Page 45 of What Lies Within Blood & Heirs

All those years. All those scars.

Something melted off his face. A decades-old wound began to heal. Reforming, reshaping into something new and … vulnerable. Something cleansing, perhaps reborn, rested on his face as if no one had ever said that to him before.

So, she said it again, only this time… “Thank you for keepingmesafe.”

Branches scratched like talons against the barn in the howling wind. Steady thuds from the doors slammed into the broken boards as the metal hinges groaned. Other than the moonlight that shifted positions beyond the broken roof, there was nothing to suggest how long she’d been asleep.

Alora knew she’d been whimpering the moment her eyes opened. Because those hands that massaged her to sleep were still rubbing. And that wasn’t straw beneath her.

Garrik was an entangled mess of legs and limbs with his carved chest pinned down …beneathher.Cradling her to him.

Heat rushed to her cheeks. Sometime in her sleep, she must’ve rolled onto him. Yet he had allowed her to stay, sleeping soundly in his arms while he no doubt laid awake.

It would’ve been easy to slide off him. Pretend like it never happened. But the rhythm of his chest. How she counted each brush of it against her cheek, coaxing her heartbeat to wrap around his …

Calm. So perfectly calm, she didn’t want to move.

Strong arms tightened around her. Gripping the blanket, Garrik tucked the wool under her shoulders, and she may have nuzzled her face into his solid chest, evoking a pleasant sigh from his throat.

Alora took in a greedy inhale of the blanket—leather and metal.

The scent of him.

She shamelessly grinned, turning her eyes up to look through long lashes at his face.

Those enchanting silvers, even exhausted, glowed down at her before that rare and real smile surfaced. The one that instantly turned her bones molten. His broad hand lifted from her shoulder and stroked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Please, don’t stop,” Alora blissfully whimpered when he traced idle circles on her arm under the blanket.

Releasing a breathy hum, Garrik’s fingers splayed across her spine. Sliding slowly downward, swirling and kneading into sore muscles.

She could lay there for eternity and never tire of it. Indulging in the delicacy that was his fingertips.

Those heavenly fingers moved, touching her body like it belonged to him. Like he had the entire world in his hands. They trailed sensually along her spine and danced in the dips of her muscles like they knew precisely where the contact would deliver comfort and melt her into him. Adding his other hand, Garrik traveled to her knee, which was bent across his lap. Palming her thigh, he kneaded that, too.

A moan, heavy with pleasure, released between her lips.

Stars.How could this feel so perfect? How couldhefeel so perfect?

She felt the warmth of his breath before his lips. Garrik smoothly traced them along the curve in that soft spot between her neck and shoulder. Those lips brushed until they reached her ear, pressing tender kisses along the way. A warm wave of breath fluttered across her neck.

Enchanting eyes half-lidded, and Garrik chuckled when her body went taut. “Like that, darling?” Taunting as his lips traced along her jawline.

“Yes,” she groaned, unashamed, angling her neck. Begging—a silent plea.

Garrik smirked wickedly and went still as stone.

Alora extended her neck, but the mighty bastard remained unmoving.

“Clever girl,” he taunted, then dropped his teeth right—stars—right where she wanted, grazing along her flesh. Garrik’s hand roamed her body, wrinkling the lace of her underthings in his slow exploration.

A deep moan vibrated across her flesh before a sharp sting bit her neck, and his swirling tongue begged for forgiveness. That tongue could do anything because when Garrik put his mouth on her …nothingelse mattered. Not who she was or where she came from or who she’d been with. His tongue licked up the memories that painted her body. It licked away thecruel hands that had once been there, and instead, laid healing touches.

A savage to the world. A ruthless killer whose hands brought death to everyone but her.

Garrik’s hands gripped her bare thighs and lifted effortlessly until she was straddling him. Claiming her like his touch was the only one that belonged there.

She couldn’t deny her desire. It pulsated between her legs.

---