Willing Sacrifice (20 page)

He cupped her face with one hand, being careful of the shallow cut on her cheek. His thumb glided across her skin, reveling in her soft warmth. There was something about the texture of her skin that was uniquely hers. Perhaps all those hours she’d spent holding his hand had somehow imprinted the feel of her skin in his mind, but he had no question that he would know the feel of her anywhere, even in utter darkness.

Her lips parted, and the slick, glossy inside of her bottom lip inflamed him. He wanted to taste that skin, to feel it glide under his tongue until he knew it as well as he did the shape of her hand in his.

There was so much of her he wanted to memorize, so many intriguing textures to experience.

Sweat broke out along his spine but did nothing to cool him down. His heart beat faster until he could feel it pounding through him in a mad rush. He felt like a young man again, giddy and eager for a first kiss.

Grace pressed her hand to his chest, right over his heart. His abdomen clenched hard. A flood of desire raced through him, so powerful it was hard to breathe through it.

Everything about her deepened his need. He wanted to control his lust and bank it until only low embers remained, but she made that impossible.

He tipped her head up and fitted his mouth against hers.

Grace melted into the kiss. Her fingers dug into his chest. A little breath of excitement eased out of her in the form of the sexiest sigh he’d ever heard.

He wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, but one second she was sitting on the cave floor, and the next she was straddling his lap. His hands were on her ass, holding her close, so chances were he’d simply picked her up and put her where he wanted her.

The hem of her tunic slid up to make room for her to spread her thighs around him. He could feel the leather bunching under his grip and wanted nothing more than to shred it away from her body.

He’d had her naked before, but had done his best to respect her privacy and keep his eyes to himself.

This time would be different. He would look his fill. He’d linger over every sweet curve and hollow, making sure he didn’t miss an inch.

She lifted up on her knees and grabbed his head, angling it to please her. Each kiss was a sweet little gift, but not nearly as much as he wanted.

“Open for me, honey,” he said against her mouth.

Her lips parted instantly, giving him the access he needed.

The taste of her drove him wild. Made him hotter. The cave air had been cool only a moment ago, but his body was in overdrive, unable to shed heat fast enough.

As if sensing his need, Grace grabbed the bottom of his new shirt and pulled it over his head. Their mouths separated only long enough to get the job done before she came right back to him.

The feel of her supple leather tunic grated on him. He needed her flesh on his, bare and hot. Maybe he was rushing things, but he’d wanted Grace for so long he couldn’t seem to stop himself from taking what she offered.

He slid his hands under her tunic, cupping the mostly bare cheeks of her ass. The thin fabric she wore over her sex was far too rough for such delicate skin. She deserved silk. Or better yet, nothing at all.

“Need you naked,” he told her as he pulled on the leather tie that held her tunic closed.

The garment fell forward. She pulled back, holding it against her breasts. Her lips were already puffy from kissing him. A deep flush covered her face and neck. Her hair was a wild, dark mane around her head. Her eyes stayed fixed to his as she moved her hands and let the tunic fall.

Torr lost all ability to speak. Or think. The sight of Grace’s mostly naked body straddling his was more than even a strong man like him could take.

So beautiful. So tempting.

Her breasts were the perfect size for his big hands. Her nipples were tight buds that made his mouth water. The curve of her waist and the flare of her hips were enough to make him fight the need to come in his jeans.

“More naked,” he managed to rasp out between labored breaths.

Grace rose to her feet in a move so fluid it made him think of lazy rivers and dew dripping from blades of grass. She let the tunic fall. A swift pull on the knot at her waist and the fabric wound between her thighs unraveled around her ankles.

More of Torr’s brain cells sputtered and died as he soaked in the sight of her. He’d intended only to look, but his hands gripped her hips and tugged her closer.

The dark hair shielding her sex was visibly damp. Her sea-salt-and-woman scent went straight to his head, intoxicating him further. He knew if he touched her and found her wet for him, he would mount her and be thrusting inside her before he even had time to find out if it was what she wanted.

