Page 424 of Lodestar

Soft at first, maybe because he sensed my mood, then the beat of the music worked against him.

Techno wasn’t his vibe, but that didn’t mean it didn’t get into his blood. Ithadto.

Parting my lips, I sighed again as he slipped me some tongue. Stroking it with mine, I leaned into that kiss, nourished it, and fed it until his dick was grinding into my ass and his hand was on my stomach, pinning me tighter into him.

I groaned into his lips as I twisted around, wrapping my arms around his neck as his hands shifted down to my ass. This time, the thick length against my belly felt like a brand.

It scorched me.

Made my core burn in a matching heat.

I could feel that tingle—the one that was becoming less and less elusive as time with him passed—and I reached for it. I didn’t clutch at it desperately like I did when we first got together. I rocked toward it as each of his fingers dug into myglutes and he tugged me into him, making me feel his searing, burning need for me.

“I love you, Conor.”

Warm words, but he didn’t respond with warmth. He responded withfire.

His growl lit me up from the inside out and I ate up his snarl as if it were a pint of Ben & Jerry’s finest. He tongue-fucked me. No kinder way to describe it, and I fought the flames of his need with my own.

When he ducked down and dragged me against him, I was very glad about my skirt, more so when he tore at the slit to make it higher. A move that enabled me to cup him with my legs.

As my heels dug into his ass, he maneuvered me to the side of the balcony and that was the first time I pulled back.

“No. Put my ass on the balcony railing.”

He frowned. “What?”

“Put my ass on the balcony railing,” I rasped.

I watched the cogs working behind his eyes and saw the sweetest glimmer of pain flicker to life as he came to terms withwhatI was asking andwhy.

Grateful that he didn’t say anything, just moved back so that my butt was against the cool metal, I sighed with relief when his mouth returned to mine.

We were back to soft and gentle—apologetic. I didn’t want that. I wantedhim.

That fire was what I craved because it was only through that fire that I could be burned and reborn from the ashes.

I tugged on the deep V of my blouse, revealing the small brand that Indy had inked onto me.

The phoenix, formed in her iconic Mandala strokes with Conor’s name tangled amid those flowing lines, sat pride of place on the curve of my breast.

When he saw it, he dipped down and pressed his lips to it. As he tongued the outer edges, shaping its form, my head tipped back.

My hair was loose so I felt it flowing against my spine. It was an illusion but I felt like Rapunzel with a mile of hair dangling over the balcony, long enough to hit the floor.

I could feel gravity’s pull much as I had years ago, but this was different.

Death wasn’t calling me now. The urge to fall was gone.

Life was what beckoned me.

A future.

And I knew, point blank, that Conor would never, ever,everlet go of me.

I groaned when he nuzzled the neckline of my shirt away, nipping and sucking a path along tender skin until he reached my nipple.

When he nipped, hard enough to sting, my fingers knotted in his hair, my nails scoring his scalp.

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