Page 105 of A Reign of Malice
The moment we’re inside, Julian lowers me, slowly this time, until my feet brush the ground, but even then, he doesn’t let me go. He wraps an arm around my waist and cradles my jaw, brushing his thumb gently across my bottom lip.
“You’re really okay?” I whisper, searching his face for any sign of lingering pain.
“I am now,” he says, voice rough but honest. “You pulled me back from the edge the moment you appeared in that cave.”
I lean into him, arms sliding around his neck, fingers threading into his dark hair. “You pulled me back too.”
Our powerful stares speak volumes as we consume each other, knowing there’s no more need for words.
He kisses me, but it’s not urgent like it was before the battle. It’s full of need and want like he’s pouring all the pieces of his soul into my mouth with every breath and every touch.
I run my hands over his chest, removing his shirt andunbinding the wrap. “Let me see you,” I murmur against his lips.
He lets me strip the cloth away, baring bruised but healing skin. I trace the edge of each scar, each line earned in the name of survival, of us.
Julian leans his forehead against mine. “You don’t have to be gentle.”
“I want to be,” I breathe. “For now.”
He lifts me again, slowly this time. I expect him to take me to bed, but instead, we end up in the bathroom. The space is barely big enough for the both of us, but that doesn’t seem to matter as he sets me back down.
Without needing to speak, I know this moment is more than just being together. It’s about cleansing the both of us from the hell we’ve been through.
His fingers deftly work at getting my leathers off and his palm slides over the soft skin above my ribs, warming me from the outside in. Our eyes lock as he reaches past me to turn on the water.
We undress each other piece by piece, slowly and filled with wonder. Like we’re taking back all the time that was stolen from us. The heat builds—slow and dizzying—learning each other for the first time and remembering everything we already know.
I step under the warm spray of water and Julian follows close behind me, his touch never leaving me for more than a second.
Together, we let the grime and memory of battle wash away, easily losing ourselves within one another until touch is no longer enough. I need to feel all of him, for us to be one, and there to be no barriers.
Julian reaches for a towel and we quickly dry off, our urgency returning only long enough for him to guide metoward the bed, tucked against the far wall of the cabin. The sheets are rough, the small space plain and worn, but it might as well be a palace because we’re here. Together.
By the time he’s above me, skin against skin, hearts pressed close, our bond is pulsing between us with a golden fire.
“You’re mine,” he says against my mouth, a promise not a question.
I hold tighter to him, breathless and aching. “And you’re mine.”
He thrusts forward, making my back arch and my mouth drop open. Gods, nothing has ever felt more right than this moment.
His touch and taste and love. It’s all I’ll ever need.
He swallows my moans like they’re the air he needs to survive and rocks above me with steady movements.
I wrap my ankles around his thighs, somehow needing him closer, until I can no longer tell where he begins and I end.
Our bond thrums with an unleashed intensity, pulsing with power and strength, renewing every cell within our bodies. Our connection glows brighter with every movement, every cry of pleasure and love until we collapse together—sated, tangled, and utterly whole.
“Is it too soon to say I can’t wait to do that again?” he murmurs against my neck, sending gooseflesh across my heated skin.
“I was already thinking the same thing.”
Julian holds me like he never intends to let go again, and I know he won’t.
Because there’s nothing left between us but forever.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
