“Yes,” I agreed, still unable to catch my breath as that ache between my legs grew to a throb. “I think the time is past for talking.”
I grasped the bottom of his wet shirt and peeled it off of him, revealing his hard abs and tattoo-covered chest. Driscoll hadn’t lied. It was like he was made from stone. Carved by the spirits themselves. I ran my hands over his broad shoulders, the thick black curls of hair on his chest, down to his muscled abdomen. I admired every sculpted inch.
“Keep touching me like that,” he murmured, “and I won’t have any control left.”
“I was hoping to hear that,” I said as I grabbed his trousers and yanked them down.
His hard cock, veined and thick, bobbed, the tip glistening and ready for me.
He kicked off his trousers, then let out a low growl and backed me against the wall for a second time. I thudded against it. He lifted my arms and pinned them over my head, his lips roaming over my jaw, my neck, down to my breasts. He took a nipple in his mouth, and I let out a gasp as his tongue flicked it.
Want crashed through me as fierce as the wild northern waves of Apolis.
I tilted my pelvis toward him, needing him inside of me. “Bastian,” I rasped.
He chuckled and sucked harder on my nipple, then lifted one of my legs, hooking it around his waist. He raised his head, eyes gleaming with an untethered wildness. I shuddered as he pressed himself against my entrance, his cock rubbing against it and shooting sparks of pleasure through me.
It was just a taste of what was to come, and I wanted so much more.
He grazed my leg with his fingers, his gaze hooded as it dripped over me.
“You’re mine,” he said. “I will always choose you, love.”
“That’s good to know.” I shot him a wicked grin. “Because now I can do things like this.”
I reached down and stroked his cock, giving it a few long, slow pumps, and he let out a shuddering breath. I loved having this effect on him, knowing that I could make him come undone with just a touch.
“Now show me,” I said. “Show me that you’re choosing me.”
All restraint gone, he cupped my ass and lifted me higher before plunging into me. We both let out gasps at the feel of being joined together again after so long apart. He thrust up into me again, and I rocked my hips with the movement to match his rhythm.
With each thrust he buried himself deeper inside of me. I dug my fingers into his back, clinging to him, wanting this feeling to last forever. Spirits below, how had I gone without him for so long? Never again.
I groaned out and buried my face in his neck as he pumped in and out with a frenzied need. Waves of pleasure rolled through my body, and I bucked against him, angling myself so he couldgo even deeper. Pulses of heat webbed out, spreading to my thighs, my lower stomach. This man would be my undoing. I gripped him tighter, moaning his name.
He captured my moans with his mouth. We were nothing but teeth and tongues and lips. His body was so hard and unrelenting, and I could feel the muscles constricting as he kept me pinned against the wall. My pirate lord.
My body spasmed as he rocked against me, thrusting so hard now, every slap of his pelvis bringing me to new heights of pleasure.
I cried out into his mouth. The way he rocked into me felt so fucking good.
“That’s it,” Bastian said. “Let the storm come, my love.”
Not just love. My love.
The word swept me up, and my body shattered around him. His cock pulsed inside me as he came at the same time. We clung tight to each other, nothing but our breaths and gasps filling the cave.
I collapsed against him, skin sticky with sweat and sea water.
He pressed a gentle kiss into my forehead and slipped from me, releasing my leg that he’d held up around his waist.
“I love you.” I placed my hands on his chest and looked up at him.
My declaration shouldn’t have felt so powerful, so shocking. I knew how he felt about me, and he knew how I felt in return. Everyone did. But we’d never said the words aloud. They always felt too dangerous, too taboo.
The corners of his eyes crinkled, and he stroked my hair. “You consume me.” He searched my face. “Love isn’t a strong enough word to describe it. What I feel for you isn’t love—it’s magic. It must be for how deeply you’re ingrained into every facet of my being.”
“Bastian,” I said, voice wobbling. “You can’t just say things like that.”
