But she was alive.
She was still mine.
Her hands swept up my back, touching fiercely. She winced as I sucked in a breath when she skated over my healing rib.
She gasped. “I’m sorr—”
I yanked her head back with a fistful of her hood, forcing her to look at me. Her lips were swollen, glistening in the darkness. “You can’t break me, Nila.”
I kissed her again, unable to stand the overwhelming emotion in her eyes. She opened for me, welcoming me to take whatever I wanted. Within seconds, I was drunk. Entirely intoxicated on her taste—all my forward thinking, my plans to put into action—they could all wait.
Because this goddess couldn’t.
I couldn’t.
I couldn’t get enough of her. I would never get enough of her.
We stumbled sideways, my mind awash with need, my body and hands completely uncontrolled. My shoulder slammed into a stall as Nila lost her balance, falling against me. I spun her around, pressing her against the new obstruction, kissing her harder.
She moaned and we staggered again, clashing and fighting but always kissing.
Never stopping.
“I can’t believe you’re alive.” Her hands tangled deeper in my hair, keeping my face locked with hers. “Every night I prayed you weren’t gone.”
I ducked to capture her throat, kissing my way along her jawline, glowering at the glittering diamonds lacing her neck.
No matter what happened and the freedom we earned, Nila would forever wear that collar. I hated it, but I would prefer to see her wear it every day for the next eighty years, than see it sitting back on its pedestal in the vault just waiting for its next victim.
I bit her neck, sucking her taste, inhaling every part of her.
I wanted those images out of my head. Forever.
She groaned as I captured her breast, squeezing the unrestrained flesh through her nightgown.
“Jethro—”
My cock fucking pounded with desire, my heart permanently located in the rock-hard flesh. I had to be inside her. Only then would this insane need to devour her cease.
Not yet.
Things had to be discussed.
It took all my strength, but I pushed away, dragging a hand over my face.
Nila stayed locked against the stall, her chest rising and falling; her coat opened, showing nipples pinched with lust. The damn hood kept me from seeing any further than her mouth and eyes.
Her gaze met mine in the gloom, tears sparkling on her eyelashes. “Why—why did you stop?”
I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her lips. So plump and red and wet.
I’d done that. I’d practically eaten her alive.
The urge to do it again drove me fucking insane.
“We have to talk.” My voice was hay and dust, cracked and dry.
“Oh.” She looked down, her fingers pulling at her coat. The damn hood kept her face in shadow. She hurt as much as I did. Hurt with passion. Lacerated by lust.
Shit.
I squeezed my eyes, cutting off my vision but feeding more perception to my other senses. My skin begged to connect with hers. My heart growled to thump against hers. And my cock fucking punished me for not being inside her.
“Fuck it.”
I gave in.
Falling on her again, she gasped as I shoved her hard against the stall.
“Fuck talking.” I kissed her lips, her chin, her cheeks. “I need you, Nila. I need every inch of you.”
“Take me.” She cried out as my hand gathered her gown, bunching it over her hip. “Please—please don’t stop.”
“I’ve never wanted someone as much as I want you,” I groaned as she opened her legs. “Never loved anyone as much as I love you.”
She gasped as I grabbed the back of her knee, hooking it over my hip. Something ripped—her hem or coat—I didn’t care. Her heel dug into my arse as she ground against my cock.
I shuddered. My hand slapped against the stall to prevent my body from crushing her.
“Don’t stop.” Wrapping her arms around my neck, she dragged me back to her.
My side twinged and my forehead pricked with pain, but I didn’t care. My cock ruled me now and it wanted to be inside her that fucking instant.
Fumbling with one hand, I wrenched aside my belt and jerked down my jeans and boxer-briefs. The clothing had come courtesy of Flaw, along with a lift back to Hawksridge, sworn silence, and a note to deliver to Jasmine.
My cock leapt from my trousers, rippling with need and sticky with pre-cum. Fisting the base, I rocked against her, desperately trying to find her entrance.
Her fingers clawed my shoulders, tugging me closer but holding me away at the same time. “Wait—wait—”
“I can’t wait.”
