Page 103 of Live Like Legends

I looked between us, at the glow that illuminated between our palms. The tug I’d felt hours before Nick and everyone else had busted into Dimitri’s prison. The familiar light that nearly matched my own.

“Me too,” I said, feeling a tingle in my hands. It was like a caress that I never wanted to end. It felt comfortable and had a simplicity that I didn’t know I could want. My chest tightened when I looked into his eyes, the white golden light from our hands casting a glow along his face.

I would find my way back to the powerful hybrid I knew myself to be, but I also knew that faltering was okay, since I had more than enough people to lean on. Nick had the biceps to hold me up, I was definitely sure of that.

Without a moment to waste I ripped my hands from his, placing them on either side of his neck as I kissed him. He let out a small hiss that had me pulling back. I blinked over to where my hands were, seeing that I had started to burn him.

An apology was on my lips, but he shushed me. “It’s okay. You can burn me whenever you like.”

“I want you back in bed. I don’t want you sleeping on the floor. You want to be by my side, Mr. Cassial?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

He nodded. “Like I said, by your side or behind you. I’m there.”

“Then I want you back in bed with me.” I made a move to walk forward, causing him to go backwards towards his bed. “I wantyourtouch. I wantyourhands on me, being gentle and making me feel safe. I wantyourkiss making me forget and easing my pain.” My voice got small as I spoke my next words, not really knowing how else to convey my feelings. “You’re my home.”

His mouth was on mine before I could say anything else.

“I love you,” he said in between his kisses. He turned us around, so that the back of my calves hit the side of his bed. I sat down, scooting backwards and bending my knees slightly. The shirt I’d borrowed from him riding up my thighs.

He looked patient as he delicately placed his hand at my knee, gliding it down my leg. His fingers stopped once they touched the beginning of the long pink scars at my thigh. My muscles started to tighten at the feeling of his fingertips, but I swallowed, nodding at him. He kept going, tracing the scars with a feather-like touch.

He bent down, placing his face near my thigh and my muscles relaxed slowly as I felt him kiss the raised lines. I held in something I could only call a whimper because this had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with love.

He kissed every inch of my scar, making sure not to go too fast and then lifted himself up to kiss my lips again. “Okay?” He was checking in on me, making sure I was good with how things were going.

I felt myself starting to cry again as I nodded. “I love you too.” It was wild how love and strength were so intertwined.

He kissed me again, before carefully maneuvering my body so that my head rested on his pillows. “I know you have some issues with me charging in and helping you, but right now,pleaselet me make you feel good.”

Dani didn’t say anything. She just looked up at me with a few tears streaming down her cheeks and I reached up, swiping them away with my thumb. I saw her chest rise and fall as she let out steady breaths. It was times like this that confirmed I, of course, thought she was beautiful when she was confident and unyielding, but I also thought she carried the same beauty when she was unsure and vulnerable.

I hovered over her, preparing myself to go as slowly as I could. I would spend hours here with her if that’s what she wanted, if that’s what she needed from me. She reached for my shirt, making a motion to try and tug me down. I obliged, feeling her breath against my skin when I was inches from her face.

I caressed her cheek, watching as she leaned into my touch. I kissed her other cheek, trailing those kisses to her jaw. “It’s just you and me.”

I kissed her neck, remembering what it was like seeing that reddened handprint encompassing her throat. My shoulders tensed at the memory and then I blinked, bringing myself backand taking a look at her neck again. The handprint was gone now and she was okay. She was here. She was with me, safe.

If this were a different time, I would have let my kisses travel between her breasts and down her stomach, probably tickling her in between. This time I took a detour. My lips went to the fabric of the shirt at her shoulder. I dipped my head down to kiss just where the shirt sleeve ended and her skin began.

She turned her head to look at me, not stopping me, but something in her eyes told me that she wanted to witness everything I did. I moved my lips down her arm, pressing a light kiss to the scars she had there as well. These ones were deep but they weren’t as bad as the ones on her thigh. Xander had said that the ones on her arm might fade with time, but her thigh scar could be a permanent fixture on her skin.

I peppered kiss after kiss to the raised skin, moving the rest of the way down so that I could place a kiss to the inside of her wrist. I peeked over at her. “Still okay?”

She graced me with a tiny smile. “Yes.”

My hands were a little shaky when I brought them to the hem of her shirt. I had started to kiss her, letting her decide when she wanted to unleash her tongue. She let out a small moan, bringing her hips up to try and meet my own. I dragged the shirt up her body, exposing her stomach and tiny shorts she had on underneath. I pushed the shirt up some more so that it sat above her breasts.

My fingers ran over her miles of brown skin, her stomach hollowing when I splayed my fingers out across her skin. I would never fucking get over it.

Fuck, she was beautiful.

I kissed down her ribs and her stomach. I let my tongue out to lick at her skin. I thought I was hearing things, but I could have sworn her heartbeat was loud enough for it to travel to my ears. I kissed the inside of each of her thighs, mimicking what Idid before and kissing the scars at her outer thigh. I would do it over and over again if that’s what she wanted.

After each kiss, the pads of my fingertips would take its place. Her muscles weren’t as tense and each touch of my fingers didn’t feel like it was unwanted. I knew I wasn’t the cure for her pain but if this eased just a fraction of hurt, then…it was worth it.

I had asked myself a while ago if I wanted her enough to fight for us. The answer was so clear now; it probably always was.

I tucked my fingers into the waistband of her shorts, feeling the elastic. She looked from me to where my fingers now were and then back at me, giving me a small nod of approval. I pulled them and her panties down her legs, tossing them to the floor.

---