“I’m going to do whatever I can to help you, Acacia.” His resolute voice drew her attention back to him. “Nothing’s changed. I’ll still protect you.”
His eyes were hard and intense, and she saw then he was a man who always got his way. He didn’t know how to fail.
“But you can’t, can you?” she said. “Because what’s happening to me isn’t something that can be fixed.”
His eyes slid to her hair, where he played with a stray lock without answering. But it wasn’t only pity she saw on his face anymore, it was secrets. And sadness.
“Don’t hold out on me, Theron. If you know what’s wrong with me, I want to know too.”
He sighed, as if he didn’t want to answer but knew he was stuck. “I don’t know. Not completely.”
“Best guess, then.”
He hesitated so long she was sure he wasn’t going to answer, and then he said, “If I had to guess, I’d say your body isn’t strong enough to handle all the changes you’re going through right now.”
The changes. Meaning her Argolean side coming out of nowhere. Which explained why she was suddenly having glimpses into the past. “Is it normal for people in your race to come into their powers? To go through a change of sorts?”
He looked back to her eyes and shook his head, and she didn’t miss the shot of gut-wrenching sorrow there. “No. But it could be different for a Misos. Nick would know. We could ask him.”
We. The one word both electrified and scared her all at the same time. Because she wanted to read so much more into it than what he implied.
Which was dumb, considering she was growing weaker by the day. Nick couldn’t help her. If he could, he would have already. And that meant this was a losing battle. And Theron knew it. Her chest tightened with the reality she was suddenly facing until all she wanted to do was forget.
Threading her fingers in his hair, she pulled his mouth back to hers. “Just kiss me, Theron.”
He hesitated, and she sensed the war inside him between what he wanted and what he deemed right. But when her fingers touched his cheek, his restraint broke. Suddenly he was kissing her deeply, pushing his hips into hers, driving her deeper into the mattress, filling not only her mouth but her heart and soul as well.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she mouthed against him. This was exactly what she wanted. What she’d wanted from the first moment she’d met him but was too afraid to ask for. Now? Now there was no reason to hold back. She ran her hands up his spine and groaned when he shifted his weight, pressing into the one spot she needed him to touch most.
His tongue slid over and around hers, stroking until she felt her entire body come alive. He nipped at her bottom lip and she felt a lick of pain, then sucked the spot until she melted. Just when she was sure she couldn’t stand a second more teasing with his mouth, his lips blazed a trail across her jaw to her ear, while his hand found the edge of her shirt and slid along her abdomen, sending sparks down the column of her neck and the length of her torso. “You’re a gift, Acacia,” he said against her neck, kissing, licking, lavishing her with his touch. “One I never expected.”
She was already on fire and he’d barely even kissed her. She pulled his mouth back to hers. “No, you are.”
He obviously liked that, because he slanted his mouth over hers again and kissed her deep, and when his hand found her breast again, they both moaned in unison.
For this moment at least, she wasn’t exhausted and weak. She was powerful. She loved what he was doing to her mouth with his own, to her breasts with his fingers, but she wanted more. She wanted as much as he could give, for as long as he could give it. And she wanted to give him all of it back tenfold.
“Theron,” she mumbled against his lips. “I want you. Now. Here. No more waiting.”
He eased back just enough to look down at her. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
She ran her finger along the exposed vee of his chest. “Based on personal observation, I have a good idea what I’m up against.” She lifted her hips to his and watched desire flash in his midnight eyes. “And I’m pretty sure I can handle you.” She slid her fingers down his chest to the waistband of his jeans. “I know I want to.”
He groaned and pushed that impressive erection against her softest spot until she shivered. “You tease me, meli.”
She smiled as she fumbled with the button on his jeans. “No, guardian, I promise.”
A slow grin spread across his face just before he kissed her. He found the front latch on her bra and released it, finally touching her, skin on skin, just the way she wanted, until her nipples pebbled into stiff points. Cool air washed over her when he pulled her shirt up and lowered his mouth to her breast. And when his tongue found her nipple, electricity raced through every cell in her body.
She arched her back. Offered him more. Moaned in desperation when he released her breast and lifted his head.
“Don’t stop. Theron—”
“Shh.”