48. Forty-Eight

Forty-Eight

A small piece of my heart mended as Landers’s lips brushed against mine.

It was gentle—slow. The kind of kiss one would give to a lover who had just come home from a long day.

He slid his arms around my waist as I opened my mouth to him, letting his tongue slide in to contend lazily with mine. I pulled my lips away from his, breathing him in as I tilted my head up to look at the man that was mine.

Mine.

“I’m yours, Landers. I’m yours t—”

His mouth crashed back onto mine before the words slid fully off my tongue.

I felt him harden against me and I groaned into his mouth. The words unlatched whatever door he was still holding closed, and he lifted me from my feet; not letting our lips part as he walked me to my bed, or as he laid me on my back.

My body responded to his touch without even a thought, and my arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer. The taste of his desire mingled with mine, fueling the flames that burned between us. His hands roamed over my body, igniting a trail of electricity wherever they touched. My skin erupted in goosebumps, and a desperate moan escaped my lips.

He pulled away momentarily and I groaned in protest, feeling his breath ragged against my swollen mouth. His eyes were dark with longing, mirroring the passion that coursed through my veins.

His fingers wrapped around the hem of my negligee, and looked to me for permission before peeling it slowly away from my skin, leaving me utterly bare before him. He leaned back onto his knees, letting his eyes flow over my body.

I resisted the urge to cover myself as he stared down onto me, insecurity threatening to creep in as his fingers traced the line of my jaw.

“My Gods, Hyacinth.”

His words sent a shutter through my spine as his gaze devoured me, taking in every inch of me with a hunger that made my heart burst from its cocoon. My chest heaved from anticipation as he dipped his head. Then his lips met my breast, his tongue swirling around my nipple, sending waves of pleasure coursing through me. A soft moan escaped my lips as I arched into him, my fingers tangling in his hair.

This .

This is what I wanted forever . . . with him.

Landers’s hands moved down my silhouette, learning every curve—every inch—of my body. My hips arched towards him, silently begging for more as his fingers slowly traced their way towards my thighs. I let my legs part for him, aching for his touch, and I felt the heat of his breath against my chest as he inched closer. I bit my lip, trying to contain the whimpers that began to spill over. He spread my legs further, opening my core to him, and when his fingers finally slipped over my center, I gasped.

He growled his approval at the feel of me—the wetness that was for him. It was all for him.

With a firm, gentle touch, his thumb connected with my clit and a flood of ecstasy roared through my body, crashing down on me like nothing I had ever felt before. My back arched into him, my breaths coming in short gasps. My hands gripped his muscular shoulders as I demanded more, more. My hips ground against him, eagerly in search of deeper pleasure. His lips grazed my neck and a muscled arm tightened around me.

A groan rumbled deep in his chest as he pushed deeper between my legs, his thumb still providing steady pressure, pushing me closer to the edge. His tongue flicked against my peaked nipple as he plunged a second finger toward my core, and my breath hitched right before a guttural moan rolled out of my lungs.

Surges of pleasure crashed through me relentlessly, building higher—higher—until I was teetering on the precipice of bliss.

Landers withdrew his fingers, leaving me gasping and throbbing with need. My body protested the loss, craving the sweet release that was so close—so tantalizingly close.

He chuckled softly, his voice dripping with satisfaction. “Not yet, my love,” he murmured, his breath warm against my ear. “I am going to taste every inch of you before I let you fall.”

His words sent a jolt of desire straight to my core.

I watched as his eyes fixed on the glistening evidence of my arousal, the hunger in his gaze mirroring my own. Leaning in, he pressed his lips against my inner thigh, trailing slow, wet kisses towards my center. I arched my back, offering myself fully to him as his tongue took its first sweeping stroke against me.

Lightning crashed through my veins.

His tongue slid across me, licking me, tasting me, drinking me in. And when his tongue slipped inside me, I was sent spiraling over the edge of the universe.

Spiraling into the stars, the moon . . . the entire fucking heavens.

“Landers,” I rasped, my hands frantically clawing at the collar of his tunic.

I wanted him.

I needed him.

Now.

Landers dragged himself from between my thighs. Buttons clattered to the floor as he ripped the shirt from his back and my hands pulled at the waistband of his leathers, desperately trying to remove them from his body.

He stood, his eyes fixed on mine as he stepped out of them, until there was nothing but a pile of clothing at his feet.

My thoughts eddied at the sight of him wholly naked in front of me. This scarred, beautiful man.

My man.

My king.

Landers’s eyes did not leave mine as he stepped back toward the bed, trailing his index finger the length of my ankle to my inner thigh, before sitting on the edge. He slid one arm around my waist, pulling me from the bed where I lay and hoisted me over him, until I was straddling him—straddling his length. My hands roamed his tattooed body, tracing the patterns; feeling the corded muscles beneath my fingertips.

Panic rushed through me as I realized the sheer size of him, but he pulled my chin to meet his eyes, burning like an emerald fire, a question in their depths. My core pulsed against him in response as I stared into them. His breath caught in his throat as I nodded, giving him my answer without words.

I kept my eyes locked on his as I lowered myself onto him. Pain and pleasure coursed through my veins as my entrance stretched to accommodate him.

My head fell back as I gasped for the oxygen that had fled from my body.

He pulled himself out of me, groaning into my neck at the tightness around him. I pushed myself back onto his length, letting inch by glorious inch fill me.

Again, he pulled himself from me.

Again, I pressed back down.

Over and over and over.

I felt it then, the love that flowed between us.

The love that had already started rebuilding my broken, blackened heart.

“I love you, Landers.”

He stilled inside of me and I felt the rush of his heart beneath my chest. “Say it again.” A command.

“I love you,” I breathed.

He pulled out of me then, and with one quick thrust he plunged back in.

I could feel the head of him hitting the deepest parts of me, and a frenzy of pleasure ripped through my limbs. I clawed at his back, burying my teeth into his shoulder to stifle the cries that rolled out of me, one after another, after another.

He lifted me slowly up his shaft, and with a final, shuddering thrust, I fell apart.

My body shook with ecstasy as I cried out his name, and a deep groan escaped his lips as I tightened around him. Release tore through me as he pounded into me, sending fireworks exploding inside my veins.

He gripped my hips, burying himself in me as he twisted me to my back, pinning my body beneath him.

His eyes pierced into me with desperate reverence.

“I love you,” I whispered again, dragging my hands through his hair, down his back, my fingers tracing, clawing at the muscles as they tensed and relaxed with each thrust. I could feel myself building up to another peak—climbing to another mountain top—as my body trembled beneath him. He quickened his pace, kissing me over and over and over again.

My body bowed from the bed, shattering into a million stars as I cried out in rapture, and Landers slammed in to the hilt, roaring as he reached his own release; my name falling from his lips like a prayer.

Quiet calmness fell around us as we lay there, tangled in each other with pounding hearts. Landers’s chest pressed against my back, blanketing me with his warmth as he placed a soft kiss to the back of my head.

“I will follow you anywhere,” he whispered, his breath rustling my curls. And though he had said the words only hours before, they fell on my heart differently this time; resonating in a place of hope I did not know still existed in me.

“To death?” I asked.

“To death.”