He prayed it was what she wanted.

Rather than let himself get carried away, he slid his shaking hands over the leather ties at her calves until he found how they were fastened. A few quick tugs of his fingers, and even those were gone, leaving her completely naked.

Torr got to his feet in an uncharacteristically clumsy move. He needed to put a few feet between them before he dove in headfirst and took what he wanted from her. His sweet Grace was too precious to treat like some kind of whore.

His cock swelled and throbbed, beating in insistent demand. He ignored it and simply looked his fill.

“I want to see you,” she whispered. “Before all the light is gone.”

“If I take off my jeans, there won’t be anything to slow me down.”

She took a tentative step forward. Her voice was a sultry temptation. “I don’t want slow. I want you.”

He couldn’t let her change her mind. She could have whatever she wanted—whatever got her off so long as she didn’t change her mind.

Torr stripped off his boots, unbuckled his sword and shucked his jeans in record time. He stood before her naked and blatantly aroused. She was only a few steps away. Even as low as the last light of the setting suns was, there was no way she couldn’t see what she did to him.

Her chest stopped moving for too long. He was so attuned to her that he hadn’t even realized he’d been keeping tabs on her breathing. It must have been habit from all that time he’d spent at her bedside, hoping she would recover from healing his paralysis.

“Breathe, Grace. Or I’ll do it for you.” He’d done it before, filling her lungs with air to keep her alive. He’d do it again in a heartbeat if she needed it.

Her breasts lifted with a deep breath, giving him an awkward mix of relief and arousal. His erection twitched, lunging toward her like it had a mind of its own.

“You’re beautiful,” she told him, awe plain in her voice.

She took a step forward. Then another. She was within his reach now, but he kept his hands at his sides.

Her fingers traced the branches of his lifemark. A hard shiver raced through him, making every muscle clench as it passed.

“Did that hurt?” she asked, pulling her hand away.

“Only if you don’t touch me again.”

She did, only this time the caress was lighter. “It’s moving, isn’t it?”

He couldn’t answer. His throat was clogged with need so huge it nearly choked him.

He wanted her to be his partner. Forever. He wanted her to take her place at his side and draw strength from him. In this moment, he would have made a deal with the Solarc if it meant she could be his other half.

Grace pressed her cheek to his chest. “I swear I can hear it move. Is that even possible?”

He didn’t know. Couldn’t think. Her head was over his heart, and there was nothing he could do but wrap his arms around her and hold her there, wishing it could be the place she laid her head each night.

This woman was meant to be his, and it was a cruel twist of fate that he couldn’t keep her—at least not as long as he wanted.

Before bleak thoughts could slip in and ruin what they had here and now, Torr lifted her chin and kissed her. He put the full force of his will into it, holding nothing back. He let her feel his need. Didn’t even try to hide it. He knew that feelings this strong would blast their way through the disk she wore and give her a tiny fraction of his need.

By the time he lifted his mouth from hers, she was gasping for air, clinging to him. “I feel like I’ve done this before,” she said, “but I know if I had, I would have remembered it.”

He didn’t want to talk about memories or the past. He wanted to grab on to the present and wring from it every drop of pleasure he could. For both of them.

Her nipples grazed his chest. He bent her back over his arm just enough that he could reach them with his mouth. The high cry of surprise she gave him was the sweetest kind of music. If he got his way, he was going to be hearing a lot more of that before he let her rest.

She gripped his hair in both fists and held on tight. He felt the moment her legs weakened, but he simply accepted more of her weight, thrilled to his core that she would trust him not to let her fall.

He suckled her, making note of what made her thighs clench, what made her let out those musical sighs. It was only when his own legs got a little shaky with lust that he decided to move the fun to the ground.

He arranged their discarded clothes into as smooth a pallet as possible and eased Grace onto it. “I don’t want to hurt your back again.”

She looped her arms around his neck. “I don’t think I’d notice this time.”

When she pulled him down to kiss her again, he had no choice but to go where she led. If he ran the show, he’d already be inside her.

