked, “Why are you looking at me like that? Do we need to get up?”

“No, not yet,” I whispered. “Go back to sleep, hellion. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She needed to rest, to heal before what came next. Even if that indomitable fortitude was firmly intact.

But her eyelids fluttered open, though she hid a yawn against my shoulder, her lips grazing against my bare skin. Dark circles lay under her eyes as they suddenly filled with a worry I could feel like a twist in my gut. Her lower lip quivered before she bit down on it as if to hide it. But she couldn’t hide the renewed hollowness in her gaze, the recollection of despair that echoed down our bond.

“What is it?”

She blinked at me like my question had brought her back from an unwelcome memory. Then she sighed, whispering, “I feel like this is going to fall apart somehow. Like I’m going to wake up back in that box, or in his bed.”

I pressed a soft kiss on her forehead even as I tamped down on my rage that thought induced, the force of my hatred for the monster who had made her fear that. “This is real, Eva. You’re safe. You’re here.”

A faint smile flickered across her lips. “I’m with you.”

My stomach turned over at the trust in her voice. Like being with me somehow ensured her safety when I had so utterly failed her.

She was everything I didn’t deserve. But I was going to keep her anyway.

“Do you want me to get you something to eat? Some tea?” I was suddenly desperate to do anything to erase that lingering despair. “Breakfast in bed?”

She gave me a little smile that never failed to make my heart pound, her one-sided dimple winking at me. “A little late for that, no?”

The sunlight streaming in from the window did seem to hint that morning had almost passed. I hadn’t realized how long we slept.

“But I can think of something I’d like to eat,” Eva said, her fingers trailing down my chest. That dimple deepened.

I let out a garbled noise at her lowering touch, utterly aware of the sinful curves wrapped around me. “We should really go downstairs and—” I nearly groaned aloud when her hand brushed against my rapidly hardening length. “—find the others.”

Eva only shook her head, a small smile on her lips. “After.”

It was less a want than a need, this endless longing for her. What we had already done should have taken the edge off, and yet it remained unquenchable, this thirst for her. The depth of my desire was a bottomless ocean in which I would happily be dragged beneath by her siren’s song and drown.

“Sometimes I want you in a way that’s almost too much to bear, hellion.”

She smirked knowingly. “Sometimes?”

Pulling her on top of me, I kissed her, hard. She moaned into my mouth, squirming against me as I hardened, each unintentional movement quickly driving me insane.

I didn’t think I could ever get enough of her. And I knew from the flush on her cheeks, the need burning across our bond, that she felt the same. She sighed as my lips moved down her neck, ghosting over the scar that encircled it and the new healing line to match. I pressed a kiss in the hollow between her collarbones, and she let out that breathless moan I was utterly obsessed with.

“Tell me you want this.”

Eva made a small, inarticulate sound of pleasure as I gripped her ass, grinding her against me; cherishing the feel of her curves beneath my hands, the strength of her thighs as they gripped my hips, the way her pulse quickened under my tongue.

“ Bash .”

There was that perfect little whimper again. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes,” Eva breathed. “I need... more . More of you.”

I smirked against her skin. “I want you to come on my fingers, my tongue, and at least twice once I’m inside you. Unless you have any objections…”

She made a desperate little noise deep in the back of her throat as I fisted my hand in her hair, bringing her mouth to mine like I could capture everything I felt for her into this one kiss.

Flinging the covers away, I spun her under me in one smooth motion, my fingers slipping inside that warm wet heat as she gasped. I grinned as she ground against my hand, even as I reached across our bond for any feelings of disquiet. But there was only that want, that need , that only served to intensify my own.

“So needy,” I teased, feeling her clench around my fingers. My middle and ring fingers curled inside her as she rolled her hips against me.

“For you?” She let out a breathy laugh. “Always.”

My shadows wrapped around her thighs, tugging her legs open wide to bare her entirely to me. When my mouth found her center, she was already shuddering, moaning so loudly I hoped our companions had the sense not to choose the adjacent rooms…or the ones next to those. I groaned as I tasted her, my tongue slipping inside her before licking up her slit, circling that bundle of nerves. My fingers moved in tandem, and I felt her thighs start to tremble as I sucked and nipped, my tongue moving in steady circles.

Eva’s hips bucked as I lightly bit down, making her shatter with a cry, her hand fisting in my hair as her back bowed off the bed. My shadows held her in place as I felt her orgasm tear through her almost violently, my name a chorus, a plea, before her knees fell limply apart.

One hand tightened into my hair, dragged my mouth away from her as I licked my lips. Her eyes fluttered open, the gold at their center glinting.

“Bash,” She whispered as I crawled over her. “I need all of you.”

My tongue delved into her mouth, letting her taste herself as I plunged into her. I moaned as that tight, wet heat enveloped me, her nails pressing into my shoulder blades so hard I knew they would leave a mark.

