Page 381 of Shadowblood Souls
She already came for me once, but I can make this one better. I can make it as close as possible to the total joining we’re both craving but resisting.
I tease my fingertips over her sex until I’ve charted every spot that provokes the greatest rushes of pleasure and exactly what kind of pressure works best on each. The exact bodily sensations don’t pass into me, but I can trace their intensity echoingthrough the flashes of satisfaction, exhilaration, and impatience whirling through Riva.
As my confidence grows, I delve two of my fingers right inside her wet heat. The physical evidence of her enjoyment sets off a thrill in me that’s almost as intense as her quake of need.
“Griffin,” she mumbles, burying her face in the crook of my shoulder. Begging for what I’m only too happy to give her.
I match her pose, kissing and nipping the sensitive spots on her neck while I pump my fingers in and out of her. The rhythmic swivels of the heel of my hand send even more desire flooding through both of us.
Riva whimpers, swaying into my hold. I can’t even feel the waterfall behind me anymore.
Everything is her and us and the intoxicating symphony of our coming together.
My hand grazes a spot inside her that makes her cry out. I stroke it again and again, fanning the flames until she’s shaking.
And then it happens, even more delicious than the first time. Ecstasy crackles through her, electrifying both of us.
She quivers and sags against me, wrung out. My erection throbs, but I want the moment to stay only about her.
I want her to know through every particle of her being how much I’m here for her, in every possible way.
“I love you,” she says again, barely audible through the roar of the waterfall. Then she looks up and catches my gaze, as if she’s read something inside me that I didn’t realize would be obvious. “If we make it out of here again, you’re coming with us. It’s only worth it if it’s all of us.”
A lump rises in my throat. “Okay.”
The urgency that brought me down to the river sweeps through me again. I carry Riva back to the bank and clamber out next to her.
The guardians adjust their positions among the trees, but don’t move to stop us as we head down the path.
No one steps out to intercept us until we reach the clearing outside the facility. A woman raises her hand toward Riva.
“You’re still in a training period. You’ll go in for dinner in an hour.”
Riva catches my gaze, and I nod, a gesture that feels totally inadequate. I carry her quiet answering smile with me all the way up to the facility and down the stone halls.
I need to find out what I can about Clancy’s plans so far and see if I can direct him down a path that would benefit us. I can tell him that I found out something useful from Riva—that’ll get his attention and kick off the conversation.
My clothes are still damp in the warm air, but it’ll sell my story better if I go straight to him rather than stopping to change. Convince him it’s important.
When I reach his office, a sense of keyed-up tension flows right through the door to me alongside with the hasty ruffling of papers. Something’s already happened.
“Clancy?” I say with a knock.
“Come in.”
His voice is curt. I step into the office to find him jabbing at the keys on his laptop while he stands over his desk, his face rigid.
I need to exercise plenty of self-control even seeing him in his regular moods these days. Keeping a tight rein on the flares of resentment and anger his presence provokes.
He lied to me, hid things from me. Tricked me into dragging the people I care most about in the world into this mess. Stole our chance at freedom from us.
He didn’t even let me keep Lua. She ran off into the jungle, unnerved by the fighting, and Clancy forced me to march onto the helicopter before I could call her back.
He said he was sorry, but he didn’t feel it. Not about anything.
I wasn’t prepared for this level of agitation from him, though. My chest tightens. “What’s going on?”
Clancy doesn’t even look at me. “I got the call five minutes ago. The insurgents have invaded another village. My clients want us there ASAP.” He grimaces at his laptop screen. “There are more of the fighters than usual—it’s a bigger village. For us to overwhelm them without too many casualties…”