His cock grazed her stomach. He felt the hot, slick wetness welling from him as he rubbed against her. The movement was involuntary. His poor lust-hazed mind couldn’t seem to slow down and ease off the throttle. He’d wanted this—her—for too long.

All those months of being trapped inside his wasted body had left him little to do but fantasize. She’d come to him every day to feed him, bathe him and generally keep his ass alive. She was so sweet, so wounded. He knew she’d been abused. The marks were all over her when he found her. Still, as scared as she was, she still came to him, trying to repay him for something that needed no thanks.

Because of the demon that had poisoned him, he’d been too weak to hurt her. He knew that was what gave her the courage to show up every day, but he still cherished his time with her. And as time passed, he stopped seeing her as the sweet girl he’d rescued and started seeing her as a kind and loving woman—one with a body that made him lie awake at night, sweating and dreaming of what he’d do to her if he ever had the chance.

That chance was now, but all of those fantasies were jumbled up, too tangled for him to pull out a single one to make it come true.

He traced the line of her arm, lingering as his path led him down her ribs. She shivered at his touch, which only made him want to touch her more—something he hadn’t thought possible. The lower his fingers ran, the more powerful her reaction became. She arched toward him, breathing faster, growing warmer.

Her hands splayed against his back, her fingers digging into his skin like she couldn’t get enough of him. The idea went to his head, giving him a feeling of power that not even the magic flowing through his veins could match.

She broke the kiss. Her mouth moved across his jaw, down his neck. She placed hot, open-mouthed kisses along his skin, biting and nibbling just enough to leave a pleasurable sting in her wake. When she reached his luceria, she slowed. Her tongue delved beneath the magical band, touching flesh that was more often covered than not. He was ultrasensitive here, and each flickering swipe of her tongue made him burn hotter.

“Enough,” he said as he eased her onto her back. “It’s my turn to make you burn.”

G
race didn’t know what Torr meant. She was already about to combust.

Her skin danced with tingling flames. Every inch of her body ached to get closer to his. She wanted him to cover her, consume her. There was too much space between them, and if he didn’t give her what she needed, she was certain it would kill her.

He rose above her, supporting his weight with his arms. Muscles bulged beneath his tan skin. A mist of sweat glistened across his chest. His scent filled her head, making her insides melt, but it was his eyes, bright and gleaming with wicked intent, that were her undoing.

He stared at her body, devouring her inch by inch. She felt that stare like a physical touch. When his gaze moved over her breasts, her nipples tightened until they were almost painful.

She needed his mouth on them again, soothing them with his tongue.

Grace tried to tell him that, but as soon as her lips parted, he kissed her again, robbing her of all ability to speak.

His hands roamed her body. They were so big, leaving wide swaths of heat wherever they went. He was gentle but gave her no chance to resist what he wanted to do. By the time he pulled away from her mouth, his hand was covering her mound, with just the tip of one finger sliding between her labia.

As soon as he felt how wet she was, he went still and pulled in a hissing breath. His eyes shut tight, but when he opened them, his gaze locked with hers.

“Sweet Grace. You have no idea what you do to me.”

“Is that bad?”

“No. Not even close.”

His finger slid along her folds, gliding easily to her core. If anyone had ever touched her like this before, she couldn’t remember. Didn’t even want to. Her entire world was right here, right now—just her and Torr.

He watched her while he moved inside her, as if expecting her to tell him to stop. She couldn’t even imagine such a horrible thought, not when his hand was between her legs, his skin lightly grazing across her clit as he entered her.

The sensation was almost too much. He’d barely even begun to touch her, and she was already feeling a steady kind of pressure building where he moved.

She grabbed his wrist, unsure if she wanted to make him slow down or move faster. Instead, he froze.

Sweat lined his brow. “Do I stop?”

“No. It’s just . . . a lot.”

A dark smile of conquest spread across his face. “Not yet, it’s not.”

