Chapter Twelve #2
“With every breath I take,” he finally answered, a tremor in his hand as he placed it on mine, over the mark.
“Your laughter. Your warmth. The smile in your eyes when you look at me, not with fear but with an affection I don’t deserve.
It’s as though I’ve been trapped in ice for centuries and can finally feel the sun on my skin. ”
A lump lodged in my throat. “I’ll warm you whenever you want me to.”
Onyx watched me for a moment, his expression shadowed but slowly getting lighter, like storm clouds finally clearing and allowing the sun to shine once more. He leaned forward, our noses gently bumping once, before kissing me softly.
Woodsmoke and cedar surrounded me, paired with the earthy musk of the cave. I unfastened the front of his robe and slid it off his shoulders before fumbling with the inner one.
“You and your clumsy fingers.” A rough laugh escaped him, one thick with lust. “Unfortunately, I haven’t the patience.”
He quickly undressed in front of me, exposing his muscled, yet lean, torso and more of the red mark on his upper chest. Glimmers from the pool and surrounding crystals reflected off his porcelain skin, drawing my gaze to his taut abs and then lower as he removed his knee-high black boots and fitted trousers.
Long, slender legs and a thick cock that hung between his toned thighs.
I swallowed.
“Fancy what you see?” he asked, one eyebrow lifting.
“Do you really need to ask that question?” I waved a hand at him. “It’s just like when I went to the hot spring with Callum the first time. I feel like I need to cover up compared to you. Or avert my eyes. You’re like a Greek god, and I’m the lowly peasant unfit to behold you.”
“I am no god.” When he smiled, I could’ve sworn there was a faint color to his cheeks. “And you are no peasant.”
“What am I then?” My feet carried me forward without hesitation, my arms going around his lean waist. His bare skin was so hot against mine, like his inner dragon coursed through his veins, threating to set me on fire.
“You are many things.” Onyx cupped my face with one hand and gripped my side with the other. “Each one more devastating than the last.”
“Do you still think we’re ill fated?” I searched his eyes. Trying to read him and figure out where his mind was at. He was a master at hiding his emotions though. Also a trait of his that made him a perfect addition to my harem of stubborn, emotionally resistant males.
“I know we are,” he answered, his expression resigned.
Like a warrior who knew the battle was lost but kept the grip on his sword anyway.
“One day, you’ll regret meeting me, little bird.
Regret ever allowing yourself to believe we could be happy.
And I pray that when that day comes, you’ll drive a blade into my black heart. ”
A chill shimmied through my veins. “You’re not being literal, right? Because I’d never hurt you.”
“I will be your ruin if you don’t.” A pained glint surfaced in his eyes. “I will burn myself into your very soul and then rip you into pieces.”
Insufferable demon lord. He wasn’t just stubborn; he was also incredibly pessimistic. The red spider lily had brought his parents together, only for their love to be ripped from them. It made Onyx believe the same fate waited for us.
“You’re so worried about what might happen in the future that you’re missing what’s right in front of you now.
” I smoothed my palms up his chest, staring into his crimson eyes.
“Enjoy the journey, remember? The beauty along the way. Sights, smells, and all the little moments of happiness, no matter how small.”
“I wish the journey would never end.” He brushed his lips over my cheek, then up to my hairline. “That we could remain here, like this, until the stars die.”
Then, his mouth was sliding against mine. The kiss was hesitant at first, as though his body had acted before his mind caught up. I clung onto him, not letting him even think of pulling away.
He didn’t.
Instead, he deepened the kiss before guiding me to the ground, less than a foot from the pool of water. The heat of the spring warmed the area around it too, taking the chill from the rocky floor. Onyx laid out his robe beneath me for added comfort, though, ever the gentle-demon slash dragon.
Dragon.
I was still taken aback by that new development. But it made sense the more I thought about it. The heat of his body. His smokey scent. The red mark on his chest that reminded me of burning flames. Stirred like them too, as though sizzling beneath his skin and waiting to be set free.
So many questions buzzed in my skull. What did the mark represent? His power? His dragon bloodline?
A sharp bite to my neck pulled me from my thoughts.
“Ow!” I slapped a hand over the throbbing area, looking up at Onyx in shock. “What was that for?”
“Good. You’ve returned.” He stared down at me, lying to the side of my legs instead of between them. Another gentlemanly-like gesture, even if he was also a vicious fiend who loved to bite. “Though I admit it’s a hit to my pride to have you lost in thought with me on top of you like this.”
