Page 94 of The Edge of Dawn

Right now, she could cease to exist, and she wouldn’t care. This feeling was beyond anything she ever could have imagined.

And then…

The tension broke, and she was filled with a great sense of relief.

Is this what it really feels like?

He lifted his lips from her and kissed her there one last time before he moved up her body, planting slow kisses along her belly, her chest, sucking her nipples, making slow, sensual movements with his tongue around each one until it became taut with arousal.

Then, he kissed her on her lips, and she could taste herself on him, and it was magical.

She opened her eyes and found the stars reflected in his endless gaze.

He leaned in.

Her heart pounded so fiercely.

With one hand, he wrapped his fingers around the base of her neck. With the other, he caressed her jawline, tilting her head back ever so slightly, stealing yet another kiss.

Oh-so possessive.

Im-possible.

She didn’t care if this was a dream. She never wanted it not to be real.

She opened her eyes again, realizing that the wispy treetops above had turned into an explosion of color, vibrant hues of purple, blue, and aqua swaying against the backdrop of the infinite Universe.

“Now,” he whispered, his breath feathering against her cheek, “it’s my turn.”

She shuddered in delightful anticipation.

And then he entered her, and as he did so, he wrapped her in his dark, layered presence.

There was so much more to him than what she’d first thought.

Oh, stars. He has no right to feel this good.

But he was inevitable, and he did.

THIRTY-ONE

Afterward, she lay in his arms, her head resting against his bare chest, her hair draped across his skin in lush tangles of silk.

He savored the aftertaste of their union, his ka’qui thrumming with satisfaction.

For he’d reached a state of complete transcendence, and she’d imprinted herself upon him.

Finally, he understood what the obsession was all about.

Why Tarak al Akkadian had gone so extreme, obliterating the Empire with such ease once he’d discovered the secret of Earth and its precious inhabitants—humans.

It all made perfect sense now.

She was asleep—both here and in reality. He listened to the gentle rhythm of her breathing and the steady beat of her heart. He drank in the aura of peacefulness that had come over her. At last, her fear, worry, and tension had melted away.

And so they should. She was perfectly safe with him. No other being in the Universe had ever made him feel this way. If anyone or anything tried to harm her, he would do everything in his power to wipe any last trace of that threat from existence.

This instinct to protect… he felt it in every fiber of his being. He didn’t try to deny it or question it.

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