Page 146 of The Lands Defying
It feels like he’s looking within me. At all the jagged pieces and torn strands that reside there.
But I’m looking at him, too.
I see pain, fear, rage…relief.
My body is hot, my lungs feeling like they have air for the first time since the last time I saw him. How long has it been?
“Rhea,” he breaths again, and then I’m hauled upright. “Fuck.” His voice is a guttural whisper, low and haunting.
My legs tighten around his waist, water lapping at my body as I run my hands around the back of his head. I close my eyes, placing my head in the crook of his neck as I breathe him in. He exhales heavily against me.
A shudder wracks through him, and I run my fingers through his hair, gripping the strands as tears prick my eyes. I lock my ankles, not wanting to move an inch away from him.
I remember.
I remember falling, hurting. Going to the shore, the male in the village dragged me, rogures, porting out and then going to him.
I remember my breathing turning shallow, the pain radiating through me, the feeling of falling.
But he caught me.
We hold each other, the need for us to be wrapped together is a need that is more profound than anything else at this moment.
I kiss his neck gently, and his shaky breath hits the top of my head. He runs a hand up my back, twining his fingers in my hair as he gently pulls my head back.
The tears fall then, looking up at his beautiful face that looks so exhausted, so haunted.
His lashes are wet, and I feel a sob bubble up at the back of my throat. “Darius.” I manage to get out. His eyes close, almost relishing his name on my lips so I say it again.
I bring a hand up, running my fingers over his forehead, down the side of his eye and moving to his stubble. His eyes open then, the softness in them taking my breath away as he leans closer and touches his nose with mine.
I crumble.
His hand leaves my head, and the one still clutching over my heart moves to my face as he wipes the tears away while I sob, as if he wants to take away my sadness.
But these tears are more relief than anything.
“I told you, little wolf,” he whispers, his voice thick with emotion. My skin peppers with goosebumps at his nickname for me. “You don’t cry tears like this.”
“I…I thought…” I swallow and lean into his touch. “I thought I would never see you again.”
His nostrils flare, eyes flashing black. “Fuck, Rhea, I thought I lost you.” His voice is raw, full of pain and I place my hands on his face. “I can’t…I can’t.” He squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head, but then he quickly opens his eyes like he wants to keep looking at me. “Fuck.”
Seeing him like this, so distraught. I watch his face shape into something I had never seen before. Grief of what could have been.
The Heir of Cazier is showing me this side of him, suspecting I’m the only one he has fully let in, and an emotion so strong fills me that I place my lips against his. Lost for words.
Lost on him.
He makes a guttural sound in the back of his throat before he groans and letsmein. Our tongues tangle, greeting one anotherlike it has been forever since the last time. This kiss isn’t from lust, but the desire to feel closer. To almost become one.
I need him in me, around me, I need that peace only his arms can give me.
His hand moves to the back of my neck, holding me still as he kisses me softly, demanding I give him more, give my submission to let him devour me.
“Vihnarn,” he whispers reverently against my lips, and pleasure coils through me at that word. “Vihnarn.”
A moan rises in my throat and he groans at it, his arm squeezing me around my back. My own hands move to his hair, his neck, his shoulders, and I realize for the first time that he is completely naked.
