“I’m sorry,” she says as she wipes her face with her hands, making little hiccup noises that make me smile. “So much has happened, and I haven’t really had time to think about it. I’m like a balloon about to pop. I’m so full of emotions and feelings.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s a lot to take in. You’re doing great handling it all.” I kiss her forehead and her eyes flutter shut.

When she opens them again, a spark has been lit in their depths. It’s tiny, but it’s there. She leans forward slightly and whispers. “Kiss me. Show me what it means to be soul bonded.”

“Are you sure? You’ve been through so much, I don’t want you to think—”

Reaching for me, she cuts me off, wrapping her arms around my neck. Her mouth meets mine hungrily and I’m lost, helpless to not give her everything she wants. I push her backward on the bed and hover over her until she wraps her legs around my waist and pulls me on top of her. The move makes me pause for just a second. Not too long ago she never would have done that. Ellis has blossomed since we abducted her from her room. We gave her a place to grow. A place where she feels safe and cared for. And damn, she’s taken what we gave her and ran with it.

An intense joy settles in my chest knowing I was able to help her overcome her nightmares. Being the one she can turn to, someone she can trust, makes me grateful. My lips coax hers open and our tongues clash in a dance. She lifts her hips, rubbing herself against my rapidly hardening cock, and I moan into her mouth.

I break the kiss, only to nibble my way down her neck. Kai’s mark will be extra sensitive, so I run my tongue along it, and her reaction doesn’t disappoint. The noise she makes, the way her body flushes, and her hips seeking more contact, makes my dick ache.

I chuckle darkly and do it again. “A little sensitive there, love?”

“Fuck, Cade,” she moans. “I need you, now.”

Her fingers grip the back of my shirt, nails gently scraping through the fabric. The shirt has to go. Now. I need her skin against mine. We break apart long enough for me to rip the tee over my head and throw it to the floor. As soon as my mouth is back on hers, she runs her fingers down my back and I shiver. Nothing could beat the sensation of her skin against mine.

Slowly, I draw Kai’s shirt up her body, tracing the exposed skin with my tongue as I go. By the time the tee joins mine on the floor, she’s breathing fast, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Goosebumps rise in the wake of my fingers as I skim them along her skin.

“You are so fucking beautiful,” I whisper as my gaze travels over her body.

She isn’t wearing a bra, so there is nothing to impede my view of her breasts, her nipples hard from desire. I wrap my lips around one peak and flick my tongue over it, smiling against her skin when she digs her fingers into my hair to hold me in place. Lavishing her nipple with my tongue, I pinch the other one between my thumb and finger and pull.

“Oh gods, Cade,” she gasps as her back arches off the bed.

“What do you want, love?”

“You,” she pants. “I want you.”

“I’m going to need more than that, Ellis.” I push my thumb between her lips and she swirls her tongue along the pad. “Do you want me here?” Pulling my thumb out, I trail my hand down her neck and over her breast. I pinch her nipple again, and ask, “What about here?”

She whimpers and squeezes her legs together like she’s trying to relieve an ache.

“Or is it here that you want me?” I whisper in her ear and run my fingers gently down her belly and just barely through her folds.

Even with that slight touch, I can sense how drenched she is, and my cock throbs in my sweatpants, dying to be let loose. Ellis gasps and raises her hips in a silent plea for more.

I chuckle darkly. “Words, Ellis. Tell me with your words where you want me.”

Her cheeks flood red in embarrassment, but her eyes are pure fire when she looks at me. “I want your mouth, your tongue, in my pussy.”

I grin at her as I slide down her body and push her thighs apart. “I will happily drown in you, love.”

That first lick draws a groan from both of us. Her hands fist in my hair and tug the strands almost painfully, and I love it. I nibble, and lick, and suck until she’s writhing under me, but I don’t give her enough to send her over the edge. I savor her taste, the sounds of her pleasure, drawing out her desire until she begs me for release. Only then do I look up and let our gazes meet. I suck her clit into my mouth and thrust two fingers inside her, stroking that most sensitive spot, over and over. She screams my name as I lap up her release and bring her through the waves of ecstasy wracking her body.

Pushing up on my hands, I wipe my mouth and chin on my shoulder with a grin. “Fucking delicious,” I growl as I climb up her body.

Looking into her eyes, I’m blown away. There is so much emotion shining there, and it’s vastly different from when I first met her. The shadows are gone, replaced by happiness and joy. She looks at me with such adoration it causes my heart to falter. That she trusts me enough to be vulnerable, is not something I will ever take lightly.

Impatiently, she grabs at my shoulders and pulls me up, and it’s then that I realize I’m still wearing my sweats. I quickly tug them off and settle over Ellis with my cock nudging her entrance. When she wraps her legs around my waist and attempts to pull me closer, I resist. A soft growl climbs up her throat and I chuckle. It’s adorable she thinks she can control what I do to her in bed.

However, I want it as badly as she does. Relenting, I slowly slide in. Each inch of her wet warmth around my hard length is like coming home. My eyes fall closed and I focus solely on the sensation of sliding in to the hilt. Ellis makes little mewling noises that tug my lips into a smile, and I open my eyes to watch her’s roll back in her head in ecstasy.

I pull out and gently thrust back in, repeating that motion over and over. Not a punishing pace, but slow and deep. “Never forget this, Ellis,” I breathe as I make her writhe underneath me. “You are more precious, more important, than anything in my life. In all of our lives.” I punctuate each sentence with a thrust of my hips.

Her eyes open and she stares at me. They shine so brightly. Emotion swirls as my words hit home and she realizes them for the truth they are.