His breath left him in a rush and swept across my face. “Saraphina—”
“Since the night we met.”
He cupped my face in both his hands.
“Since the first time you said my name.”
He closed his eyes and cringed like I’d hurt him. He wound his hands through my messy curls and dragged my mouth down to his. Or maybe I dove for him. I didn’t know. I didn’t care. I wound my arms around his neck, pulling him up toward me as we kissed — and then I was on my back.
Light flashed. I gasped and broke our kiss just as gold glitter and silver mist billowed from the ground beneath me. Bright green grass sprouted from the dark, cold dirt, creating a lush little meadow under us. Little pink and yellow flowers popped up left and right. I grinned. I didn’t know if it was his magic or mine that did that, or maybe it was both of us, but I didn’t care. As his lips crashed back onto mine…nothing else in the world mattered.
The smell of a bonfire raged all around me, consuming me and pulling me in deeper. I breathed him in. We nipped and bit at each other. And then his tongue slid along mine and I fell apart. I moaned and pushed up into him. One of his legs was pressed between mine but it wasn’t enough. I needed him closer. I needed all of him.
Riah growled and dragged his teeth down my throat. I hissed but it felt amazing. I threw my head back and arched into him. I tried to wrap my leg around his but my long dress was pinned down by him. He licked a slow, torturous path up my neck to the spot right behind my ear. I gripped his arms and tried to pull myself up so our bodies would be flush but I pushed too hard and we flipped.
His back hit the flowery grass and his eyes flashed, the gold light shined bright like a full moon. His nostrils flared. He gripped the back of my head and yanked me down to him. It wasn’t soft and gentle and I didn’t want it to be. His kiss was rough. My lips would be bruised and swollen. But still, I needed more.
I licked at him then sucked his bottom lip into my mouth. He growled and heat exploded out of him like a volcano. That burning ember smell coiled around me, filling my lungs. I rolled my hips into his and he groaned my name. With a snarl, he flipped me onto my back and pressed his body into mine. There was too much between us. I wanted to feel the heat of his skin along every inch of me.
Without breaking our kiss, he reached down gripped the skirt of my dress. I felt it slide up my leg and hot air brushed along my bare skin. Yes. Yes. Yes. More. I buried my hands in his long golden hair and devoured his kiss. I whined and wiggled under him.
Warm air swept over my hip and then his hand gripped my bare knee. Raw heat poured from his skin, scorching a path as he slid his large hand up my thigh. I’d never been touched by anyone, let alone a man. Riah was the only person I’d ever even kissed. But I’d waited three centuries for that kiss…I wasn’t going to wait another second for the rest of him.
I slid my hands down to his neck and dug my nails into his throat. “Riah,” I growled against his mouth.
He groaned and gripped my hip. “Saraphina.”
I heard the hunger in his voice. I felt his pulse hammering through his body pressed into mine. His long fingers dug into my backside and I gasped against his mouth. My heart fluttered. I wanted him to leave a mark. I wanted him to lose control. I wanted to feel him, all of him. Right now. But he was going too slow. He was being too nice. I didn’t want nice and sweet. I wanted him and I wanted him unleashed. I wanted him to lose himself in me, in us.
We’d loved each other in secret for three-hundred-twenty-seven years.
No more.
This was time for us and it was going to start right now.
He groaned and slammed his hands into the grass next to my head then pushed up. Cold air swept between our bodies as he looked down at me. His gaze flicked down to where my dress was pushed up to my waist and a whole lot of pale skin was on display. His face flushed as he looked back up to meet my eyes. “Saraphina.”
I grabbed him by the face and pulled him back down to me. “Don’t you dare stop.” I took his mouth with mine and pushed up against him. I wrapped my legs around his hips and squeezed then rocked my hips into him.
He hissed against my lips. His body shook. And then he pressed his big, heavy body into me and I felt every inch of him. The heat radiating off of our bodies could’ve set a forest on fire. Our tongues brushed and battled. My heart was pounding like a thunder in my chest. Every nerve ending in my body was screaming for more of him. I dragged my nails down his throat then down the sides of his ribs.
The scorching heat of his skin blazed a path over my entire body. More. More. MORE. He licked at my mouth and tugged my dress higher until I felt the texture of his jeans between my legs. I felt each and every one of his fingertips graze over the bare skin on my back and it made my heart flutter.
I didn’t want him to take his time. I wanted to feel him lose himself with me. He nibbled a path across my jaw then kissed that soft spot on my neck, just behind me ear. My toes curled and my back arched into him. I fisted his hair and tried to pull his mouth back to mine, but he licked a trail down my throat to the base of my neck.
His teeth sank into my throat and I gasped. I slid my hands down over the chiseled edges of his abs and the sharp V cut by his hips, then slipped them between the waistband on his jeans. I gripped him with both hands and squeezed. He threw his head back and cursed. And then he was everywhere all at once. I felt a tug on my dress and then cold air brushed over my chest.
He was trying to pull it off of me but I was impatient. I had what I wanted in my hands and he needed to change that. Now. I let go of him and tugged the zipper down then pulled the button free. His lips claimed mine, our tongues sliding mercilessly. This was an attack and it was perfect. I yanked his jeans open then pushed them down his hips. He slid his hand down my leg, his thumb carving a line down the inside of my thigh and making me melt. He gripped my knee and made room for him to slide between my legs.
He paused and pushed up on his arm, right before he gave us what we both wanted. His gold eyes sparkled down at me. “I love you,” he breathed, his voice ragged and raw.
I cupped his face with both hands. “I love you, too.” I sank my teeth into his bottom lip and pulled him back down to me.
His tongue slid into my mouth. I arched into our kiss and pressed myself to him, skin to skin. I’d never been this close to someone, but it was perfection with him. Warmth spread through my body and low in my belly.
He pulled his hips back then thrust forward and we joined together. I threw my head back and gasped. My nails dug into his shoulders as a little cry escaped my lips. My body quaked, his trembled above me…and within me. I felt him everywhere all at once. He groaned and buried his face in the crook of my neck. He rolled his hips and we moaned as we surged together.
His pace quickened and I felt myself going with him. Light flashed behind my eyes and I felt myself flying so high the world faded away to nothing. There was only him and me. No pain, no lies, no secrets. We were us, and there was nothing more I needed from him. Every muscle in my body felt like jelly. As he held me so close that we were one, he whispered my name in my ear over and over with every roll of his body. I wrapped my arms and legs around him, and the world exploded around us. This was us. This was perfection. This was love.
Chapter Twenty