Page 105 of Visions & Shadows

I hesitate for a moment before I nod, praying I don’t give away any of my feelings for him.

His warmth pours through me, and the longer I stare at Raighne, the more I start to imagine that I see hunger in his eyes.

That’s impossible.

Before I can process what’s happening, his mouth crashes against mine, and I’m engulfed in everything that’s Raighne. His hands move to my hair, and he fists the short strands. I can’t hold back a sob when I feel him enter my mind.

I try to break the kiss, but he just tightens his hold on me.“I don’t want you to see inside my mind.’

“You are mine,”his growl echoes through me.“Every part of you, Alchera. The only way I can heal you is if you let me in.”

His delicious scent and taste envelop me, and my abdomen clenches hard as my walls come crashing down.

Raighne groans as his tongue brushes over my lips before entering my mouth, and the primal sound sends tingles rushing over my body.

“Oh God,”I moan because I didn’t know this is what a kiss feels like.

“You haven’t been kissed before?”his voice rumbles inside me.

“No.”

My reply unleashes a storm in him, and Raighne washes through me like a tsunami, his intensity stealing the breath from my lungs.

I press closer to him, wanting as much of him as I can get. I know it’s wrong because he’s only trying to heal me.

He doesn’t want me the same way I want him.

But I can’t stop.

My heart is racing, and I’m consumed with passion for this man. It feels so good to have his mouth on mine, even if it’s for the wrong reasons.

His hands move down my body before settling on the sides of my thighs, and the nightgown bunches around his arms as he moves his hands beneath the fabric and up to my back.

I brace for pain, but there’s none.

I can only feel Raighne, his lips nipping and biting mine, his tongue lashing and tasting.

He consumes me entirely until there’s only him, and I have no idea how long we kiss for.

Raighne starts to slow down his assault on me, and when I regaincontrol of my mind, I’m a breathless mess on his lap.

His hands brush up and down my back once more before he pulls them out from under the fabric, and when he breaks the kiss, he trails his fingers over my cheeks.

I swear the man took me to the heavens and beyond, and coming down, I begin to feel self-conscious.

My eyes focus on him, and seeing the serious expression on his face, I squirm and glance away.

“Look at me.”

I shake my head, and it has him gripping hold of my chin and forcing me to look at him.

When our eyes lock, he asks, “How do you feel?”

I suck in a deep breath of air and focus on my back while I lift a hand to my face. The pain in my back is much more manageable, and the scabs on my cheeks are practically gone.

Slowly, a smile tugs at my mouth. “It worked,” I whisper, the awkwardness forgotten as relief fills me.

“Good.”

---