Page 193 of White Raven
“You’re that guy from the bar…”
Athan smiled, leaning up to press his lips to her forehead.
“You’re observant.”
Sarah’s bare shoulder softly rose and fell in the plush bed, her inked back facing him as Athan laid next to her. There was a familiar smell that she’d never know existed in this place long before they ever brought it back to life. He breathed it in, and his keen hearing picked up the song of Starlings, wildly chattering to one another outside as fall started settling in over Old London. They’d be flying south soon, and winter would return…colder here than Boston ever was, but so much warmer a feeling than the summer he’d spent beneath the sun…with his mate. Hiswife. His forever…putting all the pieces of this house back together and building their eternity brick by peaceful brick. He wished his mother could see it. The place they’d made together. The place he always wished he could have given her and watched her grow old. He didn’t even have a portrait of her.
Sarah’s framed photo of her and her own mother sat on their nightstand, and he realized he hadn’t heard whispering in what seemed like forever now. Athan stared at it and smiled softly.
Thank you, Katherine. Tell my mother…she never failed me. I hope I’ve made you both proud. I’ll be eternally grateful for what you both gave us.
Sarah stirred, and he turned on his side, pressing his body against her back, and smoothing his palm down her side as he kissed her pale shoulder. His hair fell over his brow, and her scent intoxicated him.
“Morning, Mrs. Kane.”
Sarah slowly rolled onto her back, smiling as he leaned himself over her.
“Hey, you…”
She was so fucking beautiful. An eternity didn’t seem like enough time to appreciate her. Still…so undeserving. Poe woke and fluttered his wings in his large cage near the window. Sarah shifted underneath him.
“Your bird-child is awake.”
Athan’s gold band glinted in the gray light coming in from the window as he trailed his fingers across her naked body. “He’ll have to wait. I’ve yet to properly thank you.”
“What was last night then?” she snorted, rubbing the corner of her eye.
Last night had been emotion. Gratitude had been shoved to the back burner where he’d no doubt burn it to a crisp, with no hope of salvaging it with the stupid spatula that served as a steady reminder that he’d never truly learn how to cook. Sarah had surprised him with a secret commission that had beaten his immortal heart into slop as they spent their first night in this house. The stone mason that had restored the original chimney, and front stoop that they couldn’t live without…had created a masterpiece to replace the bird-shaped stone that marked his mother’s grave. She now had a beautiful monument of her own…with her name on it this time. Sarah had it placed yesterday…and the mason returned the flat piece of stone, sealing it into the lowest step…the word ‘forevermore’ engraved in the middle, and polished to commemorate their wedding date, and the beginning of their very long future.
Athan had been so beside himself that his soul was lost inside her last night. He poured every ounce of it into her with every slow, satisfying stroke. It was hard to imagine that hiding behind that shell of humanity that Dahlia sought to destroy in him for all those dark years, was what had found this incredible creature lying underneath him. The one that saved his life in every possible way. His very own white knight…hisWhite Raven. So much more a queen than Dahlia could have ever been…with her band shirts, and her black nail polish. The simplicity of her exterior, and the complexity of the goddess that dwelled within. She deserved to be worshiped. And he was about to do exactly that.
“Last night was how much I fucking love you, Sarah. How much I’ll always love you. My fountain and my shrine. This morning…is every single piece of you that I’ll continue to thank God for. For whatever he feels I’m so worthy of after everything I’ve done.”
A sly smile crept across her face. “Oh, you’re praying now, are you?”
Athan hummed as he drew her pierced nipple into his mouth, and tugged on the small metal hoop until she hissed through her teeth. “One of us is about to…but it won’t be me, love.” His fingers dipped under the sheet, and he curled them under her knee, bending it and gently pushing it open as his tongue swirled around the swell of her breast.
“Ha…” she huffed out breathlessly, squirming under his ministrations. “And what if I said I was tired?”
He couldn’t help but grin against her chest as his fingers slid between those slender tattooed thighs, and through her slit, finding purchase in that sweet cunt. “You don’t feel tired…” he whispered, kissing his way down her body as his fingers slid in and out. She breathed harder and gripped the sheets as he bit into the tender skin of her abdomen. Her blood had tasted sweeter since the day she took his last name. He made sure to coat his mouth with it. He’d be coating it with something else in about five seconds. Athan raised himself to tower over her, and the sight of that body…that bite closing up on her belly…he had to grip his cock with his other hand to keep it from twitching, while the other left that haven to travel up to her parted mouth. “Take it,” he rasped, breathing heavily.
She opened it wider, and he let her suck them clean…those flecks of gold in her eyes firing up as she eyed his bloody mouth. “You taste that, Sarah? I want that in my mouth,” he whispered, leaning down to hover over her lips while he forced her mouth open with his fingers, “…every day…” A trail of bloodysaliva hung from his bottom lip, and into hers, and he nearly came in his hand when she stuck her tongue out to lap up the excess on his mouth. “For as long as I live.” Sarah’s irises darkened to a cold onyx and those canines found their way out, setting him ablaze with want.
“Well,” she panted, growing restless. “Who am I to keep it from you then, Athan Kane?” She knew exactly how to unravel him with a single look. He’d dragged his feast of her out as long as he could manage, refusing to let her fill his mouth until she thought she was completely spent…it was adorable. She absolutely believed she was good and truly tired then—believed he’d stop there and let her gather herself. Not this morning. Not for the next several hours. Not for a fucking lifetime.
No…this morning, he was grateful. He was grateful for every scream of his name, every jerk of her body…every damn drop of himself coating her wide open sex as he pushed himself back inside her. It wasn’t until this morning that he’d realized it…
Why he’d really attacked her that night.
Why he couldn’t leave after seeing her in the crowd.
What he was so sure was bloodlust had been something else entirely. All his life he’d beenstarvingfor her. His own body was so eviscerated and empty without her that Athan had forgotten he’d had a heart that could start beating again. He was still starving. And he may not ever be fully sated. Not when it came to this woman. Neither of them could barely catch their breath as sweat glued their bodies together, and he laid over her, completely consumed by that mouth, and those hands. They’d never be close enough. He’d never be deep enough. He’d never be able to thank the man upstairs enough…
Forforevermore.
EPILOGUE
It was strange…this life. This life that had seen things. Done things. This life that had left things behind…
