Rubbing my hand over my face, I crouched down, but Charles beat me to it, his gaze burning into mine. He set the book on the table, the intensity of his gaze dissolving my barriers.
I walked over to the bedroom window and looked out to the yard. Empty.
Moments later, Charles walked up behind me and wrapped one arm around my waist. He swept the hair from my neck and pressed a kiss against my pulse.
“Take a break. You have all night.” He punctuated his words with a soft nibble.
I tried to tamp down the arousal his lips created as they tickled against the fine hairs on my neck. Useless effort, that.
“I don’t have all night,” I said, my words shielding my desires. “I need to sleep.”
“Sleep on the plane.”
I turned toward him, closing my eyes as his hands massaged my neck, his grip slowly loosening as he moved down the planes of my back. My concerns ebbed at his gentle touch, and I sighed, tilting my face toward his. I wanted his lips pressed against mine—wanted to connect with something other than the pain and fear gripping my heart.
“I’m always here for you,” he whispered, each word relaxing another nerve in my body.
“I want to be there for you, too.”
I kissed his shoulder, and when I lifted my gaze, his lips captured mine. I couldn’t refuse myself this one good feeling—this one escape, these last quiet moments we would spend together.
All this time, I’d battled over whether I should or shouldn’t let myself fall in love with him. As though that were something I could control. I’d worried whether it was ‘smart’ to be in a relationship with an immortal man, knowing we likely had no future together.
Charles, on the other hand, had none of these concerns. For him, it’d always been about my safety. He’d held back in fear of breaking my heart, or perhaps allowing me to break my own. Now I knew we were strong enough to overcome the immortality issue. How, I wasn’t sure, but I would no longer allow that to stand in the way.
Charles’ hands skimmed up my back, dragging my shirt over my head and breaking our kiss. I watched intently as he pulled off his own shirt, revealing his hard, smooth chest. He stepped closer, pressing my back against the wall, the warmth of his chest against mine intoxicating, my want for him flowing through my veins like a drug.
His fingertips traced along my collarbone, his lips trailing behind as he slipped his finger beneath my bra strap and slid it off my shoulder, the heat between my thighs intensifying with each brush of his lips. Slowly, my worries melted away. He dropped my bra to the floor, and I pushed it aside with my toes.
As I unfastened his jeans, one button at a time, a strong mix of love and lust radiated from him, and I eased away from the wall, stepping closer. He was staring at me with an intensity that was new even for him, his gaze sweeping over my bare skin—skin that felt flushed with desire.
He brushed a strand of hair from my cheek. “We’ll make it through this.”
“I hope you’re right.”
I kissed his chest once, then leaned my head there, my breasts pressed against his warm stomach. A sigh escaped with his breath and the evidence of his passion grew harder, pressing against my body, just above my hip.
My skirt pooled with the clothes on the floor, and he eased me onto the bed, tracing his fingers along my hairline and down the side of my face, his eyes filled with a familiar, steady heat. Warmth swirled in my stomach and spread through my body. I tilted my chin closer to his face, the distance between our lips shrinking to nothing more than a breath. His hand seared a path down my abdomen, onto my thigh, and his gentle massage sent fiery currents through my body.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
We’d never taken things this far. I’d always been sure I wanted to give myself to him, but my stomach still twisted with nerves.
“Sophia?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
His lips explored my breasts, the swell of my hips, the insides of my thighs. His tongue traced the edge of the fabric of my underwear, nudging it aside to kiss me there. I curled my fingers in his hair as his hands fanned across my belly and pressed into the dip, then lowered my underwear from my hips.
“I love you, Sophia.” His words mingled with kisses over my body as he slowly returned to capture my lips with his. The taste of his breath, like mint and vanilla, sent new shivers through my body. “And I want you. Forever, always. Whatever it takes.”
Caressing the strong lines of his neck and shoulders, I drew him closer. “I love you, too.”
His body hovered over mine, leaving me eager for connection. Somewhere along the way, his clothing had joined mine on the floor, and as he lowered himself to kiss me again, his bare thighs rubbed against mine, and anticipation robbed me of my breath.