"I know." He slips from his seat to kneel before me, his large frame making the movement look graceless and desperate. "I know I've hurt you. Let me at least properly apologize."
It's like he knows what a mess my head is right now, how words won't help much when there's so much to sort through. I am still hurt. He lied to us. But he nearly died protecting us, too, and I can't overlook either.
Before I can respond, he's reaching for me, his scarred, blood-stained hands impossibly gentle as they settle on my knees. His eyes hold mine, asking silent permission as his fingers trail up my thighs.
"Domno—" My throat closes around his name.
"Please." The word is rough with emotion. "Let me show you what I can't say."
I should push him away. Should remind him of his injuries, of the sleeping child just inside the temple walls. Should guard my heart that's been broken too many times.
Instead, I part my legs.
His breath catches, golden eyes darkening as his hands slide higher, pushing up the worn fabric of my dress. The night air is cool against my skin, raising goosebumps that his touch immediately soothes. He leans forward, pressing a kiss to the inside of my knee, then higher—reverent, worshipful touches that make my body tremble.
"You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he murmurs against my skin.
I've been called beautiful before, by men who only saw me as property. But Domno's eyes hold something different—not just desire, but awe. As if I'm something precious rather than something to be used.
He kisses the inside of my thigh, his lips warm and insistent, and a shudder runs through me. My hands find his hair, tangling in the dark strands, unsure if I want to pull him closer or push him away. He looks up at me, his expression so vulnerable it makes my chest ache.
"I'll spend the rest of my life proving myself worthy of you," he vows, each word a promise etched into my skin. "If you'll let me."
Then his mouth is on me, hot and demanding and perfect. I gasp, fingers tightening in his hair as heat explodes through my body. He rips the fabric out of his way before devouring me in a way that has every thought leaving my mind. He groans against me, the sound vibrating through my core, his hands gripping my hips to keep me from bucking away from the intensity.
My head falls back, eyes closing as sensation overwhelms me. His tongue is relentless, tracing patterns that make coherent thought impossible. All the fear and tension I've carried for solong melts away, replaced by waves of pleasure that crash over me like a storm.
"That's it," he murmurs against my most sensitive flesh. "Let go for me, Esalyn."
I bite my lip to keep from crying out, too aware of Erisen sleeping nearby. But Domno is merciless, his mouth working me with single-minded determination until I'm trembling on the edge of something vast and terrifying.
"I can't—" The words catch in my throat.
He lifts his head just enough to meet my gaze, his eyes burning gold in the firelight. "You can. I've got you."
Then he's back, tongue circling the bundle of nerves that makes my entire body jerk, and I'm falling, shattering, coming apart under his mouth with an intensity that steals my breath. My fingers tangle in his hair as wave after wave of pleasure crashes through me, leaving me gasping and boneless.
When I finally come back to myself, Domno is looking up at me from between my thighs. His expression is one of pure wonder, like a man who's found salvation after a lifetime of darkness. Blood from his wounds stains the ground beneath him, but he seems oblivious to his injuries, to everything except me.
"There you are," he whispers, voice rough with emotion. "There's my heart."
I reach down and pull Domno up my body, unable to bear the distance between us any longer. Maybe tomorrow I'll regret it, but right now, I need this connection. Because that has always been real between us. His weight settles against me, solid and real, as I capture his mouth with mine.
The taste of myself on his lips is sweet and lights something up inside of me as I open my mouth to him. He groans against my mouth, one hand cradling my face with a gentleness that contradicts the desperation in his touch. The kiss deepens, histongue sliding against mine, and suddenly I'm drowning—in sensation, in need, in the certainty that this is what I've been running toward all along, not just away from.
"Please," I whisper against his lips, my body trembling beneath his. "I need you... need all of you."
The admission costs me nothing—I've given him everything else already. My trust. My heart. My future. This final surrender feels inevitable, like the last piece falling into place.
Domno pulls back just enough to study my face, his gold eyes searching mine. The scars across his gray skin gleam silver in the firelight, telling stories of battles I'll never know. But I can read the one battle playing out in his expression now—desire warring with concern.
"Wait," I start to protest, reaching for the gash across his ribs. I hadn't been thinking when I asked him for this. "Your wounds?—"
He silences me with another kiss, this one fiercer. "I've lived through worse." His voice is a rumble I feel in my own chest. "And if I were to die, then this would be the best possible way."
Then he's laying me back against the rough blanket spread before the fire, his movements deliberate despite the urgency I can feel thrumming through his body. The flames cast his broad-shouldered silhouette into something ancient and powerful—a creature of legend come to life in my arms.
His fingers work at the laces of his pants while his gaze never leaves mine. There's a vulnerability in his eyes that makes my throat tight, a silent question even as he positions himself between my spread thighs.