He pressed deeper and stroked some magical spot inside her that made her see stars. Her fingers dug into his wrists, but all that did was allow her to feel his tendons shift with whatever it was he was doing to her.

He slid out, just long enough for her to mourn the loss of his touch before he gathered her juices on a second finger and moved within her again.

The stretch was good. Really good. She forgot all about trying to restrain him and simply let go and gave in. By the time he had a third finger easing inside her, it wouldn’t have mattered if she wanted to stop him or not. She was too boneless, too breathless.

His mouth latched onto her nipple. He blew across the wet tip, making it tighten more. When his teeth grazed across her, biting just hard enough for her to feel it, that pressure he’d built within her detonated like a bomb.

She shattered, flying apart into a million sparkling pieces. Just when she was sure that the pleasure was over and what was left of her was going to drift off on the slightest breeze, the next wave of her orgasm crashed against her, shocking her with its intensity.

Torr’s hand kept moving, kept urging her through the next shimmering pulse until she was shaking and unable to catch her breath.

His head lifted and he wore an expression of complete male satisfaction. “You are such a miracle. Utterly stunning.”

She couldn’t speak. There wasn’t enough air in her lungs for anything more than her rapid panting breaths.

He cradled her body close, stroking her while the storm eased. As soon as she felt whole again, he lifted her and moved until he was lying flat on the ground with her sitting astride him. His erection lay heavily on his abdomen. She could feel its thick length hot against her sex, see the tip of it rising past her mound. Wetness welled at the end of his penis, forming a pearly drop. His big hands cupped her hips, and she could feel her own juices clinging to his fingers. More coated him as she rubbed her labia over his hard length. Blatant male need tightened his jaw, giving him an almost feral expression.

Grace had just had the first orgasm she could ever remember, but seeing him look at her like that—like she was the answer to his prayers—made need rise in her again.

She moved her hips, experimenting with the feel of his slick skin on hers. Every few strokes her clit would slide against him just right, making her whole body clench and shiver.

Torr groaned, and a rush of feminine power swept through her. Before she was done here, she was going to make him feel as good as he’d made her feel.

She leaned down, covering his body with hers. The brush of her nipples against his hard chest sent a riot of sensation cascading along her spine.

His groan deepened, and his fingers tightened around her hips. A strand of restraint vibrated through him, taunting her to find a way to make it snap. Just the thought of Torr completely unrestrained with her was enough to make the wetness between them thicken.

She kissed his mouth. His erection pulsed against her, hitting her clit. She sucked in a breath that tasted like him, and then suddenly had a remnant of memory flash in her mind.

His mouth on hers. Him breathing for her.

The feeling was gone so fast she wasn’t sure if it had been real or something she’d imagined. And when his tongue swept in to tease hers, all she could think about was finding a way to get more of him.

He was right there, hot and hard between her thighs. All she had to do was shift her hips, lift up and take him inside.

She was more than ready for it.

Grace broke the kiss and sat up. The image of the tree on his chest seemed to sway madly with his rapid breathing. She gripped him in her fist, holding his gaze while she centered his erection.

She couldn’t remember having ever done this before, but her instincts guided her, urging her onward.

She eased down. The pressure of his broad tip made lightning dance in her veins. He was slick, hot and so incredibly smooth that it didn’t take long before her tissues parted and let him in.

Her breath caught in her chest. An aching stretch strung her taut. She already felt consumed and she’d barely accepted any of him. She truly wasn’t sure how she was going to take more.

Torr must have sensed her hesitation. He sat up and cradled her in his arms, dropping soft kisses over her cheeks and eyelids.

“I’ll wait as long as you need, honey. And if you want to stop”—his words cut off in a strained, choking sound—“then that’s what we’ll do.”

“No stopping now,” she said, easing down to take another inch of him.

His breath came out in a long hiss of pleasure. He took her mouth with his, staking a claim without a single word. There was a kind of fevered franticness to his mouth, his hands, as if he had to gather as much of her as he could before she slipped away.

