Page 34 of Light

Golden liquid dripped into her mouth, mingling with her red blood; he licked it, sucking her swollen lip clean. She moaned into his mouth, and her hands found his neck, yanking him closer.

Arousal swelled between his legs, pressing against her stomach.

He pressed her harder into the wall and released her mouth, pulling back to look at her crimson-stained cheeks and neck. “We should stop.”

Her eyes flew open. “No.”

“I did not come for this. Sanura is back. We must ward the house before nightfall.”

Adalaide’s arms loosened from around his neck, and she frowned, a drop of blood welling along the edge of her mouth.

He leaned forward, letting his tongue slide over the seam of her lips where the blood pooled.

Her mouth parted, and she sucked his tongue, letting hers wrap around it. His arousal hardened further, and he groaned, sliding one arm down her back, realizing she wasn’t wearing a corset.

Only her thin scraps of fabric and his illusory clothing separated them, and his body was all too aware of that fact. It would be nothing to tear her clothes from her body and press their bare skin together, to let them join in the way their souls had.

She wanted it. The idea of it consumed her thoughts. His were consumed by all the ways she envisioned the two of them.

He groaned again as her kiss became more insistent and her thoughts more explicit. In his long life, he’d never imagined half the things she conjured, some downright dangerous for her fragile mortal body.

He released one arm from her back, finding her hands and pinning them over her head the way she had pictured in her mind, and pulled his lips from hers, leaning down to her neck to plant soft kisses down the tender skin.

He nuzzled her neck, reaching for her hairpin with his teeth and freeing her dark locks. Long curls spilled loose, obscuring his view of creamy skin. He didn’t like that. The bond between them urging their skin to be closer didn’t like it either.

He released her hands, drawing her hair to the side and pulled her head back roughly, giving him access to her sensitive throat.

Adalaide was panting, her body pressing off the wall to be closer to his. He pushed one hand into the wall, forcing her back, pinning her there just as in one of her several dozen visions. Trailing kisses down her neck, he nudged the white collar of her shirt aside to move south, where the other half of his soul rested contentedly.

When he reached the place where it lay, his soul pulsed in greeting, and he pressed his lips to her breastbone, an overwhelming feeling of rightness overtaking him.

His fingers loosened in her hair, and he pushed off the wall, giving her space.

She leaned into him as he backed up, meeting eyes that were shining. She was… crying?

“What’s wrong?”

Chapter 25

Adalaide

Adalaide swiped at her cheeks as she moved with him, not wanting their bodies to be parted for even a moment.

“It’s nothing.”

Gabriel took another step back. “Have I hurt you?” I’m sorry. So sorry. Didn’t mean…

Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, and he ran his fingers over them, brushing them aside.

“No. You haven’t. I… I didn’t want you to be… disappointed.”

The confusion written across his face loosened a laugh from her chest.

“It’s just that you’re… immortal.”

When his face hadn’t changed, she felt the heat staining her cheeks slide down her neck. Was she going to have to spell it out for him? What was the use of this mind reading if she had to say the embarrassing bits aloud?

“Well, I haven’t… lain with a man.”

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