Darker (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #6)(31)

Again, he looked me over, lingering where my arms covered my br**sts. I was ready to argue now so oozing sensuality wasn’t going to work in his favor just yet. I stood my ground, prepared to let him have it.

“I can’t help but notice you keep saying we,” I observed. “I didn’t agree to pal around with Shya. You did.”

“That’s right. I did.” He nodded, fire smoldering in his eyes. “I told you I would do anything to make sure you’re safe, and you are not going to make me feel bad about it.”

Frustration shook me. I was ticked that he had gone behind my back to talk to Shya. After the night I’d just had, not to mention my week so far, this was the last thing I wanted.

“Safe? Until Lilah’s out of the way, and then what? Then he follows through with that little promise to kill me. Did you forget about that?” My words came fast and furious.

I remembered the demon’s sly threat very well. Shya was uneasy with me being the light half of a twin flame union. He threatened to kill me, so I would rise as a vampire, so Arys’s darkness would tip the precarious balance between us. Maybe there was more to it.

“Of course not.” Arys scowled. “You should really stop underestimating me, Alexa. I always get what I want. That won’t be any different with Shya.”

“Your cocky attitude is going to get us into trouble. One of these days,” I warned, “you won’t be right. And then, you’ll be sorry.”

We stared into one another with fierce intensity. Arys reached to brush the hair back from my face. A mischievous smile graced his lips.

“One of these days,” he echoed in a low murmur. Then he dropped to his knees before me and pressed his lips to the intimate place between my legs.

My breath caught. A rush of sudden desire thrilled through me. What a crafty way to end an argument. “This doesn’t mean you automatically win.”

“Doesn’t it?” His mouth moved against me, stirring my arousal.

The touch of his tongue sent jolts of electricity through me. Instinctively, I buried my hands in his soft tousle of hair. My knees weakened, and he gripped my hips to steady me.

“You play dirty, Arys.” My throaty whisper coaxed a chuckle from him.

He flicked his tongue over me, hitting that sensitive spot that had my breath coming fast. I shuddered and clung tighter to him. The way he touched me was softer than usual, a gentleness that was rare for Arys.

“You love it,” he said, guiding me down to the grass.

It was cold against my back but felt nice due to the heat flooding my limbs. I stretched languorously on the soft cushion of green. Arys kept up his tender worship of my body. He lifted one of my legs, propping it over his shoulder so he lay nestled between my thighs. Holding my hips tight, he licked me with a persistence that had me crying out.

Our fights could be downright scary, but there was always that wild element of eroticism to it. This was different. Instead of the fiery coupling we so often enjoyed, this was a delicate expression of love rooted in a deeper place. It was as strong as it was intimidating.

The dizzying explosion of climax had me seeing stars. Arys brought me over the edge to bliss. I watched through a pleasure-filled haze as he stripped off his clothing and aligned his body with mine.

Gazing into my eyes, he said, “I love you, my beautiful wolf. No matter what happens, don’t forget that.”

As much as I loved to hear endearments from my dark vampire, this one struck me as cryptic. Kale’s forceful actions, I was certain, had truly frightened Arys. Before I could over-think it, Arys gathered me close and slipped inside me with a gentle thrust. He decorated my face in fevered kisses. I held tight to him as we moved together, uniting as one.

The power rose between us, fuelled by the passion of our actions. Arys guided our rhythm with slow, steady strokes. Buried deep within me, he claimed me with total abandon. The guard Arys held firmly in place shattered, exposing his rarely seen tender side.

A sense of anguish was in his energy; the tortured desperation in the way he held me conveyed something that he would never let out in words. I could feel it as if it were my own, crushing and almost painful. Tears welled up in my eyes as it overwhelmed me.

I felt it deep in my core, a twinge of the fragile humanity he’d once had but now knew only through his link to me. The kind of love Arys had for me came from a place of light that had gone dark long ago. The trace of me that he carried inside him always, that was his weakness. In that moment of desperate lovemaking, I was certain that Shya knew it, too.

Arys rolled us over so I was on top, disrupting my thoughts. He pulled me down hard, thrusting up to force a cry from me. He touched my chin, drawing my gaze to his. Raw, unbridled need shone in his eyes. The power spiralled around us, trapping us in the eye of the tornado. I moved atop him, instinctively matching his stride. White noise built to a deafening roar.

Many times, I resisted how solid our connection had become. However, moments like this made it undeniable. I was completely his.

I threw my head back to stare up at the sky. The darkness had thinned as dawn approached. It wasn’t far now. Soon, it would chase us indoors. I closed my eyes and focused on the way Arys felt inside me. Each slick stroke brought me closer to ecstasy. For a brief time, nothing else mattered.

Collapsing on his chest, I gasped for air as the waves of climax swept me away. His arms went around me, holding me with a possessiveness I’d come to know well. I relaxed into it with his name on my lips.