Page 23 of The Lawgiver's Firebrand
While she writhed with frenzy, he fed from her lifeforce, sending her screaming into an orgasm from the erotic sensation of his touch. Her sheath tightened around him, squeezing, rippling. Unable to hold himself back any longer, Daire felt the world fall apart around them.
Ari whimpered his name while her body trembled.
Daire held on to her until his breathing returned to normal. Then he released her and rolled onto his side, facing Ari, his head resting in his palm, his elbow cocked.
In history books, incubi wrote of their fated, chosen females, usually succubi. He had never accepted the concept. Being controlled by anyone or anything, even destiny, was distasteful. But Ari was special. When he was with her, rather than in a cage, he felt unbound, unrestricted, free.
Daire straightened, leaning his back against the headboard, his mind occupied with various scenarios. How could he best say what he wanted? Did he truly desire this conversation now? After all, Ari was not the female he had once imagined spending his life with. Did he need to give the idea more thought?
The lawgiver was not an impulsive male. Not usually. Yet the Firebrand witch made him foolhardy. He had ruminated for weeks. Should he? Should he not? Frankly, he was tired of thoughts ping-ponging in his head. Sometimes, even a cautious incubus had to risk a leap.
Ari twisted her head toward him, her gaze languid, her eyelids lazy with sexual fulfillment. “You look as if you’re in pain.”
He was. The words rattling around in his brain were driving him crazy. Out with it. “I want to make an honest female of you.”
Ari was naked, flat on her back, her arms loose at her sides. “I am honest. Wait.” She popped onto her elbows. “What do you mean?”
“What do you think I mean?”
“Are you talking about mating?”
Daire was a lawgiver, an expert in oratory discourse. Explaining himself should be easy. How could he put into words what he wanted to say? How could he make the moment memorable?
“Surrounding my cabin in the Spirit Mountains are spectacular views. There is one peak I often hike because the vista is extraordinary. Breathtaking. Mountains in the distance. A verdant valley below. Ribbons of rivers. Waterfalls. Farmhouses teeming with life. At the top of the mountain, the air is thin. Sometimes, I get lightheaded, feel as if I might tumble off the edge. And it is a long way down…”
“Huh? I don’t know what the hell your great adventure in the outdoors has to do with mating.”
“My dear, Ari, you must listen with your heart, not your ears. I am on the precipice of falling in love with you.”
She blinked. Slow down. Slow up. “Why the fuck can’t you just say that?”
He scrubbed a fist across his jaw. “I just did.”
“You want me as your mate, but we’re so different.”
Before he could address her unasked question, she waved him off with her hand.
“Yet somehow, our differences mesh. Make us more exciting together. Like two halves colliding to make a whole.”
“Which means yes or no?” Now Daire was confused.
Ari drew a deep breath, her eyes glistening with moisture. “I am stumbling off the same damn edge as you are. But without so many words.”
He smoothed a hand along her bare thigh, her flesh warm, inviting to his touch. “Of course you are. Do not be dismayed. We shall fall together.”
“Does this affect the experiment?” she asked.
“Damn the experiment.”
Ari bit her bottom lip. “Okay. Do you think one more fuck will make us certain about the whole nose-dive-off-the-cliff bit?”
He grinned, a fingertip tracing her nipple. “You also have a way with words, my Ari.”
The End
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