Chapter Twelve
SNOW EXPLODED AROUND US IN A GLITTERING storm.
Golden embers danced in the flakes, blurring silver with gold, looking like broken stars in a blizzard.
The sensation of Rook in my arms was as real as anything. Our lips pressed together, my fingers entwined with hers on my cheek, just like we’d been on the mattress.
The only difference was we’d materialised into this private dreamscape standing and strong instead of lying down and weak.
Rook squeaked with surprise, her eyes shooting wide.
Breaking the kiss, I frowned. “That’s twice now. What exactly is this place? And how the hell do we keep tripping into it?”
“You’re asking me?” She shivered as she stepped out of my embrace. “I had no idea the first time, and I’m even more confused now. How are we doing it? Where are we?”
“Your parents never documented anything like this before?”
“No one lived long enough to question them.”
“Do you think it’s death?” I turned slowly on the spot, the light from the swirling snowflakes and embers danced over my skin like smoky starlight. “Is it similar to what people see when they’re dying? You know? Like the light at the end of the tunnel...but for us it’s a snowy purgatory?”
“Maybe?” She padded away, stretching out her arm as mist ribboned around her wrist. “So you’re saying the longer we stay here, the faster we’re dying in the real world?”
I followed her. Every step of my bare feet on the foggy, nondescript ground erased all my aches and pains. Every breath I took fixed what was broken, filling my body with entirely different urges.
I sucked in a breath as my gaze locked on Rook.
She stood just out of reach, and haloed by soft blue light. The white nightgown with its long sleeves and hem clung to her just like the mist weaving around her arms. She looked ethereal and royal and so fucking beautiful it hurt.
She was everything I ever wanted and the only woman I would ever desire. She was my missing piece. I needed her mind, her secrets. I needed her soul entwined with mine forever.
I took a step, then another.
The storm hushed around us as if sensing the rising tidal wave of yearning inside me.
The starvation was back, but this time...it knew exactly what it wanted.
It wasn’t food or drink...it’s her.
It would always be her.
“Rook.” My voice came out rough and reverent.
She spun to face me, a faint flush pinking her skin beneath the stencils of white snowflakes. Her ice had returned, and the familiar delicious coldness tamed me, seduced me.
She didn’t speak as I closed the distance between us, my hands rising to frame her face.
My thumbs brushed the delicate skin beneath her eyes, tracing the shadows of exhaustion that even this place couldn’t fully erase.
“I need you.” Pressing the softest kiss to her forehead, I murmured, “I need you with every bone in my body, and the longer we exist in this place, the stronger the urge becomes.”
Her lips parted with a quiet moan as I bent over her and dusted her brow, nose, and cheeks in kisses, heading toward her mouth.
“Lucien...” Her fingers curled into the front of my shirt; the same one I’d been wearing when we collapsed back in the real world. “But if we’re dying, shouldn’t we—”
“Enjoy the final moments we have left?”
She huffed breathlessly as I changed direction and kissed her throat instead.
She moaned again. “You make a good point.”
From the very first moment I’d seen her in Cinderkeep, I’d been besotted, but...this was different. This was deep and raw and urgent.
“I need you more than I’ve ever needed anything in my entire life.” I kissed her neck, nipping gently with my teeth. I breathed her in and that delectable scent of frost and sugar shot up my nose as if I inhaled her very spirit.
I froze at the thought.
Spirit...
Could that be what this place was?
A hidden pocket in the bond we shared, allowing us to connect in an entirely different way than normal?
Wrapping her in a tight embrace, I whispered, “If this is purgatory, then let’s enjoy it. If this is the last place we’ll ever be together, I want to be with you. All of you. For the rest of the time we have left.”
The swirling snow turned gold as the fire inside me ignited, resuming its rightful place around my heart. I sagged with relief as my bones turned molten. My blood full of liquid heat and strength.
Fucking finally...
“Oh...” Rook shivered as her skin flashed with glittering frost. “I never thought I’d be so happy to have the very thing that made my life so miserable come back, but...thank goodness. I can feel it spreading through me, taking me over again.”
“Me too.” I clutched her close, our two elements connecting with a cloud of steam. The visceral pull sharpened. Tipping up her chin, I kissed her.
She kissed me back with a moan.
I lost myself, turning more beast than man as our heads tilted and the kiss deepened. Sparkling energy crackled as our tongues licked and welcomed.
Fuck, if this was a fantasy, then...I preferred it.
I would happily let reality fade away if I could spend an eternity with Rook, right here...forever.
“Lucien.” Planting her hands on my chest, she pushed a little.
I breathed hard as she broke the kiss, her fingers digging into my flesh with a surprised gasp. “Wait...the vitalsync core isn’t there anymore. Just like last time.” Tearing at my shirt, she ran her fingers over me. She lingered over my heart that was no longer trapped by ugly metal.
“What is this place that it can free you from that nasty thing?” Her eyebrows drew together as she pressed her palm over my skin.
I trembled as she touched me, unable to stop myself from planting my hand over her knuckles, forcing her to touch me harder. Her caress gave me more energy and strength than any food or water.
She seemed to be the only thing my system craved and I needed more...I need everything.
“Kiss me,” I murmured, swaying to capture her mouth.
“Hang on. You...” Her worried gaze shot to mine. “Y-Your heart isn’t beating.”
I knew I should probably react to that. That I should have an opinion on hearing something so bizarre, but...
the yearning clawed so sharp and hot it muted everything.
I grew drunk on the power she gave me just by existing.
The way my fire crackled and burned because of her.
Everything about her fed every starving part of me, and talking was a fucking nuisance. “Come here.”
She backed up a little, shaking her head. “Didn’t you hear me? You don’t have a heartbeat.”
“So?” I frowned as I stalked her across the endless misty world. “I’m still breathing, aren’t I? Come. Here.”
“Are you breathing?” She held her hands to her mouth, exhaling against them as if testing to see if air appeared. “Am I breathing?” Her fingers flew to her chest, pressing above the swell of her breast. “I...I don’t have a heartbeat either.”
The slippery, darting thought I’d had before returned.
The idea that perhaps this wasn’t a physical plane but a metaphysical one. I didn’t really care. All I cared about was touching her because if I didn’t, I’d break into a million tiny pieces and disappear.
“Come here, Rook.”
Her.
Only her.
Only she could cripple me and control me.
And right now, I needed her.
So. Fucking. Much.
“But we need to figure this out,” she argued.
“Not if it wastes the precious time we might have before death truly takes us.” Marching into her, I captured the back of her neck and kissed her.
The perfect taste of her flooded my senses.
The tug in my soul grew worse, urging me to hurry, hurry, before it was too late.
Rook cried out as I bit her bottom lip.
I waited for the silvery splash of her medicinal blood—
And wasn’t prepared for her response.