Page 102 of Resurrection
“I do understand betrayal, Tesoro.” His penetrating gaze is so intense I can feel it reaching for my soul. “I understand it better than you’ll ever know. So, I hear your words, and I do know how it burns you inside and makes you want not to trust anyone. With that being said, I ask of you one thing, and one thing only.”
There is a lump I can’t seem to swallow, so instead of saying anything, I nod as much as his grip on my face will allow me. The pinched look on his face softens, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothing as he blows out a deep sigh. It expands the lump in my throat that I try my best to push down.
“Regardless of what happens and where this situation with the mages leads both of us. Bound together by blood or not”—his gaze flicks between mine as if he is searching for something, and I hope with everything I am that he finds whatever it is—“I do not wish to live without you.”
My gasp is just a small breath sucked in, but it’s too loud in the silent room covered with tiles. “Sebastian,” I breathe his name, but he shakes his head.
“If you dare think you can escape me by death, be sure that I will follow. Not even death will have that right to take you from me.” I can see it. The truth is so visible in the deep color of his eyes that it takes my breath away. “If you want to believe in anything, mia redenzione, believe in that.”
With that, his mouth crushes mine, and I’m lost in the taste of him. We have kissed many times, from gentle to passionate to angry at times. But this sealing of lips has so much potent power behind it that it feels like a branding. Like through one kiss he wants to mark my soul and etch his name across it, claiming it for his own.
“I’m dirty.” I try to move away so I can clean up first, but he won’t let go.
“No, April. You are mine.,” he growls the words, kissing me again.
I can’t take air to fill my lungs, so I breathe him in. His need is so strong it pulls me under right along with him, and I drown in everything that is Sebastian. Strong hands clutch my body, running over every inch he can reach none too gently. His fingers crawl under the fabric of my shirt and burn a patheverywhere they pass. My skin feels too tight, and I press closer to his chest, needing to feel him everywhere.
A whimper escapes me when he pulls away, but it’s short lived. Sebastian only yanks the dirty shirt off me, throwing it on the floor before his lips are on mine again. Tongue twining with mine, he jerks harshly on my pants, and when they don’t move as fast as he needs them to, he takes two fistfuls of fabric, tearing them at the seams. The ripping of fabric makes me shiver, along with the chilled air in the bathroom brushing over my bared skin.
Sebastian picks me up, shredding my panties in the process, and we stumble into the shower with our mouths fused. He fumbles with the taps while I run my hands over him, taking his clothes off to reveal the ridges and dips of sculpted muscles they are hiding from me. A giggle bursts out of me when a blast of ice-cold water pours over our heads, and he chuckles while adjusting the temperature.
Seeing droplets clinging to his lashes and running like rivulets down his handsome face makes my chest feel tight. So I kiss his smiling lips, as he jerks and twists until he finally kicks his pants off.
As the temperature of the water turns warm and soothes my stiff muscles, we finally press together skin on skin, his hard erection hot and burning as it pokes my lower belly. I don’t want to waste time with foreplay when I have him naked in front of me. I already feel like I’ll explode into nothing if he doesn’t fill me. Throwing one leg over his hip and tilting forward, I try to bring the head of his cock to my entrance. His hands clamp on my hips, holding me in place, and he rocks back and forth, his shaft gliding over my wetness but not entering me.
“Sebastian,” I say his name like a demand and a plea at the same time.
“April,” he rasps, his voice so deep it sounds like it’s coming from an abyss.
“Don’t be an ass.” I gasp when the head of his cock pokes at my entrance, and my channel clenches as it grasps at air. “I need you.”
“Ah, not so fast, Tesoro.” My nails dig deep in the skin of his shoulders, but he only smirks. “Not tonight. Because by the time I’m done with you, you’ll never doubt my words and loyalty again.”
Despite myself, I shiver at his words.
Chapter Ninety
SEBASTIAN
I hold her under the spray of water, watching in fascination how the dust that was caked all over her rinses off, leaving creamy, smooth skin behind. Her eyes are hungry and half-masted, her breathing shallow and her swollen lips parted. The bond we have thrums between us, spreading need and want to the point of insanity, but I still hold back. I want nothing more than to lift her up, slam her back on the tiles, and ram myself inside her to fuck all the pain she feels out of her. That, however, won’t solve anything. So, I torture her along with torturing myself, and I drag this out.
She scared me.
Down in that tunnel was the first time I have felt so impotent to do anything to help her. I know from my own urges how easy it is to lose yourself in the rage and bloodlust. You don’t care about anything or anyone. You don’t feel anything but all consuming hunger. If it is hunger she craves, by all means, it’s what I will give her.
A hunger I can control.
The type that will allow me to keep her safe.
Reaching to the side, I grab a bottle of shower gel, dumping a liberal amount in my hand before I lather it in my palms, keeping her focused on my every move. I must be taking too long because she takes a breath, no doubt to tell me to get lost, but I beat her to it. In a swift motion, I turn her around, wrapping one hand around her neck and pressing her to my chest.
My cock parts the globes of her ass, and I rock gently, causing her breath to hitch. Nuzzling her neck, I let my fangs graze the column, barely touching her skin. April shivers, her pained moan making my erection jerk and press harder in her soft flesh. She grabs hold of my thighs, squeezing, her nails digging into the muscles there in a warning. I smile into her skin.
“Tell me, Tesoro.” Murmuring, I watch her skin pebble so very slowly as I glide my free hand over her slightly rounded belly and around her ribcage, spreading suds and turning everything I touch as slick as the wetness between her thighs.
“What would you do if you had the most precious thing in your hands”—the tips of my fingers graze the area around her hardened nipple, but I don’t allow myself to take hold of it like I want too—“but that very thing was not aware it meant everything to you?”
With a frustrated groan, her head lolls back on my shoulder, and she pushes her chest up, chasing my touch. I tighten my hold on her neck, tsking disapprovingly and flicking one of the dusky nipples in a reprimand. Her hips jerk at the sting, but the barely audible mewl turns my blood to molten lava in my veins.