“Sorry,” I told him with a sheepish smile. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the dragon bomb you dropped on me. Bad timing on my part.”
“I’ll agree with that sentiment.” Onyx cut his eyes at me, the irises flaring brighter. “But what is this bomb you speak of? I dropped nothing of the sort.”
I snickered at that. Once again, my contemporary world clashed with this medieval fantasy one.
“Let’s just say there are things I need to tell you too,” I said, smoothing my hands over the cords of muscle in his upper back. Wide shoulders that dipped down to a lean waist. “My life before Bremloc and what brought me there.”
Onyx moved aside my bangs. “A story that will have to wait for later.”
“That eager, huh?” I asked with a taunting wiggle of my hips. “You have me all to yourself in this cave. What do you plan to do with me, my lord?”
“Everything.” He slid his hand down my body and teased the skin of my inner thigh.
“Sink into your warmth until I no longer feel the ice in my bones. Unravel every inch of you and burn myself into your very soul. And then later, days, weeks, or months from now, I’ll look back on this moment and remember that you were right.
That there was a happy place for us after all. Here beside this spring.”
My sternum squeezed.
He closed the gap between our mouths. The kiss was soft. Unrushed. Like we had all the time in the world and that nothing outside that cave existed. He nipped the edge of my lip before grazing his teeth over it.
Chills erupted on my skin, and I tightened my hold on his waist, tugging him closer.
“Look who’s eager now,” he said after settling between my legs.
“Shut up and kiss me, you insufferable demon.” I arched up into him, seeking the heat of his mouth. Seeking… everything. All he was willing to give.
“An order I don’t mind following.” Onyx grabbed my face and crushed his lips to mine, dipping his tongue into my mouth.
Kisses became more frenzied, and touches deepened, our bodies humming with the need to sate the bond surging between us. To become whole. The intensity of it was mind-altering, how much I could crave another person. And the way my soul purred at the feel of his weight on top of me.
“More,” I begged, scraping my nails down his spine. My ass ached from the fucking my other men had given me last night, but a restlessness stirred low in my belly. One only he could soothe. I wrapped my legs around his hips and grinded upward, rutting against him. “I want you to fuck me.”
“Such a vulgar tongue you have.” Onyx smiled against my cheek as he slowly moved his hips. “Unbecoming of a little bird.”
I snorted, both amused and so aroused I could barely think clearly. “Stop teasing me. You’re the one who said you want to sink into my warmth. So do it. Fuck me until I can’t walk.”
“You can’t walk as it is,” he said. “Without tripping anyway.”
“God, you’re so mean to me,” I whined.
A low laugh escaped his lips before he rejoined them with mine. His silky black hair fell around me, the strands holding traces of woodsmoke. Carnal desire consumed us both. But something else did too. A connection that went soul deep.
The balance had shifted between us. No longer was he like a cryptic puzzle with the hidden message in the center, one that would be forever ruined by ink if not carefully solved.
I saw some of that message now. He did want to be loved; he just feared the aftermath if it was torn away.
Feared feeling the ice on his skin again.
The trickling stream merged with the sound of our panting breaths as we kissed and groped each other.
Sparks of arousal filled the space around us, clouding my mind with nothing but thoughts of joining our bodies.
To feel him deep inside, the heat of his skin burning into mine, his flames merging with mine.
“Evan,” he murmured between kisses, sinking his fingers into the back of my hair. My name sounded like a plea on his lips. “I…”
“You what?” I panted, my heart pounding from the lust racing through my bloodstream but also the crackle of electricity stirred by the force of our fated bond.
A moment passed where he said nothing. He tucked his face into the crease of my neck, his breaths tickling my skin.
“Onyx?” I touched his chin and tipped his face back to mine. Refusing to let him hide from me. “Talk to me.”
As his eyes met mine, I saw the heat of arousal setting the irises aflame but something much softer lingered there too. Instead of answering, he reclaimed my lips, kissing me so deep my toes curled.
Our hearts thrummed together as we came together on the cave floor, losing ourselves in the feel of each other. Surrendering to the bond neither of us could fight against. Pretending nothing outside that cave existed.
***
A soak in the hot spring had never felt more amazing. The post-orgasm haze definitely helped with that. Certainly helped with my achy muscles.