Grace wasn’t going anywhere. Not now, not when he surrounded her and filled her so completely.

She started moving, lifting and lowering herself in small increments. Each sweet glide of skin on skin was better than the last, pushing her back toward that glittering place where she’d been ripped apart and re-formed.

The stretching pressure of him filling her was her whole world. Her body kept surprising her with its hungry need, its ability to accept more than she would have thought possible. It wasn’t just his physical presence in her body, but also the shimmering pleasure he gave her with each stroke of his hand, each hot, wet kiss.

He seemed to know just where to touch her to make her need more. He never pushed or hurried her, but the glide of his mouth on her neck made her want, and the gentle tug on her nipples made her hunger.

Finally, when they were joined as deeply as possible, he went still and simply looked at her. Some kind of declaration burned in his amber eyes, but he said nothing. Instead, he stroked her face with the tips of his fingers, touching her as though she were the most precious thing he’d ever beheld.

Her body burned, but it was her heart that she felt most in that moment. It seemed to expand and swell, as if it had been waiting for him to fill a void she hadn’t even realized she had. When he looked at her like this, she felt strangely complete.

“I’m going to love you now,” he told her. “I can’t wait any longer.”

She wasn’t sure what he meant until he started to move. His powerful body flexed, lifting her up. The clinging glide of her skin on his made her nerve endings sing. The feeling of emptiness barely registered before he slid back home again.

Grace clung to his shoulders, holding on while he moved her. Each stroke tightened her belly and wound her up until she couldn’t think of anything but pure sensation.

Sweat coated their skin, allowing her nipples to slide over his chest. The added sensation was too much for her to hold.

She opened her mouth to warn him that she couldn’t take any more, but all that came out was a breathless cry as her body exploded. One wave of pleasure crashed into the next until all that was left were demanding ripples that squeezed the last of her energy from her body.

Torr’s muscles bunched, clenching hard. His voice came out in a strangled roar, and she felt his erection swell and pulse inside her as his semen erupted from him.

He collapsed back onto the ground, bringing her down with him to cover his body. His heart hammered under her ear. His arms tightened around her as if he was afraid she’d run away.

Not likely.

Even if her legs could support her weight—which she knew they wouldn’t—there wasn’t a single place she wanted to be more than where she was right now.

When their breathing evened out, he rolled her beneath him and brushed her hair away from her sweaty brow. “You okay?”

“Never better.”

“I got a little carried away.”

“I loved every second of it.”

His erection was relaxing inside her, but she felt it twitch with interest. “That’s good, because I have every intention of doing it again. Soon.”

She didn’t think it would be possible for her to want more. She already felt boneless, weak and completely sated. Still, her body knew a good thing when it heard one, and a little rush of excitement flooded her. “Now works for me.”

He flashed her a breathtaking smile as he eased from her body. “I’m going to feed you first.”

“With what? I saw you drop all our food.”

He pushed to his feet, putting his gorgeous body on gleaming display. For as long as she lived, she would never forget how he looked now, with only the faintest glow of sunset painting his nude body. “Don’t worry. I’ve been hunting longer than you’ve been alive. I’ll find us something.”

Suddenly, the idea of being alone in this cave was terrifying. Maybe it was clingy of her, but she didn’t want him to run off—not after what they’d just shared.

Her unease must have registered in her expression, because he leaned down and kissed her, long and slow. When he came up for air, that familiar look of hunger was back in place, tightening his jaw and mouth.

“I’m only going because we need to eat. I’m not running away. I promise.”

His vow took her by surprise, its weight settling gently over her shoulders like a warm blanket. “Okay.”

“I won’t be long.” He pulled on his clothes and set a short sword within her reach. “I’ll stay close. If you need me, call out and I’ll come running.”

She nodded.

He swept her hair behind her ear and gave her a look so filled with delicious intent it made her thighs squeeze together. “When I get back and have fed you, I’m going to spend the rest of the night inside you, Grace. And I’m going to see to it that you love every second.”

About that, she had no doubt.