Page 126 of Threaded

His eyes went wide, and she knew he felt it, too.

The hardness in his gaze, in his whole body, softened, but the punishing pace he’d set did not slow.

And Mariah let herself fall into it, intohim, headfirst.

She felt her orgasm begin to rise, the wave of pleasure driven further by the breath she shared with Andrian and the look in his eyes that spoke more to her than she would ever let herself even think.

“Andrian …” His name was a whispered prayer on her lips.

“I’ve got you,” was all he whispered back. With those words, the bindings around her hands and ankles fell away completely, and without a thought her fingers flew up from where they gripped the railing, sinking into the thick waves of his hair, pulling his face into the hollow of her throat. The feel of his teeth as they scraped the skin of her neck sent a shiver racing up her spine and a groan escaping from her lips, her eyelids fluttering closed again.

He moved his own hands, one still holding her securely by the neck, the other traveling from the balcony to her waist. Further in, to her stomach, to where his thumb was able to reach right into the space where they were joined. He pressed the digit against her clit, and light exploded from her skin.

His thumb started to swipe steady circles there, in perfect rhythm with his strokes into her, and as he built her higher and higher, he raised his head and murmured against her lips.

“Come for me,nio. Show me your light. Let itblindme.”

Gasping, Mariah turned her head to allow him deeper access to her neck, deeper access toher, and let her eyes open.

Far below her, the valley of the game park yawned open, waiting for one wrong move to swallow her whole.

But instead of fear, all she felt was pure, undiluted wildness, coaxed higher by the soft brush of a shadow against her back, tangled in the heavy sheet of her dark hair.

Her release barrelled through her like a tornado, her eyes flashing with images of skies and stars and of leaping off that balcony andfalling, knowing she would be caught.

“Fuck… Mariah …” Andrian chased her over that edge, falling with her into oblivion and so much more.

* * *

They remained there, panting, for several long moments, the silver-gold light emanating off Mariah melting like liquid over the balcony railing. Eventually, she was able to somewhat compose herself, drawing that light back into the confines of her skin. Andrian lifted his forehead from where it rested against hers, staring at her for several heartbeats before stepping back, releasing her from her seat on the ledge. He tucked himself back inside his pants, and then watched her in silence as she made quick work of slipping back into her clothes, brushing her fingers through her wild hair. When she finally returned her gaze to his, took in his guarded, unreadable expression, she knew what awaited her.

“You still won’t, will you?”

She didn’t know why she asked it; she knew the answer. Despite whatever it was that had happened between them just a few minutes ago, it still hadn’t been enough to change his mind.

Still hadn’t been enough to get him to put her life at risk. A risk she was more than willing to make, a risk she now wanted more than anything else.

It washerlife, after all. Not his.

And just as she knew the answer to her question, he didn’t respond to it. Instead, he watched her, that odd look still in his eyes, before turning back to look out at the white-capped Attlehon Mountains.

She watched him for a moment longer, sadness filling in the spaces of her still-broken soul. And she knew it then.

Knew that she’d lost him. That he would never allow himself this weakness again.

But, Mariah realized unfeelingly, she couldn’t lose something she’d never truly had.

Cold and numb, she moved back to the balcony doors. Placing a hand on the handle, she paused, twisting slightly to speak over her shoulder one last time.

“I wasn’t scared, because … I knew. I knew you would’ve caught me. That you never would’ve let me fall.”

Mariah stepped through the doors into the darkness of the hallway, back towards the medical wing, before he could respond.

She bonded with Feran later that night.

CHAPTER53

Mariah gazed up at the glass domed central roof of the library, barely there sunlight filtering through the gathering snowdrifts atop the panels.

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