Page 89 of Rebirth

Tilting my chin, I meet his gaze once more. “Or else…I will die…”

He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to. The answer is already clear.

“Asha,” I whisper. “Where is she?”

“She is unharmed,” he assures me. “Deja has her. Is keeping her company.”

“Will she be safe?”

My eyes fall to his lips and I watch a shudder go through him as he grips the table beneath me so hard I swear I hear the material crumble. As if being so close to me is really testing his limits.

“Deja has the protection of fully operational ba’clan. She will be fine.”

Outside, the conversation grows more intense and He’rox raises his hand. Another layer of white material slides along the wall, dampening the sound and sealing us in.

Lifting a hand, the ba’clan rear against my skin, forming spikes along my outer arm as I stretch toward He’rox, and even in that dark gaze, I can see the pain there.

His own symbiotes are unsure of what he now is. Are aware that he is no longer himself completely and are willing to defend themselves against the tainted part of him.

It must have been so hard for him.

Tears well in my eyes that I don’t allow to fall. Because He’rox doesn’t need pity. He needs strength. Because I know what it’s like carrying a load all on your own. I lived most of my life alone, afraid to form any lasting relationships from the deep-seated terror my father instilled in me since I was a child. Everything was going to end, anyway. Why try to fall in love when it was going to be ripped away painfully, whether by death, disease, or destruction?

As my hand makes contact with his jaw, he stiffens, those dark eyes swallowing me.

“Sophie,” he warns.

But I am far from afraid.

In fact, I feel stronger. Wiser. More in tune with everything around me. I can almost…I can almost hear his heart beating in his chest.

I don’t think, I just do.

Tilting my chin, my lips press against his and there’s an immediate growl that rattles through me, sending shockwaves of want, pleasure, and need straight through my bones.

He’rox’s hesitation disappears as he grasps me and lifts. My legs automatically wrap around him as he cradles my ass and takes me across the room.

We don’t get to wherever we’re going because the moment my tongue slips against his, he growls again, the sound vibrating the air in the room as he stops walking and presses my back into a wall.

His lips crash against mine. Eager. Demanding. And I give in, opening my lips to him as his tongue slips into my mouth.

He tastes like fire. Flaming, burning and scorching, his tongue dances against mine, his mouth eager and hungry. A hunger I know all too well because it rises within me now, pushing me forward, making me hang on to him, my fingers clawing into his back as if the taste of him is not enough.

I can feel myself being lifted, my back sliding along the wall as He’rox continues to kiss me, my legs tight around his waist. His hands grip my hips, pulling me closer to him, our bodies grinding against each other. I moan into his mouth at the same time that something hot and hard seems to spring out between us, pressing against my core.

“Tell me this is what you want,” he growls against my lips, his voice rough and low.

I nod, unable to form words as he tightens his hands against my thighs, the tips of his claws pressing in almost painfully, as if he’s afraid I’ll run away. I pant against his lips, my tongue flicking out to brush against one of his fangs in a way that makes him growl against me, sending a surge straight through the center of my being and down to my core.

I need to be filled by him. And as if he can read my mind, something writhes between us, brushing against the intense heat of my core as it begs to be filled by him. Even the shadows at the edges of my vision dance with a life of their own.

The dryness of the air sticks to my skin, making each one of my senses more heightened than they already are. The fire of his lips burning against mine, his hands gripping my skin, the tension building between us… A low moan escapes my mouth as He’rox pushes himself against me, my nipples pebbling almost painfully as he slips his tongue from my mouth, those dark eyes swallowing me as he curves his tongue under my jaw, tilting my head up to face him.

The thought of him putting himself inside of me is so strong that I don’t even notice when he spreads my legs wider and inhales deeply.

“They are right, you know, dear sweet Sophie,” he says, swiping his tongue down my cheek before it disappears back into my mouth. A whimper leaves me that I don’t even try to hold back. I don’t know who he’s referring to and I don’t even know if I care. All I can feel is the heat spreading through my frame. That clawing need for him.

Through the edges of my vision, I see the tentacles at his back rise like thick tendrils behind him, his gaze going bottomless as my lids lower and I look at him.

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