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Letting some of my weight blanket her, I gave in to the heady sensation of just kissing. Nothing more. I wanted to memorize every inch. To take my time. To touch her with whispers instead of horrors.
I want to be worthy.
Her heart pounded against mine as our kiss grew deeper. A throaty moan escaped her and I pulled back, locking eyes with her. I searched her heated stare, her slightly drunken face.
“Do you want me to stop?” I asked.
I’d never been asked that.
Never understood the power in such words or the way they’d flash through me with even more love for this girl. I had it wrong. I didn’t need to vandalize and monopolize her to be vindicated. I just needed to let her in. To love. To be brave enough to give up my life for someone worthier than me.
She shook her head, wincing a little from the fresh bruises around her neck. “No.”
I looked around us, drinking in the forest with shards of sunlight spearing through the trees. It was beautiful and also wild. It offered food and a home but could also kill without malice or care. The fact that I had Gemma on her back while she held my heart in her hands, in the very same place where death and life resided, was symbolic.
We lay in the center of a circle. The circle of life as it ebbed and flowed, not caring who it hurt, blessed, or doomed. Beneath us were bones of animals and people. Their remains now part of the woods that’d sustained me for the past decade while I’d waited for salvation.
Goosebumps shot down my back.
I wanted her.
The desire in my blood was hungry for co
I want to show them I survived.
I needed her to understand that. That this wasn’t me unable to control myself. That I wasn’t twisted enough to lay claim to her after another man had knocked me out. Wherever Jareth was, I was grateful. I would shake his hand the next time we met because he’d protected her for me, from me.
“I want you.” I brushed aside a lock of hair on her cheek. “I want you, away from Fables, beneath the sun and amongst the trees. But most of all, I want you here. Where I ended a nightmare and chose a different future. I know now why I didn’t leave this valley.” I nudged her nose with mine. “I was waiting for you. I was waiting to live and now...now I want to start living. I want you to show me how. I want...”
Her lips smashed against mine, violent when I was doing my best to be gentle. Her hands looped into my hair, pulling me onto her.
“Gem—” I mumbled between kisses. “Tell me to stop if you’re too sore. If I hurt you too much—”
“Shut up, Kas.” She opened wider, kissing me harder.
With a groan, I gave in.
I let her sweep me out of the shame of hurting her and straight into intoxication. Her hips rose beneath me, her feet hooking against the back of my thighs as her nightgown rose up her legs.
Something let go inside her. Propriety fell away. The way she rocked against me, kissed me, and invited more reminded me of something.
Something on the outskirts of my mind.
Something...familiar.
The slosh of water came and went.
The crackle of a fire.
The heat of her body and wetness of her need as I slid inside her.
Her lusty scream as I fucked her, sending water spilling over the—
My eyes flew wide as pieces of something forgotten exploded into my mind. “I remember...”
She searched my face, lips kiss-swollen and breath quick. “Remember what?”
“The bath.”
She froze for a second, then smiled. “You do?” Taking a breath, she added, “All of it? What we talked about? What we did?”
“I remember fucking you. You...wanted me. You honest to fucking God wanted me.”
Her cheeks blazed. “I did.” She rose up and kissed me. “I want you now.”
I shook my head with disbelief. No lies in her tone. No ulterior motives. Just honesty and love.
I folded over her, kissing her reverently.
Another spark ignited in her. She bit my bottom lip, demanding more.
My mind swam, but I did my best to stay soft, slow, gentle.
She let out a frustrated groan. “Stop holding back.”
“I’m trying to give you what you deserve.”
“Then let go. Be with me.” Her hand dropped down my body, pushing my shorts over my ass.
“Wait—” I grunted as her hand dipped between us. Grabbing my hard-on, she thumbed the tip, driving me fucking insane. “I’m trying to go slow. I want to treat you right this time.”
“You treat me right every time.” She stroked me, making my vision stutter. “It’s never been like this with anyone before. I like what you do to me. I love being wild with you.”
I grunted again as she jerked me off, using her other hand to push my shorts down my thighs. I clenched my teeth, struggling to speak around the bliss she granted. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
She wrapped her fingers tighter, wriggling beneath me. “You’re not. Not anymore.”
“Christ, you’re not making this easy.” I dropped my forehead to her chin, fighting for control as my hips arched on their own accord, filling her hand. “I want to be slow. To make you come and—”
“I don’t need soft, Kas,” she whispered in my ear. “I just need you. I need you however you need me.” Letting my cock go, she yanked up her nightgown, revealing her wetness. I glanced down. My head swam as pain pulsed. Where Jareth had struck me pounded in time with my heartbeat. Whiteness flickered on the edge of my vision, hinting I was playing a dangerous game.
Would I black out the moment I sank inside her? Would I forget?
Please, God, don’t let me forget.
How could I tell her I was afraid?
Afraid of losing her, of hurting her.
I didn’t trust my own mind.
“Gem, I—”
“It’s okay, Kas.” She arched her back, pressing our bodies together, angling me against her wet entrance. “Stay with me. Just...stay, and everything will be okay.”
My eyes snapped closed as instinct took over.
I surged forward.
I thrust my entire length inside her.
She cried out.
I groaned.
We shuddered and clung to each other as the sensation of being whole, of becoming complete swamped me.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
All I could do was feel.
Feel her heat wrapped around me, her heart galloping against mine, her hands latched onto my hips.
My headache roared with new agony, compounding with dizziness and threatening white blankness. Digging my fingers into the dirt, I fought to stay with her. I lost my bearings. I forgot simple things. I growled as the world exploded outward and inward, scrambling me up inside.
Stay.
Stay with her.
Ghosts of Quell, Sarez, and Wes surround me.
The trees whispered with punishments.
The breeze licked across my naked ass like a whip bringing pain.
I couldn’t even thrust inside her.
I was on the precipice of blacking out.
“Gem...I...you need to get away—” I buckled over, crushing her as I fought so goddamn hard not to give in.
She stroked my back.
She kept me anchored.
But it wasn’t enough.
I felt myself slipping, falling, growing dark even as white light blinded me.