Blakeshire (Insight #9)(50)
“Not scared. Anxious.”
“Anxious about lunch?” he teased.
“No…I’m anxious because I’m not hungry right now.”
The playful gaze that was raining down on me turned serious as he seemed to evaluate what I did not clearly say.
“Kiss me, Drake.”
Before I could turn to prove how serious I was about that statement, his lips met mine. It was a slow, deep kiss that reached in and grabbed my soul, causing that warm, blissful sensation of his to blossom throughout every part of my body. I turned in his arms so I could reach up for his shoulders; the second I had him in my embrace, he picked me up, then without losing control of his entrancing kiss, he lowered us to the to the ground, to the blankets he’d laid there.
I’m sure if I still possessed the emotion of fear, I would have reached the point of panic right about then, but I didn’t have fear; I had raw passion. It was so thick and deep in my soul that at first I didn’t realize that his was just as dense, just as powerful.
With hungry arms, I explored every part of his chest, his arms, his back. I wanted him closer.
Every part of me was on fire. His touch was so powerful, yet gentle, leaving me to question his next move, my next move. At that point, I had already gone further with him than I had ever planned to.
Everything about this experience was new, yet it felt regal at the same time, like two lovers discovering each other after a painful absence.
I urged his shirt up, and right when my lips met his neck I heard him moan and felt him pull me against him. We wanted to be skin-to-skin, and urgently, yet gracefully we made our way there, savoring each piece of flesh that was revealed with a tender kiss, a gentle caress. The fire we were both feeling made our skin glisten within the rays of sun that were breaking through our canopy.
Hours went by as if time had stopped. Each moment led us closer to the point of no return.
Just before we crossed a sacred line, before I gave him something I had never given another soul, he hesitated. His eyes fell into mine as his fingertips traced my bottom lip. In a breathy whisper, he said, “First, last, forever….”
I froze beneath him. I felt that emotion I was calling love explode inside of him. He was seconds from saying that, but if he did I would run because I knew that loving me would do nothing but put him in mortal danger. We could never let the evil we were fighting know what our weakness was. He was mine; as much as I hated to admit it, he had been my weakness from day one.
“We can stop...” he whispered as he breathed out and let his hypnotic gaze reach into my soul.
I reached my trembling hand for his firm chest; there, I felt a strong, rapid heartbeat. “First, last, forever…”
The scent of roses saturated the air as I felt what could only be the emotion of love bellow within him. His lips connected with mine, then with gentle care he moved so our bodies became one.
He embraced me tightly through the pain. The second it faded, I lost control of myself and fought to lead the moment. He would give in to me, but only for a moment or two before his passion forced him to find that same control.
I knew without doubt that our hearts were pounding in unison, that I could feel my essence reaching for his, our energy twisting together. Ecstasy. That was what this was. Time did not exist in his arms. I was invincible.
The fire he brought my soul swarmed through every part of me, bringing life to the dark corners of my obsessive being. The jealousy I felt before vanished simply because I knew that today he not only had revealed thoughts and secrets that he had never shared before, but that this moment, in this life, was a first for him, too. A first he saved for me.
I could only hope I was healing him in some way, as well, that the coldness he thought was within vanished at that moment. If it didn’t, I would find another way. I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him, no matter what it cost me.
I loved this boy. I always had.
Chapter Eleven
Drake
I had never been more grateful that I knew how to stop time before this moment. I knew that time in this dimension alone was vastly different than my own; that alone allowed us to steal precious hours. I wanted us to have lifetimes, yet I only had the power to give us days. I doubted she even sensed the stalled day. She had drifted to sleep in my arms more than once. I held her as tenderly as I could, but at times I knew my grasp was too tight. I feared the cold, that Donalt would seize me right here, right now. My soul told me the fire she brought me would keep it at bay. I could only hope that was true.
I traced every part of her body, watching her skin glow under my touch, feeling a hum reach out for me, nearly grasp me and pull me within. I wanted it more than I wanted anything else in my life, including my crown. She shared her body with me, more than a few times, but asking to merge our souls was something I was not brave enough to do yet. She needed to be stronger for that to happen. She needed to be able to protect herself from whatever evil there was lurking deep within.
My fingertips were gliding across her back, revealing a hidden mark beneath her skin. A mark that consisted of four rings and an array of symbols, four rings that looked a lot like the looking glass in my palace. I remembered this mark from my dreams, myself asking her about it, assuming it was a crest given to angels. She had told me she was from the line of The Selected, warriors of light. That was as far as her explanation went. In the center of the symbol, there was a circle with two lines branching out. Even though I didn’t understand how I knew—I knew there were supposed to be five, that once there was five her life plan would be complete, our life plan would be fulfilled. I wondered if those three marks were the sacrifices that Zander was warning me about. Deep down I knew they weren’t, that they stood for something more sinister, a path before her that I didn’t want her to walk alone.