Page 133 of The Cursed Fae

It wasn’t the first time he’d said the words. He’d told her several times, though she never said them back. Archer often worried that something about this life, this cycle, was different. That Winter might not feel their connection the way he did.

“I love you,” she whispered, bringing her mouth to his.

Until then, Archer had been nervous about getting too physical with Winter. After everything with Laz and Lena, she was both harder and more fragile. He wanted that intimate connection with Winter, but it wasn’t the one that truly mattered. Still, he’d literally dreamt about the way her soft skin felt under his fingertips, the way she always bit her lip when she climaxed.

He untied the knotted fabric around her neck. The sarong fell to the patio floor. Winter backed up until she hit the table, making the dishes rattle. Archer pulled back from the kiss and held her at arm’s length, admiring all the parts of her he hadn’t seen in this life.

Winter braced her hands against the table and let him stare. She’d left off a bra. He traced the curve of her breast before cupping it in his hand and lowering his mouth to her taut nipple, staring up into her eyes. She tasted like cinnamon and coconut, a combination of the herbal supplements Essie had her taking and the suntan lotion from earlier.

Her fingers wound in his hair. It was much longer than before his accident, but Winter liked the length, so he refused to cut it. His hands moved to her hips. Silky pink fabric bunched in his fists. His lips moved along her jaw.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” she whispered as their mouths met.

“Are you?” he teased, using one arm to knock all her carefully arranged decorations to the ground with a clatter. He hoisted her onto the white tablecloth.

Winter’s hands cupped his cheeks. “I’m serious. I don’t want to, like, wear you out.”

He focused on her troubled gaze. “Are you questioning my stamina?”

The laughter died on her lips as he caressed between her legs. Damp silk made the bulge in his shorts throb. He pressed his thumb against her. Winter’s fingers tangled in the tablecloth. Her lips parted, and a moaned escaped.

“Why not instead of worrying about how long I can last, see how long you can.”

She writhed against his hand as though trying to feel more of his touch. He liked watching the mask she wore to guard her emotions slip away. Passion darkened her irises. Her breathing intensified, and she started to chew her lip.

Archer shook his head. “Not yet.”

He pulled his hand away and curled his fingers around the fabric covering her hips. Winter’s arms trembled as he slowly slid the panties down her thighs, over her knees, and yanked them from her ankles. Naked and glassy-eyed, her knuckles turned almost as white as the tablecloth.

Gaia, she’s gorgeous, he thought, using one hand to unbutton his shorts.

Winter spread her legs wider. Every inch of her was just as he remembered, yet it felt like the first time all over again.

His pants and boxers added to the growing pile of clothes on the ground. He stepped between her thighs, cock hard and desperate to feel her around him. Archer guided his head inside her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him deeper.

Then her arms were around his neck, yanking him closer for a kiss. Archer thrust his hips, snapping them against her soft thighs. She was so powerful, a true warrior. He’d seen her in battle, all fierce and vengeful. Yet, she melted for him and him alone, and that was one of things he remembered most from the dreams.

Winter stared up at him, bottom lip clenched between her teeth. He cupped her cheeks and shook his head. “Not yet,” Archer panted.

His fingertips traced her features, committing every detail to memory. He never wanted to forget how she looked right now—so gorgeous, so happy, so alive. Archer would do anything to make sure all three remained true for as long as possible.

“Archer,” she half-groaned, half-begged his name and dug her nails into his back.

He rolled his hips, sinking deeper and deeper with each thrust. Winter squeezed her eyes shut and bit down harder on her lip. Archer reached between them, stroking her until she purred. Her body trembled against him when she climaxed, a name Winter had never spoken tumbling from her mouth.

“Ambrose.”

The moment was bittersweet as he followed her over the edge. Ambrose—his eternal name, the one from his first life in the Valley of the Elements, where he met and married Nicasia. He had loved her since their first encounter. They were still children. He’d insulted her sister, and Nicasia had pushed him into a dirty river.

And when the elders selected their eternal warriors, they chose Nicasia and Ambrose because they were true mates. Because their bond made them strongest together and weakest apart. It was both a blessing and a curse, and Gaia had granted them eternity to decide which.

Saying his eternal name meant Winter’s memories of her previous lives were emerging. He wondered if it was because she had died on that beach after battling Laz. Only briefly. But her heart had stopped beating. Archer felt certain that dying had knocked something loose in her subconscious.

He would’ve given anything to let her remain blind to the past. Not all their lives had been sunshine and rainbows. In fact, most weren’t. Danger stalked them in each cycle, waiting in the shadows for the perfect moment to strike. Hunters had sent them to more than one early grave. They’d watched one another die so many times. He didn’t want Winter to know that pain the way he did.

Sweaty and laughing breathlessly, she looped her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek to his chest. “I love you, Archer,” she whispered.

As much as he didn’t want her to remember, he needed for her to understand the extent of her power. It was the only way she’d be able to protect herself. Her abilities went beyond the physical and even the supernatural. It was her influence over the other eternals that made her so damned dangerous, why she inspired fear in every life.

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I love you too, Nicasia.”

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