Chapter 40

FORTY

Phoenix

T he bloody pony came running as soon as Laura set foot on shore, practically bowling her over in his eagerness to be loved upon.

The sweep of jealousy was less than before, but still there until he trotted over to me and stuffed that warm nose of his into my stomach.

‘Okay, okay,' I laughed. He snorted at the sound of my voice. ‘Yeah, we've made some adjustments since last time we met.'

Laura pulled a big shiny apple from the bag and pressed it to his mouth, holding it while he took big toothy bites.

I placed a hand on her lower back, readying myself for what I knew I had to say.

‘I don't want you to come with me,' I started, but she turned to face me, her eyes narrow.

‘You are not leaving me here. '

‘No, not here, I'll find a little B&B tucked away somewhere?—'

‘Absolutely fucking not.' Steam may as well have been billowing out of her ears. ‘I'm not being left, not knowing whether Massimo has buried you somewhere and is coming for me.'

Her chest rose sharply as she spoke, Muffin taking a step back and looking at me like I was a twat. ‘I've spent my entire life being told what to do. I'm done. I'm coming with you. More than that, I'm going to be the bait.'

Fear pierced my stomach. ‘No.'

‘Yes. We text that number back and say you are dead. I snagged one of their masks, the one without the brains splattered into it, and you'll pretend to be him. We say the other one went down in the struggle.'

‘They're not going to let me walk in there masked…'

‘They think you don't talk. Mimic the guy's voice and it should buy us enough time…'

I intended to just run in guns blazing. My plan hadn't gone further than getting Laura to safety and drenching myself in rivers of Massimo's blood.

‘I can't risk it,' I admitted, grazing my fingers over her chin, her eyes pulling me into her.

‘It's not just you anymore. It's we . Us . I don't want to go on alone. If we go down, we both go down. It's him or us, Phoenix.' Her words were full of emotion, her lower lip trembling at the end of her sentence. ‘I'm not rotting in some B&B worrying about whether you are coming back to me. I've lost everyone once. Never again. I'd prefer to die by your side than mourn you. '

‘I can't…' I whispered, brushing my mouth against her perfect lips.

‘I love you, Phoenix. Don't leave me.'

Her words broke me. Shattered my resolve. Alone I'd have been able to do it my way, recklessly. With her there, I'd need to be far more measured. But she loved me.

It was a bittersweet admission. Fireworks filled my heart, and in equal measure, pain filled my stomach.

I finally had a reason to live.

And I might lose it all.

Sweeping her into my embrace, I kissed her with feverish abandon, pouring every drop of emotion into her. We were both breathless when we broke our mouths apart.

‘I need to show you before we leave,' she whispered against my neck.

‘Show me what?'

‘How much I need you to survive.'

She led me by the hand over the soft grass and to the cliff top looking out over the sea.

With tortured kisses, she pulled me down into the cold grass, her hands driving heat into every part of me she touched. Soft moans and desperate whimpers had me enthralled in every breath she took.

Without a clear reason how, she had us both naked beneath the orange hued sky, our limbs entangled in a sweet knot.

We'd fucked, but never had anyone touched me with such reverence. Every stroke of her lips infused my skin with adoration, and I returned her touches with impassioned pleas of my own.

Finally I understood the difference between fucking and making love. Each motion of our sweat slicked bodies cried out our love to the world around us, our panting breaths like smoke signals dispersing into the universe, alerting all to our need for one another.

When she took me between her thighs, her lips spelled out lust filled incantations along my neck. I pulled her face to mine, devouring her sweet sighs as pleasure blossomed from every part of me she touched.

‘He can't take this,' she moaned between feverish kisses. ‘He can never take this.'

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I lost myself in her soft body, feeling her wrap her love around me. It was a feeling I'd been missing since childhood, and it both mended me and broke me afresh.

‘I'll love you until the rivers run dry,' I moaned against her lips. ‘Until the stars perish and the moon ceases to rise. Until the world can no longer sustain our souls.'

Her cheeks were wet as she came apart beneath me, her orgasm slow and tortured, her tears flowing when I let go and gave her my everything. My cum spilled as freely as the tears dashing my cheeks.

All the anger I'd stored up since that fateful day which had stolen my future came running out of me. It filled her womb, and splashed her cheeks. I poured it into her mouth as I swallowed down her own needy sobs.

We watered the earth with our bodies, giving a plea out to the universe. Our love was worth saving.

If anyone was looking down over us, I only hoped they'd find us worthy of survival.

If not I'd spend whatever lives I moved onto searching for my perfect burning ember.

Waiting for her to set my world alight once again.