Peaceful.
He wascontentwith this decision.
“Do you really think this is going to save my heart from pain? Do you honestly think any of this is inmybest interest?”A wave of weakness spread down her legs. She rocked forward with a distressed whimper. “Do you truly love me?”
“Aye,storín. I love you. I love you so entirely and completely that I’m willing to give my life for you.”
“Thenlookat me!”
One second, she was staring down into a closed-eye Thaddeus.
The next, her feet were ripped off the floor, her body airborne as pale gold blurred around her. A shriek fled her mouth, steel wrapping around her waist.
Water came up around her, reaching her neck. She found purchase in damp hair and strong shoulders as she tried to calm her fright. She kicked her legs, tangled in the heavy skirts, seeking the pool’s floor until Thaddeus dropped his thigh between hers, lifting up to pressed hard to her core, keeping her head above the water that splashed over the edge of the pool and across the bathroom floor.
Her back hit the stone wall, his arm the only barrier keeping her from the rock.
She snapped her chin up, stole a brief glance of his glowing dark eyes.
His mouth came down on hers, merciless in each hungry sweep of his tongue. Starved in each plunder and drink of her mouth. Famished to the point of taking her breath and giving his own to replenish her lungs. Her muscles melted beneath his beautiful assault, one she’d happily suffer under his skillful hands. Hands that cupped the back of her head and worked deftly through the laces of her dress until they’d loosened enough for him to shove the burdensome garment down to her waist.
A guttural rumble vibrated through his chest, resonated within her own blood. He lifted her up, water pouring down her body, their kiss breaking, as he completely removed thedress and threw it to the floor with a loud slap, then settled her back into the water. He hovered over her, tracing her jaw with a tender finger.
“I would do anything for you, love.” He leaned over, brushing a light kiss between her brows. “Anything to make you smile, fill your heart with joy, warm your soul.”
Rori reached up and cupped his face between her palms, forcing him back before he kissed her again.
“Thenlivefor me.”
Sadness struck his eyes, a flash of gold that fizzled as his pupils began to recede. His thumb outlined her bottom lip, a different storm churning within the predatory hunger.
“Every second I’m with you, I’m alive. My heart soars to the highest heights, overflowing with love and happiness.”
He lifted her away from the wall, guiding her to straddle his legs. The water lapped around her shoulders as she settled against him, the length of his cock sliding through her seam. He threatened to dismantle her fight, but she clung to her determination, her frustration, over his recklessness.
“I live for you, Rori. As such, I’ll die for you.”
“Give me time, Thaddeus.” She brought her face close, her forehead touching his. “Please. I beg you, give me time.”
“Time is not a luxury I’ve been given. Not anymore.”
“I won’t accept that.”
She started to draw her bottom lip between her teeth, to stave off these endless tears that seemed to flow freely as of late, but he captured her mouth before she had the chance. This kiss filled her with the hidden tenderness Thaddeus reserved for her alone. The ease of his caresses over her breasts and her belly, the stroke of his palm down her spine and the splay of his hand against the globe of her bottom.
His mouth trailed away, burning a path of kisses to herear. Beneath the water, his fingers found her seam and began a languid rhythm of strokes and circles against her clit.
“Don’teverbeg me for anything, Rori, unless it’s to drive you to the height of pleasure,” he whispered against her ear as she bit her fingers into his shoulders, the coils of heat tightening in her belly. “I will give you the universe, the heavens,everything, if ’tis within my power to do so.”
The first flicker of sparks touched her nerves, the pressure building around her clit. She rolled her hips when he slipped his fingers inside her body, sitting hard against his hand. She arched into him with a moan, biting her lip as the weakened threads holding her together began to snap.
He replaced his fingers with his cock, filling her with one slow thrust.
She cried out, her body singing with bliss. The powerful orgasm shook her to the core as she pulsed and squeezed his cock.
“Goddess, how I love the feel of your orgasm around me,” he murmured against her neck, leading a trail of kisses over her shoulder. “The bite of your fingernails into my skin.” His fingers pressed into her ass, guiding her hips as she rode through the tremors of her climax. “Your adorable mewls and cries.”
She dropped her head forward, struggling to breathe as the flush of pleasure warmed her skin. He drove her at a steady pace, his cock gliding from tip to hilt, stroking her tender nerves without a thought to allowing them to recover. He angled her just right, tipped her hips to tease her clit and hit that sacred spot deep inside at the same time. Again and again, as he watched her barely touch the ground before mercilessly driving her back to the skies.
