Page 83 of The Darkest Parts of Me

“Maven, I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Hearing those words pass from his lips leaves me completely undone, and they seem to release something in him too because the next thing I know, he’s kissing me, licking me, touching me everywhere. The slow burn of anticipation has vanished, and I can’t touch him fast enough. Feel him enough. Show him enough that I love him. I grab his chin, pulling his face back to mine, sucking on his bottom lip hard, then slide my tongue into his mouth. The sounds of his deep, throaty moans alone almost bring me to my climax. I lift my hips off the bed to push myself against him.

“You have no idea what you’ve done to me,” he breathlessly says against my mouth. “How many times I’ve wanted to tell you everything. How many times I’ve thought about doing this with you.” His voice and control are unraveling more and more by the second, I can’t even respond from the sound. He lowers his hand slowly, bringing himself to that part of me that needs him so badly. My body, wet and begging for him. He teases me slightly, pausing, and I lift my hips once more.

“Renn.” I don’t care if I’m pleading.

Gently, he moves into me, and I let out a sharp gasp of pain and pleasure as I dig my fingers into his back. He pushes into me farther, the ease of our movements becoming more and more consuming with each press into each other, adjusting until we are perfectly aligned. The feeling is pure euphoria. We’re both breathing hard and loud, his name continuing to leave my lips as he moves on top of me. I hook my legs around him, holding him closer to me.

“God, Mave,” he moans, his forehead resting against mine. We continue to move against each other, and I feel him everywhere—my skin, my blood, my heart as it pounds in my chest. We take our time savoring each touch and sound, an unspoken understanding that we both want the moment to last. Both of us want to revel in this act—an act that is bonding us to each other. I want him to feel that bond in every place our bodies touch, and I want him to touch me everywhere before we are through. He grabs my hands and places them above my head, holding them there as he glances down between us and pauses at the place where he and I are joined. I follow his gaze, and seeing his strong body above me, in me, makes me breathless. He moves his hips in such a fluid motion as I meet him again and again.

I can feel myself on the edge of being completely overcome—that edge that I want to fall over with him and him alone. Something I’ve never wanted with anyone else and never will again. He can sense that I’m close, and he lets go of my hands to grab my leg, bending it at the knee to angle me so he can go deeper, his fingers digging into my thigh then gliding down my calf, the agony of the pleasure almost too much. I tangle my fingers in his hair as he leans down, kissing between my breasts, the base of my throat, then my ear.

“So perfect,” he says before gently biting my ear lobe.

“Renn, I . . .” I can’t finish the sentence as I close my eyes tight.

“Maven. Look at me.” I open them to see Renn’s green eyes full of heat and passion. “I’ve got you.”

I feel a wildness and freedom running through me, and I have to close my eyes again to keep from becoming completely overwhelmed. I know Renn is watching my face with every wave that hits me while I moan his name. He holds me steady against him as I cling to him. He rests his forehead against mine. His grip tightening as he loses himself in me. Renn, who is always unwavering and strong, breaks for me.

He moans something, but it’s in his language, and even though I have no idea what he says, I know what the words mean, I can feel it. The sounds that escape his throat are burned into my mind forever.

When we’re done, we hang on to each other. The only sound is our breathing, loud and heavy. After some time, Renn scoops me up in his arms again, placing me at the head of the bed. We climb under the covers, lying skin to skin as I cuddle up into his chest. He rests his head on top of mine, running his hand through my long hair over and over so it fans out across my pillow. I look above, watching the afternoon light fade into night. And everything about this perfect moment makes me realize that the internal pull to come back to Solitude Ridge was real, but the reason wasn’t at all what I expected. Five years. So much had happened in five years for us both, and yet it feels like Renn had been waiting for me to come home—that he was supposed to find this planet and find me. The events of our lives brought us to this small spot in the universe.

Soon, sleep overcomes me, but I swear before I’m fully asleep, I hear him whisper, “I will never let you go.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Renn

Icould have made love to her all night, but as she lay bare and content in my arms, I wanted to keep her there forever, and there was nothing more perfect than holding her against me. I thought I had experienced sex to its fullest before, but after Maven, nothing could compare. She had taken all my power. The sight of her naked, fingers tracing up and down my skin, that touch I had been so desperately needing from her . . . so much that she could have told me to beg for it and I would have willingly done it without hesitation.

As I fell asleep holding her, before waking the next day with her beside me, I realized it was the first night in a long time I wasn’t lost in some nightmare. I swallow down the emotion heavy in my chest as I look down at her face. I know I’ll never be able to forget the way she looked at me last night. It was the same face she wore that night on the retreat when she was gazing into the night sky, her intensity as moonlight reflected in her bright-blue eyes. I knew that she saw it in mine too, that my love for her was just as deep and infinite as space. And I thank whatever divine entity it was that brought us together.

She moves slightly beside me. “I was worried for a minute that it was all a dream,” she says sleepily, keeping her eyes closed.

“Me too,” I say against her hair.

“So?” Her voice is still soft and waking.

“So what?” I ask.

“So, what next?” she asks.

I place my mouth against her ear. “I have a few things in mind.”

She pulls away, laughing lightly, and shifts so she can look at me directly, pulling the covers around herself. My gaze lingers on her exposed skin. She notices my stare, blushing, and I love that I can make her blush with just a look, even after last night. “You know what I mean.”

I sit up, the covers stopping just below my waist. She looks me over, and damn if I don’t feel a jolt of nerves in me. If she keeps doing that, we will never get out of bed. She leans forward, tracing the lines of the muscles on my stomach, and then slightly brushes the scar with her finger tips.

“I’m sure you have a lot more questions,” I say, watching her fingers linger there for another second or two.

She nods. “I want to hear more about Earth.” It sounds strange hearing her say that word. I haven’t heard that name spoken aloud by anyone else for what feels like a lifetime. I rest my elbows on my knees.

“Hmm, where do I even begin?” She watches me, amused, waiting for my reply. “I want to show you something. Stay there.”

I jump out of bed and walk over to the dresser, grabbing a clean pair of boxer shorts, taking a mental note of how Maven’s eyes watch me the whole time, and I swear I see a flash of disappointment on her face as I cover myself. I kneel beside the bed, dragging out the box from underneath, rummaging around for the atlas. She doesn’t say a word as she carefully inspects the device as it comes to life. The projection of stars fill the entire room, and she lets out a quiet gasp. My room is still dim enough with the morning light trickling in. It takes me a moment or two to orient myself studying the star map, walking through the artificial stars and planets until I find what I’m looking for.

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