Page 60 of Tempest Blazing
Ciaran remained behind her, kneeling. His hands settled firmly on her waist, adding his strength to guide her rhythm.
Shadows swirled around them both, tendrils stroking her arms, her back, her belly. One particularly bold tendril wrapped around her throat, not tight, just holding, a possessive claim that made her gasp and arch back against Ciaran's chest.
He lowered his head, catching her gasp with his mouth. I watched them kiss over her shoulder, Ciaran's lips slanting over hers with a dark intensity that made my pulse stutter. Yet his hands on her hips were steady, helping her rise and fall, matching her pace to mine.
One of his shadows drifted down, impossibly precise, and settled again on her clit. Not flicking this time, but pressing, circling with relentless, rhythmic pressure.
Tess cried out against Ciaran's lips, her rhythm faltering. Her inner walls clenched around me like a fist. I groaned, shifting my hips, driving deeper into that devastating tightness.
I couldn't look away from Ciaran's hand as it slid up from Tess's waist to cup her breast, his thumb circling her nipple in time with the shadow working her clit below.
Too much. Her body was caught between us, between sensations—my cock filling her, Ciaran's touch and kiss claiming her mouth, the shadow relentlessly stroking her clit.
She threw her head back, breaking the kiss with a ragged sob, her eyes finding mine. Wild. Desperate. Beautifully undone.
"Look at her, Mason," Ciaran murmured, his voice rough with something I'd never heard before. Something like reverence. "Look at her come apart." His shadow flicked faster.
Tess's cries pitched higher, fractured. Her hips ground down onto me, frantic. The rhythmic pressure on her clit sent visible tremors through her frame. She was close. So close.
I could feel it in the bond, a rising wave of ecstasy about to break. I could see it in the flush spreading down her chest, the frantic way her hands clutched at my thighs.
My own release coiled low and hard, fueled by the sight of her, the feel of her clenching, the sheer overwhelmingrightnessof this shared intensity.
My thumbs dug into the curve of her hips, helping her move, meeting every downward thrust with an upward surge of my own. The bed frame creaked under us.
The shadow circling her clit pressed harder, faster. Tess's back arched impossibly. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. Pure bliss. Shock. Utter surrender.
Her inner walls clamped down on me with vise-like intensity, a rhythmic pulsing that milked me ruthlessly. It tore my own climax from me in a white-hot rush.
Heat and light exploded behind my eyes as I surged up into her one final time, spilling deep with a groan ripped from my chest. Her name was a broken sound on my lips.
The bond flared gold and violet between us, a visible shimmer of magic in the air, warm and electric.
She collapsed forward onto my chest, boneless, trembling. Her breath came in hot, wet pants against my neck. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight as the aftershocks still rippled through her, through me.
The world narrowed to her weight, her heat, the frantic hammering of her heart against mine.
The shadows retreated, melting back into the corners of the room as silently as they'd come. The electric pressure of Ciaran's magic dissipated, leaving the air warm and heavy with sex and sweat and cinnamon.
I sensed his movement behind her rather than saw it. He smoothed a hand down Tess's bare back, a surprisinglygentle touch over the damp skin and tangled hair. His palm lingered for a moment between her shoulder blades, a silent acknowledgment.
Then his silver eyes met mine over the top of her head. They held a look I couldn't fully decipher—respect? Understanding? The remnants of that fierce possessiveness?
"Thank you," he murmured, the words low, rough-edged, but sincere, "for taking care of her." His gaze softened as it flickered down to Tess, limp and utterly spent against me. A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips.
He leaned down, pressing a kiss so light it was barely felt to the crown of her head. Then, without another sound, he slid off the bed and stepped backwards into a pool of deep shadow gathering at the edge of the bed, disappearing.
Chapter 26
Tess
I lay curled around Whiskey on my bed, my cheek pressed deep into his orange fur. His purr rumbled against my chest like a tiny engine, vibrating through my ribs and settling somewhere near my heart. I closed my eyes and justfeltit—the weight of him, solid and warm and real.
My fingers found the spot behind his ears that made him lean into my touch, and his purr deepened. One amber eye cracked open to study me with that peculiar cat wisdom, as if he knew exactly how much I needed this moment. How much I neededhim.
"You're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time, you know that?" I whispered against his fur. He responded by headbutting my chin, then settling back down with a contented sigh.
"Should I be concerned that you seem more attached to the cat than to me?"Thalon's voice drifted into my head, warm with amusement.
