Page 76 of Beyond the Storm
Steps echoed down the pathway ahead of me. Elasus then appeared between two columns, his eyes wide as he came to a sharp stop. He had been running toward me too.
And then, just like that day on the battlefield, time seemed to slow as our gazes locked. The hollowness that had spread through my chest over the past several days began to dissolve, and light flooded in, lifting the dark cloud of nothingness.
Melancholy made a low sound, begging me to close the distance between us. I didn’t. Not at first.
“I was in the barracks when I…” Elasus took a step forward, then stopped, indecision clouding his expression. He rested a hand over his heart. “When I felt you. Are you truly here, Kallias?”
Careful in my steps, I drifted closer to him. “I am.”
Elasus met me beneath the archway, and for a moment, we only stared at each other. Hesitantly, he reached out and grabbed my hand. As our skin made contact, he expelled a shaky exhale, as if a part of him had thought he’d been dreaming. Then, he yanked me closer, and his mouth crashed against mine.
The kiss ignited the fire in my blood. Since the moment I’d walked away from him four days before, I’d been so numb. Now, I felt everything at once—the burning sensation in my body, the flutters in my chest reminiscent of hummingbirds’ wings, and the soul-deep connection that soothed and frightened me in the same shuddering breath.
“You found me,” he whispered against my lips.
“We found each other.”
Questions swam in his eyes, but they didn’t touch his lips. Instead, he used those lips to kiss me again, soft at first but deepening as our hearts danced to the same chaotic rhythm, the beats quickening as our touches became heavy. His hands roamed my body as my fingers knotted in his brown hair.
“Come with me.” Elasus led me away from the courtyard and to a private place hidden from anyone who might’ve wandered past. He pushed me against the outer wall of the barracks as his tongue dove into my mouth.
I moaned and accepted the invitation, that fire in my blood burning hotter than before. We didn’t speak with words. We didn’t need to.
With each kiss, the bond between us strengthened. He had been right. We couldn’t return to the way our lives had been before meeting. My presence in Sparta was proof of that. Meeting Elasus had been like finding a missing piece of my soul, and being apart from him was like ripping that half away and discarding it to the wind.
“Make love to me, Elasus.” I tilted my head against the wall as he nipped at my neck. “I wish to feel you. All of you.”
“I wish to feel you too.” He wrapped me in his arms and moved us to the grass, our lips meeting over and over.
Everything else could wait. The conversation we needed to have about why I’d come to Sparta might possibly drive a wedge between us, and I wanted to hold on to this feeling—to him—for as long as I could.
The sex was harder than it had been our first time together. Desperation to be as close as possible drove us to kiss, bite, and grope each other like we were two males starved. Our fingers linked above my head as Elasus thrust into me, his teeth grazing my neck. The fullness of him was mind-altering, and as his cock slammed against that special place inside me, moans and breathy gasps left my lips.
“These sounds please me,” Elasus murmured, sweeping his thumb across my bottom lip before biting at it.
“That’s fortunate,” I panted. “Because I cannot hold them back.”
He smiled before pushing his hips forward, pulling nearly all the way out, and then shoving back in. Pleasure rippled through me, and as it did, my teeth ached. The center of my chest prickled as something moved restlessly inside me. It was the same feeling I’d had before biting him the night we’d met.
Gods, I wanted to do so again.
“Do it,” he said, cupping the back of my head. He brought my face to his neck. He was so attuned to me, sensing my desire. Or perhaps he needed it too—to wear my mark just as much as I needed to place it there. “Please, Kallias.”
Softly, I kissed his throat. His pace slowed as he was suspended in anticipation. As my teeth pierced his skin, his hips jolted forward, and he grunted. The taste of him was intoxicating, sweet like nectar. My ambrosia. As his blood ran down my throat, that restlessness in my chest calmed.
“Mine,”Melancholy purred.“My warrior.”
“More.” Elasus slid his hands beneath me, gripping my shoulder blades as the soft grunts in his throat rumbled against my lips. His fingertips brushed along the openings where I concealed my wings. And then, they dipped inside.
My orgasm hit me full force, taking me by surprise. I pulled from his neck with a low groan, my spine arching as pleasure engulfed my entire body. I had never felt anything more powerful. If not for him wrapped around me, I might’ve shattered into a thousand pieces.
Elasus seemed shocked as he prodded the slits. Each caress inside them sent me higher, the pleasure so intense my toes curled. He watched in amazement as I writhed, and he curled his fingers, stroking the inner lining before going deeper and touching the tops of my wings.
“Gods!” My voice cracked. “Elasus, I need…” Another wave crashed into me. A double climax. As more cries escaped me, he claimed my mouth in a rough kiss.
Pleasure then consumed him too. He faltered in his thrusts, muscles quivering. His fingers withdrew as he lost himself to bliss. Warmth filled me as his cock pulsed. I wrapped him in my arms, kissing the base of his neck as the last of his release rippled through him.
“Your back,” he said through short breaths. “The cuts.”
