Page 96 of Silent Lucidity

“I have you here with me now. That’s all that matters,” she said.

He stared into her eyes for a few seconds before slipping an arm around her waist, drawing her body against his, and leaning down to slant his mouth over hers. His kiss was as deep, as intense, and as passionate as his stare had been, and it sent a thrill through Abella from head to toe. Her only regret at that moment was that she still had her clothes on.

She slid her hands around his sides and up his back, careful of his wounds. She needed to touch him, tofeelhim, to lose herself in his embrace. Standing on her toes, she pressed her lips harder against his and opened her mouth. She moaned at the first taste of his sweet venom and flicked her tongue over the tip of his fang, seeking more.

Tenthil’s hands dropped to her ass. His fingers curled around each cheek, and he lifted her off her feet, drawing her against him. His hard cock pressed along her belly.

Abella gasped, put her hands on his shoulders, and pushed back from him, breaking the kiss. “Tenthil, your wounds!”

“They can wait,” he growled. “Need younow.”

He turned, laid her atop the bed, and quickly divested her of her boots. Her breath hitched when he grasped the waistline of her pants and yanked them down her hips and legs. He tossed them over his shoulder, spread her knees, and dropped his mouth to where she needed him most.

Abella cried out, propping herself up one elbow as she moved her other hand to his head. She curled her fingers in his hair, and it took everything in her not to tug at those silver locks as his tongue stroked her folds, dipped into her sex, and teased her clit. Pleasure coursed through her—so strong, so intense, so overwhelming that she attempted to close her legs to alleviate it. Tenthil only tightened his hold on her thighs and spread them farther, opening her wide.

She moaned, unable to tear her gaze away him. She watched his tongue greedily lap at her, and the sight of his face between her thighs sent a fresh wave of heat through Abella.

He met her gaze. His eyes were dark, sensual, gleaming with hunger and need.

All she wanted was him. She neededhim.

“Now, Tenthil. Please,” she begged. “I want you inside me. I need to feel you. All of you.”

She felt Tenthil’s fingers flex just before he surged up and over her. He caught her shirt with his hands and shredded it with his claws. He tore the tattered fabric from her body and lowered himself, settling his chest atop hers, dipping his head to claim her mouth ashis.

Abella wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss. The taste of his venom mixed with the flavor of her slick, which lingered on his lips. She relished the warmth of his bare skin against hers. It didn’t matter that the blood of their enemies clung to him; she had her beast, her mate, her love. He was alive.Alive.

He wedged his hips between her thighs, forcing them wider. A moment later, the head of his cock pressed against the opening of her sex. Abella moaned and undulated her hips.

“Now,” she breathed. “Now, Tenthil.”

Growling through bared teeth, he thrust his hips forward and sank his cock into her.

Abella gasped, tightening her arms around him. He held himself still; his shaft stretched her, filled her, burned her, and she wantedmore.

He placed his hands on the bed to brace himself over her, and Abella wrapped her legs around his hips, digging her heels into his lower back to pull him deeper. His mouth hovered above hers; they shared breaths as they stared into each other’s eyes.

The fire in his gaze changed—his intensity eased without losing heat, his desperation abated without losing the glimmer of longing. Though his eyes remained fully black, a tender light shone within them. He rocked his hips, setting a slow rhythm, pressing farther into her with each undulation. Every stroke heightened her pleasure infinitesimally and stoked her desire just a little more.

Leaning his face down, he kissed her again and again, over and over—on her lips, her cheeks, her chin and along her jaw, on her neck, shoulder, and collarbone. He leaned on one elbow and trailed his hand up her body—from thigh to hip, from side to chest—to tease her budded nipple. She shivered in delight as he covered her breast with his palm.

On and on Tenthil rocked his hips without quickening or slowing his pace. She clung to him while their breathy sighs and moans filled the room and their coupling brought them ever closer to the pinnacle of ecstasy. As much as she craved that final release, this slow-building sensation was a taste of paradise all its own. There was no rush—they had time, time to betogether, and she wanted to spend as many moments of her life as possible savoring her mate.

Abella’s core tightened an instant before she was swept away in a wave of pleasure. She cried out his name and chanted her love for him as she rode torrential currents of bliss. Digging her nails into his shoulders, she tilted her head back and bared her throat, silently begging for her mate’s intoxicating bite.

Tenthil groaned and moved his mouth up past her collarbone. His warm breath tickled the skin between her neck and shoulder for a moment before his fangs sank into her flesh. The brief prick of pain, followed by two rushes of exhilarating heat—venom flowing from his fangs and his seed pumping into her—launched her climax to new heights.

Muscles tensing, Tenthil growled against her shoulder. He tightened his hold on her and quickened his hips, pistoning back and forth until he and Abella, shuddering with the overwhelming power of their pleasure, collapsed onto the bed.

Abella ran her hands over Tenthil’s back as they lay there wrapped in each other’s embrace. A thrill pulsed through her with each of the little tremors that flowed through him. Turning her head, she brushed her lips over his temple and held him tighter.

Tenthil’s chest rumbled, and he rasped her name against her neck before lifting his head and looking into her eyes. His brow softened as he brushed the backs of his clawed fingers over her cheek.

“Never letting go again,” he whispered.

She’d been angry that he’d withheld information from her, that he’d refused to bring her to the human embassy, that he’d claimed her as his without her say, but she would endure all of it again and again so long as it brought her back to this moment. Back to these feelings; she was protected, cherished,loved.

She would endure a hundred times as much so long as it brought her back to him.

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