House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)(99)

Lexen moved lower, paying close attention to every part of my bare skin, kissing and licking. My body was moving against him, an unraveling feeling inside taking over. “Lex,” I gasped, pulling him back up so I could taste him, feel his lips.

The rest of our clothing disappeared in the same magical way as the shirts, and for a moment I was shy, because I was not often naked around smoking-hot dudes. At the same time, it was Lexen, and I trusted him more than any other.

I lost all sense of time after that. It was just taste and touch, skin brushing across skin, spiraling sensations that took me to places I had never been before. Our bodies moved together, so in sync, almost as if we’d been designed to love each other exactly like this. The bond which had already been forming between our souls solidified. The love in my heart swelled.

As I arched off the bed, everything inside of me came apart. “I love you, Lex,” I breathed, unable to stop the words from escaping.

He captured my mouth, along with my heart and soul. “Love you, always.”

I shattered then, light exploding behind my eyes. Lexen followed me over the edge soon after.

A million years later, or maybe only a few minutes, my breathing started to slow down as I curled myself closer to Lexen. He shifted to remove the condom, which I was thankful he’d remembered. I might be on birth control, but doubling up never hurt anyone.

He wrapped me up in his arms, pulling me as close as he could. “You okay?” he said, his hands running up and down my arms. I was so relaxed I almost closed my eyes.

“Better than okay,” I murmured into his chest.

He chuckled, chest rumbling under my head. “Come on, baby girl … a quick shower before you fall asleep.”

The next thing I registered was warm water hitting me from multiple directions. Lexen, towering over me as he always did, adjusted the showerheads so the spray was softer, washing down over us.

“Thank you,” I said, tilting my head back so I could see him, almost groaning at the sight of the water slicing across him, sending his hair up in spiky tendrils, those long dark eyelashes framing obsidian eyes.

“For what?” he asked me.

I grinned and winked. “Mostly for kidnapping me.”

His laughter joined mine. “Now that I’ve got you, I’m never letting you go.”

“Goddamn Stockholm syndrome,” I moaned. Because I did not want him to let me go, not now, not ever.

The shower turned out to be one of the best of my life, although I did get dirty a few times before I got clean again. When my skin was nice and wrinkly, we dragged ourselves out. Lexen threw me one of his shirts to wear, along with a pair of boxers. I followed him downstairs again and we dumped some pre-prepared meals into the oven.

“Want to pick out a movie while we wait for the food?” he asked me.

I nodded, jumping down off the barstool, and followed him down the hall to a huge cinema room. There were a dozen chairs, a massive screen, and an entire library catalogue of movies. I flicked through them, jokingly suggesting a few romances, before finally settling on something with action and drama. Lexen didn’t seem to care. I didn’t really either, because the reality was I probably wouldn’t see half the movie.

“Did Jero, Marsil, and Star head home just to give us some privacy?” I asked as I settled myself into a lounger. My body ached a little as I sat, but I kind of enjoyed knowing that love was the reason. It made the pain feel a little different somehow.

Lexen joined me. “No, Father has some update for us, but he said it wasn’t so urgent that they couldn’t tell me when they returned.” The Daelighters had recently been trying to pass all pertinent information in person. They might be tracking Laous through the network, but he could do the same with them.

So far there had been no peep about Laous and what he was up to on Earth. Word from the council indicated that the second secret keeper family was still secret, for now. But they had requested more of my blood to try something new. My necklace would lead him to the second. We all knew it was only a matter of time. From there he would find them one by one, then the treaty would be void.

Our talk turned to things far less serious after that, and when our food was finished we curled up together and watched the movie. Despite the fast-paced storyline and heavy action, I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Lexen’s phone went off, startling me awake. He swiped the screen, read the message quickly, and then stood, pulling me with him.

“What’s up?” I asked, yawning, my mouth stretching wide open in what was no doubt a hugely attractive expression.

He pulled me out of the cinema room, toward the front door of his house. “Daniel, Xander, and Chase are here. They have some news.”

I glanced down at my clothes, thankful that Lexen’s shirt fell almost to my knees, covering me pretty well. As he pulled the front door open, three Daelighters filed in, filling the wide, open space and making it seem smaller.

I’d seen all of them at school over the past month, but since they never advertised this friendship between them, we’d done no more than exchange some nods and smiles. It was nice to have them here in a more relaxed environment. Lexen led everyone to his main living area, settling into a double couch, pulling me down with him. I covered a yawn with my hand, trying to wake myself up.

Pretty sure I was in a sex coma, if that was even possible. Duh, it was Lexen Darken – of course it was possible.