She pushed against my chest, and I followed her lead, lying against the pillows as she straddled me. We both lost our breaths as I slowly pushed inside of her, letting her feel every hard inch. Her hips undulated, those inner muscles squeezing with every lift as her ass slapped loudly against my thighs.

“You take me so well,” I murmured, watching as a flush crept down her chest. My shadows snaked between her thighs, teasing her before my thumb took their place.

Just when I was sure I was about to finish far too soon, I splayed my hands wide around her hips, dragging her up my body until she was straddling my face. Eva let out a surprised squeak that quickly turned into a moan as I breathed against her, “One more, hellion. Come on my tongue one more time before I lose myself inside you. I made you a promise, after all.”

Then my mouth was moving on her, her greedy hips rocking against me with abandon. I circled her more roughly with my tongue, feeling her thighs start to quake on either side of my head. My shadows streamed up her stomach, circling around her breasts, nipping at her peaked nipples.

Her gaze met mine, her eyes wholly black—then they rolled back in her head, followed by a surge of familiar darkness as she came apart. Wispy tendrils trailed down my arms, lacing around my wrists as she sagged forward, my shadows surging to keep her upright as I wrung every last shudder from her body.

I pulled her astride me, watching her gaze meet mine with an entirely sex addled expression. Then her darkness tightened around my wrists, holding them above my head.

Her eyes met mine. “Can I…”

My answer was instantaneous. “I’m yours to command, my queen.”

If she needed that sense of control, I would give it to her. Especially when the act in itself set my entire body aflame.

“Then it’s my turn,” Eva said as one of those wisps wrapped around my base. My hips jerked in surprise before she sank back onto me, the squeeze of her paired with that ring of darkness nearly making me finish right then. My shadows twisted around her calves as she moved on me, our magics twining together against her skin.

I couldn’t get enough of the breathy little moans she made, the way her breath caught as she seated herself fully. The way her hands tightened against my chest as she moved against me, her breasts bouncing as she picked up her pace. How much I loved the way she used me, taking exactly what she needed.

She leaned down, kissing me hard, then drew in a little gasp at the new angle as I thrust up into her, my shadows bracketing her hips. Her eyes locked with mine, the raw pleasure I saw in them stealing my breath.

One hand pressed into my chest, holding me in place as she used the leverage to slam herself down again and again. Her pace grew frantic, her fingernails clawing into my skin as her inner walls tightened around me. She let out a desperate cry as one of my shadows slipped over her center, swirling exactly where I knew she needed it.

“That’s it,” I urged as my impending release coiled at the base of my spine. “Come for me. Come with me.”

“ Bash.”

My name on her lips was my undoing. Our pleasure peaked together, and I lost myself in her.

She collapsed against me, a mass of thick hair covering my face as we just breathed together, my arms wrapping around her as her magic receded. I nipped at her ear, if only to hear the hitch in her breath, as I rubbed a hand at the small of her back. “You’re so beautiful.”

Her muffled laugh against my throat was the most perfect sound in the world. “You can’t even see anything.”

She gave a sharp twist of her head, her hair whipping off my face.

“Doesn’t change what I said,” I mumbled.

She smiled, the sight of it making my heart clench at how much I had longed for it in our time apart. Then she moved to my side as I slipped from inside her, already missing that intimate connection.

I tugged her closer, listening to the familiar cadence of her breathing as I kissed her temple, her cheek, the space next to the barely scabbed-over mark on her neck that made a fresh wave of fury flood through me. Belatedly, I realized she had felt my reaction as her muscles tensed, then trembled, a wave of emotion spilling from her that mingled with my own devastation.

I braced myself on one arm, brushing her hair back from her face with the other.

When she finally looked up at me, there were tears in her eyes. “I wasn’t sure if…if we’d ever have this again. If when I gave myself up to him, I’d ever see you again.”

I pulled her closer, unable to stop the growl low in my throat at everything I hadn’t been able to stop from happening—at everything she had willingly given up to save us. “What part of forever didn’t you understand?”

Her watery laugh lasted for a second before it dissolved back into tears. But I would take even a moment of feeling that heaviness ease on the other side of our bond.

Eva’s hand brushed my neck. It halted there, her other hand pressing against her heart. Her head cocked, then she nodded as if in confirmation.

“What is it?”

Her mouth twisted in a small smile. “Our heartbeats. They’re in sync.”

Our eyes locked together—the air between us crackling.

“My heart is your heart, Eva,” I said, covering her hand with mine. Pressing down against the beating of our hearts, keeping time together. “Don’t you know that by now?”

There was a flash of pure joy down our bond, her eyes bright with tears. “I love you, Bash. With all that I am. No matter what happens.”

“Good,” I murmured, kissing the flush on each of her cheeks. “Because I may not deserve you…but you’re mine, and I’m yours. And I plan on creating a future where nothing and nobody will stand in the way of that ever again.”