“But you were shot…you probably shouldn’t—” Her hands dropped, stroking my naked hips, digging her nails into my flesh. “Are you okay to do this?”
I kissed her again. “I’m going to show you how okay I am by making love to you.” I thrust against her.
She shook her head. “Wait!” Her attention shot to my torso, seeking wounds. I had no intention of taking my t-shirt off and showing her the bandage hiding the stitched area or mentioning my broken rib.
Didn’t she get it? None of that fucking mattered as she was the best painkiller around.
I’d never felt so good having her in my arms, trumping death, defeating the impossible.
“You argue with me again, and I’ll make you come apart over and over until you believe me.”
“But—”
“Stop it.” Pressing a finger over her lips, I silenced her. “Quiet.” The tip of my cock found her tight heat. “If you stop me from taking you, I’ll die. I’ll literally have a heart attack.”
Her head fell backward as I teased, hovering so close but not taking her. Pushing up the tiniest bit, we trembled with pleasure. My head bowed, pressing against the stall behind her as I did my best to stay in control. My thighs bunched as every instinct bellowed to drive inside her. “I need you so much I can scarcely breathe.”
Her emotions ran crazy, battering me from all directions.
Lust.
Fear.
Questions.
Love.
“Quit thinking so hard; you’re distracting me.” Looking into her eyes, I traced her cheek, soothing her rioting thoughts. “All I want to feel from you, Nila, is desire. All the other stuff…we can talk about it later.” I kissed her softly. “Now, be quiet, stop thinking, and let me fuck you.”
She shivered and obeyed.
Her emotions switched to one thought: wanting me to take her.
It would be my pleasure to comply.
Bending my legs, I drove upward.
Her back arched as I slid inside her liquid heat. Higher and higher, stretching her.
“God, Jethro—yes!”
I gathered her close, holding her tightly as I climbed deeper. Only once she fully encased me did I thrust.
Our lips glued together, and we rode each other.
It wasn’t rhythmic or sensual.
It was purely animalistic and primal.
“I won’t last—I can’t last.”
“I don’t care.” Her pussy tightened as I drove faster. “Just prove to me you’re alive.”
“That I can do.”
It didn’t take long.
My body had no endurance and time spent apart meant everything about Nila bewitched me into exploding far too fast.
With each thrust, the pleasure turned catastrophic; my balls tightened.
“Oh, fuck…” Lightning shards shot up my cock, spurting inside her. “Hell, yes.” Waves of release crippled me as I splashed inside the woman I wanted forever. I bit my lip as my legs seized, my cock impaling her over and over again.
The last spurt left me lightheaded, but it’d been the shortest, sharpest, and most rewarding orgasm I’d ever had.
“Goddammit, it’s good to see you.”
Having her in my arms, coming inside her, knowing we were together again, helped wipe away my worries and just be.
“Where’s Moth and Wings?”
Nila’s voice wrapped around my satisfaction, dragging me back to her. The chill of the stables faded thanks to the heat lamps I’d turned on above.
I rolled over to face her; my unbuckled belt and jeans clinked.
Somehow, after I’d orgasmed, we’d stumbled down the corridor of the stables and collapsed on top of one of the hay bales in a spare stall. Nila had lost her shoes, and her black jacket was rumpled and dusty from rubbing against the wall but she’d never looked more beautiful. She still hadn’t removed her hood though, and strange emotions trickled from her—hidden and quiet—scaring me more as minutes ticked past.
I was exceedingly aware of her every thought and also intimately mindful that Nila hadn’t come.
I mean to rectify that.
Her mind raced, sending flickers of ideas and questions in every direction. I let them wash over me, not wanting to focus on reality just yet.
This might be the only time we get to steal perfection like this before it’s over.
I meant to indulge as long as I could.
“They’re in the paddock behind the chase. If they’re not needed for regular riding, they’re turned out.”
She relaxed. “Oh, that’s good. I had a horrible thought that they might’ve hurt Wings—because you’re de—well…” She smiled. “…you were dead.”