When Darkness Ends

“We still have to save the world, remember?” he asked, his gaze drifting to the unsteady line of her lips.

She tilted her head to the side, unconsciously offering the temptation of her exposed neck.

“And that’s the only reason?”

He pressed the heavy thrust of his arousal against her, groaning at the incandescent sensations that exploded through him.

“Isn’t that enough for now?” he asked, his lips feathering kisses down the length of her throat.

“No other women?” she stubbornly demanded.

“Only you, princess.” He nuzzled the pulse that raced at the base of her throat, his fingers skimming down the flat plane of her stomach to unsnap her jeans. “Only you.”

She shivered, her slender arms tentatively wrapping around his shoulders. Cyn growled in approval, dipping his head to lick a rose-tipped breast. She gasped with shocked pleasure, her fingers tunneling into his hair.

“Will you stay?” He had to hear the words. He had to know that she wasn’t going to suddenly disappear on him.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Tugging the nipple between his lips, Cyn skimmed his hand down the length of her spine, lingering on the curve of her buttocks. His cock twitched at the sensation of her soft, feminine flesh beneath his hand. He wanted to feast on her. To spend the entire night exploring her from the top of her glorious curls to the tips of her tiny toes that she never remembered to cover with shoes.

But not tonight, he conceded as he grabbed the bottom of his sweater and yanked it over his head.

His hunger was a burning force that threatened to consume him. A slow, delectable exploration would have to wait until he’d dulled the edge of his lust.

More than once.

“Touch me,” he pleaded softly, unzipping her jeans and urging them down her legs until she could step out of them.

She hesitated only a second before he felt the timid brush of her fingers down his back. He moaned, rocked by the raw pleasure at her shy caress. He did not know how it was possible that an untutored innocent could set him on fire, but there was no denying her power.

With a groan, he branded her with a kiss of possessive demand, his muscles clenching as he gained access to the warmth of her mouth.

Sweet honey. And sunshine.

And innocence.

Christ. A shudder raced through him. It should have terrified him. There was no way in hell he deserved such purity. Not with his jaded soul.

But he’d discovered long ago to grasp happiness when it was offered.

And that was exactly what he intended to do.

Not giving her a chance to protest, Cyn had her swept off her feet and cradled against his chest. Leaving her clothes abandoned on the hallway floor, he entered her bedroom and kicked shut the door.

He wasn’t going to risk being interrupted.

Gently laying her on the wide mattress, Cyn wrestled off his heavy boots before he was shedding jeans. At last naked, he stood and simply savored the sight of his princess.

She was . . . a work of priceless art.

Hair like a cresting dawn spread around her ivory face. Her eyes an exotic amber with flecks of emerald that burned like green fire. And her slender body wearing nothing but the tiny thong looked so perfect, it might have been chiseled from marble by the hand of a master.

Shivering beneath the intensity of his slow survey, Fallon licked her dry lips.

“Cyn?”

He perched a knee on the edge of the mattress, planting his hands on each side of her shoulders.

This would be her last opportunity for second thoughts. Once he took her there would be no going back.

For either of them.

Almost as if sensing this last step had to be hers, Fallon lifted her hand to slide it over the tense muscles of his chest. Distantly he was aware of a chilled rain pelting against the stained-glass windows and the crackle of the wood burning in the fireplace, but his sole focus was on the woman who was spread like a pagan offering beneath him.

Holding her burning gaze, Cyn smoothed his fingers up the inner flesh of her thigh, tugging her legs apart so he could catch a glimpse of her glistening clit. He growled deep in his throat, shaking his head as she lowered her hands to cover the evidence of her arousal.

“Don’t hide from me, Fallon,” he murmured, swooping down to scatter soothing kisses over her face. “I need to know you want me.”

“I . . .” Slowly her muscles eased, her hands returning to his chest as she met his searching gaze with a trust that sliced straight to his heart. “I do.”

Something moved inside Cyn at the soft words. Something so large that he was certain that the world would never be the same.

His kisses became more heated as he followed a path over her cheek and down her throat. He paused to lick and suckle her straining breasts, chuckling softly as she arched her back off the bed in a silent plea for more.