Page 98 of Unveil
My eyes lock on our hands, his heartbeat fast but strong underneath my fingertips. Blood doesn't pour around my fingers like it should from a stab wound to the chest. Has it already stopped bleeding?
I stop, my gaze flicking up to his in question. He pulls my hand away, revealing the slice through the thickest ridge of scar tissue at the top of the skull.
“Bad aim,” he answers. “And good luck. The strike was shallow enough that my scar saved me.”
His sad smile gives way to determination that darkens his eyes and sets his jaw.
“I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’re here.” My voice breaks, and my eyes trace the thin, crimson rivulets dipping in and out of muscular valleys and hills as they contract with each breath. It’s not a life-threatening amount. If anything, it proves he’s still alive.
Hope accompanied with something needy and feral settles deep in my core before I meet his gaze again.
“You’rehere.”
He nods, then repeats, voice steady, “And I’m not going anywhere.”
Rain sluices mud from our bodies, dripping heavy onto my lashes as I finally,reallysee him. The truth in his vow, the adrenaline still riding us both.
His desperation.
His hunger.
His need.
I shiver. I’m so in tune with him, and him with me, that I can see,feel, the moment everything changes.
His grip tightens, bruising my waist and hand as he holds me like we’re in a dance. I embrace the pain because it means two things.
He’s alive.
And so am I.
“Show me.” I bite my lip, letting my own desire bleed through my expression before I beg, “Please. Show me we’re alive.”
His jaw ticks. Then, with a curse under his breath, he lets me go, backing up to the edge of the small, mossy bank. His hands flex open and closed before they slice through his hair and grip the back of his head. Every muscle in his body seems to fight against his restraint, hardening as his heated stare strips me bare, unveiling everything I’ve hidden all my life… and wanting me anyway.
My pulse flies when he exhales through his nose, drops his hands into clenched fists at his sides, and finally speaks.
“I can’t be gentle. Not right now,” he growls. “Not when I’ve waited for you for so fucking long just to almost lose you.”
He’s nearly vibrating with something darker than rage, deeper than lust. Something I recognize, because it thrums in me too.
“I don’t want your gentle,” I vow. “I want your fury.”
“Fuck.” His jaw clenches. Then he shakes his head once. “You asked for this, little bird.”
He prowls forward, gaze dropping to my chest. His fingers trace my soaked neckline before gripping it with both hands. With one brutal tug, my bodice rips in two, and I gasp as my breasts spill into the cold rain.
“Orion!”
“Quiet.” His eyes flick from me to the mossy ground and back again. “Turn around.”
I swallow, my pulse thundering like the storm. Slowly, I turn, anticipation making me lightheaded.
“Good girl. Now get on your knees.”
“Wh-what?” My heart stutters. I start to twist around, but his hand captures the nape of my neck.
