Page 57 of Shadow of Death

“A puzzle? What was the point of that? Would you have really drowned me if I couldn’t solve a stupid puzzle?” My adrenaline was running past any check on my tongue. I’d thought I’d had it with these people before, but I was about thrown off the cliff now.

“I told you that you would be tested. You agreed. If you couldn’t keep your head under pressure, then yes, you’d be dead.” He spoke calmly, infuriating me more.

“So now what? Do you help me now?” I wrapped my arms around myself. I was soaked.

“This was only the first of the tests. There will be more until we feel sure.”

“How many tests will there be?” This was beginning to feel as open ended as the deal I had with Death.

“Until we feel sure.”

I wanted to ask another question, but he was gone. I was back in the bedroom, dripping all over the floor.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kicks walkedin the room less than a minute later and froze. He scanned me, looking at my drenched clothing. “What the hell happened?” He touched me everywhere, checking for wounds. “Why are you soaked? I came back and I couldn’t find you.”

“I’m okay.” That might’ve been overshooting the mark, but Iwasin one piece, if a little shaky.

“What happened?” He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. I sank into him, letting his warmth surround me, put the heat back into my bones, and help me feel sane again.

I told him almost everything, holding back nothing. I didn’t have the wherewithal to edit at that point.

He didn’t say anything, just kept holding me.

“Let’s get you dry.” His hands went to the hem of my soaked shirt, peeling the fabric from my skin before moving to unbutton my skirt.

I was in nothing but my bra and underwear, making no move to cover myself. His eyes ran over my flesh, and a burning heat rose in them. I didn’t think this was his intention when he’d begun undressing me, but things were shifting hard and fast between us, as they had a tendency to do, especially in momentslike these. There was something about walking along the edge of death that made me want to reach for life with both hands. All the reasons to stay away from him had fallen away like they were nothing.

“You’re wet too,” I said, my voice breathless as I looked at the soaked front of his shirt. I went for his buttons, working one and then the next as his muscular torso came into view. How many times had I longed to run my hands over him and denied myself?

His breathing grew ragged as his hands came to my wrists, stopping me. I couldn’t look at him. If he pushed me away, I might actually cry. He hadn’t wanted me in this way in so long, not since he’d discovered there was a chance he could impregnate me, and yet it was all I wanted right now.

“Darlin’, you start something, I’m not stopping. I’m in no mood for games, not today,” he said.

After what I’d just been through, I wasn’t dying without knowing what it would be like to have him inside of me. Of all the regrets that had flashed through my mind as the threat of death hovered near, rejecting him had been near the top.

I looked up, and all I could see in his eyes was savage heat.

“I’m too raw,” he said, every muscle in his body strung tight.

“So am I. I need you.”

Those words seemed to unlock something deep inside of him. He let go of my wrists and cupped my ass, dragging me upward against his body. I wrapped my legs around him. His dick, already hard, pressed against me as his mouth collided with mine. His tongue dipped into my mouth as his hips pressed against my core, lighting me on fire.

He carried me across the room, over to the bed, and followed me down onto it. He moved over me like he was driven by his beast. His mouth left mine to trail down my neck as his hand molded my breast. His hips were thrusting against me, and I wasn’t sure if he was trying to put me on overload so I didn’thave a moment to freeze up or if he was so close to the brink he couldn’t stop himself, or even slow.

His hand was between my legs, rubbing my sensitive bud before he slipped in one finger, and then a second as I arched against him. He was bringing me right to the brink and then keeping me there in exquisite torture.

“I want you. All of you,” I said.

I ripped his shirt off, and he paused to shed the rest of his clothes before his flesh covered me again. I wrapped my legs around his hips, urging him closer, my body throbbing for him.

Heat in his eyes flared as he shifted over me. The head of his penis was gliding along my opening and then pushing against me. He was so thick it was almost jarring, even as my slickness eased his way. He was going slow, letting me adjust to his size, but it was near maddening.

“I need more. I need all of you,” I said, my voice husky.

He thrust deep into me in one swift movement, sending my nerve endings into an oblivion of need.

---