Chapter 25
Chapter
Twenty-Five
LYRA
His kiss was searing. All-consuming.
My knees buckled at the intensity of it, but Kaden’s arm swooped around my waist, smashing me against his chest as he parted my lips with his tongue. He tasted like smoke and mint and crisp mountain nights, and I opened for him with a gasp.
Strong, calloused fingers threaded through my hair, and I nearly wept with elation when I realized that Kaden was utterly himself.
Gone was the shroud of darkness that had cloaked him for days. His magic was playful as it danced over my skin, and our bond pulsed stronger.
He kissed me with abandon, hands roving over my cheeks as if trying to reassure himself that I was real. One hand came to rest along my hip as the other cupped my breast, squeezing gently as he continued to ravage my mouth.
Mine.
The declaration rumbled down our bond, along with a surge of male need so intense that it turned my body boneless. Liquid desire pooled between my legs, and I allowed my own hands to wander as I nipped at his bottom lip.
Kaden answered with a low growl, pressing me against him so I could feel his arousal.
I shivered.
The male was hard everywhere I was soft, and I couldn’t resist touching him. My palms skimmed down his broad chest, over the ridges of his abs, and down to where his erection was straining against his leathers.
I wanted him — needed him so badly that I thought I might combust if I didn’t strip off these damned clothes and slide onto his hard length.
As if he’d read my thoughts, Kaden’s fingers drifted to the jacket I wore, deftly unfastening the buttons and peeling it down my arms. It hit the forest floor with a smack. Then he gripped my shirt with both hands and ripped it roughly down the middle.
Cool night air skimmed over my exposed breasts, peaking my nipples. Kaden’s gaze poured down my body like molten honey, and I moaned as his rough hands followed the searing trail.
My own fingers shook as I attacked his shirt, yanking the buttons open and tugging at his pants until all of our clothes were strewn across the clearing.
Kaden’s hand found the back of my neck, and he crushed his mouth to mine. My nipples brushed his hard, warm chest, sending sparks racing over my skin.
Stumbling backward, I swallowed a yelp as Kaden tackled me to the ground. We hit a layer of crumpled leaves and dirt, but he somehow cushioned my fall.
Parting my thighs, I drew him closer and inhaled his spicy, charred-cedar scent.
Fuck, why did he have to smell so good and feel so right between my legs?
Seized by a sudden frenzy of need, I kissed a trail along his jaw, nipping at his neck and shoulder as his cock came to rest against my dripping center.
“I’ve wanted you for so long,” he rasped, gliding his hard length along my sensitive folds.
“You have me,” I growled, gripping his hair and capturing his mouth with a savage kiss of my own.
I needed him inside me. Now.
Maybe I’d inadvertently sent that thought down the bond, because Kaden responded with a low, feral growl. Our teeth clashed, and I tasted blood, which he licked away with a swipe of his tongue.
I moaned and rolled my hips against him, nearly crying out as his shaft dragged over sensitive flesh.
“Fuck,” he hissed, grinding his cock into my pelvis and pulling a needy whimper from my throat. “You keep doing that, little huntress, and I won’t have a chance to do this.”
His hand drifted down between us, finding my aching center. He swirled his fingers over that throbbing bundle of nerves, and I let out a shaky moan.
“So wet for me,” he rumbled in approval, moving in faster circles.
“Kaden,” I groaned.
“That’s right, little huntress,” he purred, slipping a finger into my wet heat.
I hissed and began to ride his hand, chasing the friction I needed. With every pass of his thumb over the most sensitive part of me, that coil of need wound tighter. Waves of pleasure thrashed against some invisible dam, begging for release.
But unlike the night at the safe house, Kaden didn’t give it to me.
Withdrawing his long, skillful fingers, he fisted my hair and entered me in one hard thrust. I choked on his name as he slid home, filling me completely.
Stars winked in my vision as he hit the very end of my channel, and in that moment, I could feel him everywhere. The taste of him was still on my tongue. His sweat clung to my skin. And as our bodies finally joined, the bond between us pulsed with power.
All at once, I felt the walls between us crumble to dust.
Gone were the long stretches of silence. The stolen glances. The painful ache in my chest every time I’d longed to touch him but couldn’t.
None of it mattered now.
There was only him and me and that brilliant golden bond, which seemed to hum in quiet contentment.
Leaning in to press a kiss to my forehead, Kaden began to move with heartbreaking gentleness. Each shift of his hips drew new sensations from my core, and I shook with the effort of containing all of him.
I gasped as he withdrew almost completely, sliding back in with care.
I rolled my hips in tandem with his, increasing the intensity of every thrust. Our bodies grew slick with sweat as we came together. I dug my nails into his shoulder blades, urging him deeper. Harder. Faster.
Kaden responded with a low growl, thrusting into me so deep I shuddered.
I could feel the pressure building within me, an exquisite ache that throbbed more intensely each time he hit that magical spot.
I needed more.
Gripping Kaden’s hair, I lifted my hips and felt him twitch inside me. The storm within me raged and howled until I came with a broken cry.
Kaden hissed as I clenched around him, shouting as he found his release.
Slowly, he allowed his weight to settle over me until I could no longer discern his heartbeat from mine.
For several minutes, we just lay there, the musk of our joining merging with the scent of cedar and night. Our breaths became one with the light breeze and the quiet things that scampered along the forest floor.
With Kaden’s sweat-slicked skin pressed against mine and his powerful body warming me, I didn’t ever want to move.
“I thought of you every moment, you know. Every second in that wretched chamber. Each time Fleshtalker pushed me to the edge — made me want to die — all I had to do was think of you.”
My breath hitched.
“This,” he whispered, “is what I thought about. Moving inside you. Feeling you . . .”
He pressed a tender kiss to my temple, and I clenched around him. “Other times, I thought of you at the House of Perpetual Twilight, smug and beautiful, sitting in my seat. Trying your very best to hate me.”
“I did hate you.”
Kaden chuckled. “Turns out you’re not very good at that.”
“No,” I sighed, reaching up and brushing a strand of hair out of his face. “Apparently, I’m not.”
Kaden pulled back to study me with eyes that were much too still. For once, no storm raged within them, and it was like standing in the eye of a hurricane. Unnerving, but also breathtaking.
“Even so,” he mused, pressing a chaste kiss to my lips. “I can’t help but think I might yet meet my demise at the end of your blade.”
“Not a chance,” I breathed.
“No?”
I shook my head. “If I killed you, I’d have no one to argue with. And what fun would that be?”
Kaden chuckled, but there was a sadness to the sound that put me on edge. “Still, if I have to die, I’d rather it be at your hand than anyone else’s.”
My stomach dropped. “Should I be flattered?”
“You should.”
He paused for a moment, and a chill raced down my spine. “Whatever time we have left together, Lyra, you should know . . . You have been the highlight of my existence.”
My breath caught, and I struggled to fill my lungs. It wasn’t just his cryptic message but how his words seemed to twine around my heart, twisting and pulling in a way that I didn’t think I would ever get used to.
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I swiped them away before he could see.
It was no use. The male missed nothing, and a crease appeared between his brows as he studied me, his own throat bobbing with emotion.
His lips found mine again, his kiss so gentle that I couldn’t stop the tears from coming. They flowed down my cheeks in thick rivulets, and I tasted salt.
When Kaden pulled back, his own eyes were glistening with an emotion I didn’t understand. He seemed . . . melancholy. Or maybe it was the aftermath of relief that his father could no longer access the bond.
Slowly, Kaden helped me into my discarded clothes, tucking his own jacket over my shoulders to guard against the chill. When he was dressed, he took my hand and led me back to the house.