Page 63 of Blue Embers
Her body tightened, her satisfied cry vibrating against my mouth. I felt her climax tremble through her and just like that, my own crashed around me. Wave after wave of extreme, otherworldly bliss touched and caressed every nerve. It swelled in my core and exploded outward, bringing me closer than I’d ever been to Persephone. Her heartbreak and sadness swallowed me and was relieved by the overwhelming sense of affection I felt growing inside her soul. Affection forme. It was a mutual attachment. One I had denied for a few days, but in that moment, when our bodies and minds were tangled up together, I knew I couldn’t push her away. She was already inside me, her roots already burrowed deep.
I embraced her in my arms and rolled her onto her back just as the orgasm faded away, leaving us both energized and sated at the same time. I kissed her gently, still buried deep inside her. Her body was steaming with arousal as I ran a hand down the length of her leg. I felt a small bandage taped to her knee and paused, glancing down as I peeled it away. Where I suspected she’d cut herself on the coffee table, her skin was now flawless and unscathed. Looking up at her again, I smirked.
“There he is,” she said to me, somewhat out of breath as she stroked my cheek with her thumb. “I thought I lost you.”
I slowly shook my head. “I’m just stubborn, love,” I whispered.
27
Killian
. . .
All night, Persephone and I stayed on the boat in that small, confined space, which had become quite warm now with both of our bodies giving off so much heat. We’d made love throughout the night, exploring the distances we could take each other and in between, we explored our minds, sharing stories and secrets and desires like we were delving into each other’s journals. Persephone was more fascinating every time she spoke. Every time I found a new way to bring her to heights of pleasure. I discovered how she liked to be touched and caressed while she quickly found ways to drive my arousal crazy in return.
As the sun began its slow ascent, purple hues danced across the sky outside and slowly lit up the cabin. Persephone had found a thick blanket and wrapped the two of us in it as the sun rose, her head rested on my chest as she dozed. I could have listened to her soft breathing for hours. I wanted to. As I gently stroked my fingers through her hair, I savored the sound of her calm heartbeat and that feeling of her chest pressing against me as she breathed. Brushing my fingers down the back of her neck and along her shoulder and down the curve of her hips, I could feel the heat rising from the print on her waist and stroked it softly.
The gentle touch roused Persephone from her peaceful sleep. I felt her stir and looked down at her as she slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at me, a deep intake of breath filling her lungs. Her aqua-colored eyes were rich in the morning light, which had begun to warm to a deep red that tinted her blonde hair. I smiled down at her, clearing a few strands of hair from her face as they fell across her forehead.
Persephone turned her lips toward my wrist, kissing me gently before she moved her mouth up along my chest. Her hot breath filled my veins as she rose, scooting her body up until her face was rested beside mine. I turned my lips into hers, giving her a warm, tender kiss.
“How long did I sleep that time?” she asked.
“An hour perhaps,” I said.
“That’s enough, right?” she teased, nibbling at my ear.
I groaned, rolling over her excitedly. The woman was exhausting in the best of ways, like a dessert that I couldn’t eat enough of.Tryingto get enough? Now that was the challenge. I kissed her long and deep, savoring the feel of her legs wrapped around me again. We’d already spent a whole night together and I was ready to spend the whole day together as well, but reality came knocking in the form of an alert beeping on my phone, which had rolled onto the floor at some point during our night of aggressive passion. I wouldn’t have paid any attention otherwise, but that wasn’t my normal notification.
Stretching my arm over Persephone, I found my phone under my loose pants and grabbed for it, tapping the screen with my thumb. A red alert message was bright before me and suddenly the severity of our situation hit me again. I sat up, opening the message and reading through the warnings splashed on my screen.
“What is it?” Persephone asked, quickly catching on to the urgency in my behavior.
“Shit,” I hissed. “We have a big problem. Get dressed.”
The two of us rolled off the bed and began a quick search for our clothes and shoes, which were scattered throughout the small room. Once we were dressed, we headed topside where the air was chilly and the sun had lit up the sky with orange in the east. I started up the dock to the trail leading to the cabin and stopped, turning to Persephone before we left the boathouse.
In my haste, I neglected to reassure her that everything I’d said and everything we did that night was sincere. When she reached me, the concern in her eyes was deep. I placed a hand against her cheek and pushed her hair behind her ear with a soft smile.
“It’s fine,” she smiled back. “Three times is enough to hold me over for at least a couple of days.”
“Three?” I cocked my head. “I could have sworn it was more than that, love.”
She raised herself on her toes to brush my lips with hers.
“That’s not counting the things you did with your mouth,” she muttered before she slid past me and continued toward the cabin.
Watching that woman walk away was perhaps as pleasing as watching her walk toward me. I shook off a brief wave of arousal and focused, marching quickly toward the cabin to find Draven. To our luck, everyone was in the dining room for breakfast and all eyes moved toward Persephone and me when we entered. If there was ever a secret, it would be out now.
A smile beamed across Malice’s lips, who had two bagels in his hands, each with bites in them. Before the Draak could blurt some obscene phrases, I slid my phone across the table toward Draven and sighed with disappointment.
“We have another problem,” I told him.
Draven picked up the phone and eyed the alert that was still lit up on the screen reading,unauthorized access detected.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“I transferred everything from my personal office to a remote one before we came here in case Haera chose to go poking around once we’d left. All of my locator accounts, contacts, research, and monitoring software was there. It was too sensitive to leave.”
