Page 67 of Stars in Umbra
He was a reckoning, a force that would either break her completely or forge her into a stronger woman than she had ever imagined.
13
Relentless Incandescence
RINA
They spent the rest of the day together, losing themselves in each other.
After one particularly wild, incandescent blaze of orgasm, after the sounds and sweat and gasps and the way their bodies moved like they’d been crafted for one another, Rina couldn’t move.
She couldn’t think, not even pretend she hadn’t just experienced a scorching of her soul.
She lay on her back, chest rising and falling, eyes fixed to the ceiling like the stars might realign to mark the moment.
Beside her, Mo turned to her on his side, one strong arm curling over her waist, drawing her close.
His lips brushed her bare shoulder, then her neck.
Then, with a sleepy, lazy sort of delight, he pressed his mouth to the dip of her spine.
She stifled a laugh.
Then he did it again.
A kiss to her hip. Then her temple. One on the bend of her elbow, soft, gentle, random.
As if he couldn’t stop himself from tasting the skin he now had a right to touch.
Each touch lit a spark of giddy, stunned joy deep inside them.
No one had ever kissed her like that, not after sex.
Not like she was precious, not like her body was a landscape worth exploring.
When he stilled, Rina wriggled from beneath the quilt with a quiet sigh and padded barefoot to the bathroom.
She cleaned up, smoothing her hair, catching a look at her flushed, still-glowing face in the mirror. A small smile tugged at her lips.
She flicked off the lights and returned to the bedroom, where Mo rolled to his side, facing the spot where she’d been.
His eyes were still closed, his face relaxed in a rare moment of peace.
She slipped under the covers, crawling into the space beside him.
He stirred, waiting till she was comfortable.
Without a word, he gathered her close again.
Like a mountain shifting, enveloping her with warmth and solidity and skin.
His hand found her waist. His lips brushed her shoulder again. Then her cheek, then her bicep.
She giggled into his chest. ‘You’re relentless.’
He didn’t answer. He just smiled into her hair and kept on kissing her, worshiping her, until both their bodies softened into the lure of slumber.
Sometime later, long before sunrise, her wrist alarm vibrated.
