Page 143 of His Darkest Desire

He roared; she screamed. Vex heard the sounds from afar. The pressure in him burst, stealing his breath on a wave of pleasure so powerful and immense that it would surely drown him. And he welcomed it.

He rode it with her.

Kinsley’s every movement, her every sound, and every rush of her hot essence fueled that wave and wrung more seed from him. She and Vex clung to each other. They were one with each other.

Though his eyes were closed, and his mind had succumbed to sweet, sweet oblivion, he saw Kinsley. Felt Kinsley. Around him, beneath him, within him. She was a part of Vex carried outside himself, and he was a part of her. No force could separate them, not in truth. Their souls were bound by threads stronger than any queen, than any monster, stronger than fate, than death.

Gradually, Vex sank into himself. His body, tingling and throbbing in the aftermath of their lovemaking, was warm and heavy. But not as heavy as his heart.

He stroked her hair, and her fingers slid up and down his back soothingly. When he opened his eyes, his chest constricted.

Kinsley was glowing, and it had naught to do with the light of his eyes.

“No eyes, whether human or fae, have ever been so blessed as to gaze upon such beauty,” he said, voice low and rough. “It is a sight worth eternity.”

Vex kissed her again, slowly, tenderly, worshipfully, willing it to communicate all the things he’d not yet said, all the feelings he’d not yet expressed.

She moved her hand, brushing it across his cheek as she swept his hair behind his ear. “I love you, Vex. With everything I am.”

He met her gaze and caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. A universe swirled in those periwinkle eyes, an infinite expanse of potential and promise.

Gods, how he longed to cast himself into their depths. To claim all that promise, to hoard all that potential. To have her eternally.

“And I love you, Kinsley.” His eyes followed his fingers along her jaw to her chin, then followed his thumb as it stroked her kiss-swollen lower lip. “Never doubt. Never forget.”

His heart nearly stopped when she brushed her lips across his and vowed, “Never.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Kinsley inhaled deeply as she woke. Rolling onto her back, she stretched her arms over her head and arched her feet, pressing her toes into the mattress. She exhaled slowly as she settled and opened her eyes.

Diffused light streamed in through the window over the bed. Rain pattered on the cottage roof, and the tree creaked and groaned softly, its boughs undoubtedly swaying in the wind. The rain must’ve decided to stick around.

Her thoughts turned back to yesterday, to before the storm began. Back to the moment she’d heard the distorted sounds of her family calling for her from another world. When she’d closed her eyes, their voices had sounded as though they were coming from right beside her, like she could’ve just reached out and touched her parents. And she’d longed to do so. To comfort them, to tell them that she was alive and well. That she was happy.

But she couldn’t. And their grief was hers. She wished there was a way to take that pain away.

Kinsley’s chest tightened.

A gentle, familiar caress on her cheek soothed her.

Though Kinsley’s heartache would never fully go away, it would lessen over time, and Vex’s touch would always soothe that hurt and bring her the comfort she sorely needed.

She looked at Vex, who sat on the edge of the bed gazing down at her, dressed in a tunic, pants, and boots, the dark garments contrasted by a periwinkle sash. He was ever the formal goblin lord.

Her goblin lord.

Kinsley smiled and turned onto her side to face him, tucking an arm beneath her head as she reached out and ran her fingers through his long hair. “Morning. You’re up early.”

She couldn’t recall a morning over the past several weeks when she’d awoken without Vex lying curled up around her.

He covered her cheek with his palm and brushed the skin beneath her ear with his fingers. “I’ve not slept.”

Brow creasing, Kinsley covered his hand with her own. “Are you okay?”

His intense, piercing crimson eyes held hers, amplifying the silence gripping the room. He wasn’t merely looking at her, he was looking into her. Those eyes saw Kinsley in her entirety, inside and out. They knew her every hope and dream, her every desire, her every secret. And though she loved being seen by him, there was something different in his gaze now.

A wistfulness. A hint of sorrow. A longing removed from the passion and lust that normally blazed in his eyes, removed from his hunger.

---