Dash lifted his arm under his head, and ice frosted over his eyes. “He’s been spying on you right under my nose.”
“Well, not always under your nose. Besides, you forget that he also helped me, even if in disguise.”
His expression darkened, reminding me of a storm about to break. “Still, I don’t trust him. He’s shifty.”
I giggled … shifty. “You’re jealous. It’s kind of cute.”
He kissed the tip of my nose. “So what if I am? I don’t like competition. Bad things happen when I’m angry. I only have to think about killing him and it could happen.”
I didn’t want Ryker hurt or dead. Dash’s ability was very different than mine. I didn’t have to worry about accidently killing someone with a careless thought. “But you can control it,” I reminded him. I didn’t know how, but he only used it in dire situations when our lives were threatened.
“Most of the time, but since you, I can feel that control slipping.”
Guilt pierced me. “And it scares you.”
“I like being in control, and I don’t see the point in senseless killing, but lately, it feels like all I’ve done is hurt people.”
“What else are you worried about?” I sensed that he had more on his mind.
“You. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you’ve lost consciousness twice since leaving the Institute.” The ice had thawed in his eyes as they moved to my lips.
“It’s nothing.” I downplayed my own problems.
Dash gave me a knowing look. “We don’t lie to each other.”
I huffed. “Fine, but I don’t know what it is. Maybe it has something to do with using more than one of my abilities at once, like it sucks away all of my energy.”
“Your body is trying to tell you something.” His hand drifted down my side to rest on my hip as he spoke, playing with the hem of my jeans and sending shivers over my skin. “You’re pushing yourself too hard.”
“A small price to pay for keeping us out of the Institute’s clutches.”
“I won’t take risks with you.”
I turned so our bodies faced each other and weaved my leg between his. “Something we can agree on.” Unable to stop myself from touching him, I brushed a stray hair from his face. So many emotions hid behind the layers of steel in his eyes. I wanted to soften his heart, if only for the night. Leaning forward, I pressed my lips against his.
His fingers tightened at my waistline as his chest rose sharply. I sighed, missing the taste that was uniquely Dash, but I also tasted so much more: love, hope, our future. We accepted each other. The good, the bad, and the unusual.
My heart somersaulted and our gazes met, the tension smoldering between us, hot and strong. His breath, a soft puff in my ear, whispered my name. “You’re mine.”
The possessiveness in his voice wrapped around my heart. Pulling back, I locked eyes with his, my breath catching from the wealth of emotions shining in his silver eyes. I flipped over so I straddled him and nipped at his bottom lip. “There’s only one way I’m yours.”
He lifted a brow
“If you’re mine,” I answered.
Cupping my cheek with one hand, he ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “Freckles, you can have me every day, of every year for as long as I live.”
I grinned, guiding my lips so they hovered just a breath’s length over his. “I’ll take forever,” I murmured.
“Forever is yours,” he said, reclaiming my mouth in a kiss that seared my soul.
Electricity seemed to hum through my veins, snapping and pulling inside me. It gave me a wild rush, turning my mind to mush, and my breathing became erratic. I was satisfied to stay in his arms, kissing him for the next hundred years.
If only it was possible.
His hands slid past my hips and curved around my backside. I sunk my fingers into his hair as I pulled him closer. I needed to feel that he was alive and real. Our legs were tangled, and I could feel every inch of him, but it wasn’t enough. My fingers dived under his shirt, running over the hard planes of his lower abs.
He sucked in a sharp breath, his muscles jumping under my touch. “I want you,” he hissed and smashed his lips against mine. He was delicious and addicting. His hand roamed under my shirt, kneading the swell of my breasts, sparking a fire inside me.
I pressed against him, swimming in a heady sensation that encompassed every pore of my body, and even though this wasn’t our first time, it was every bit as thrilling, a slow exploration of two hearts beating together as one, more perfect and beautiful than I remembered.
His pupils started to glow silver as we lay wrapped up in each other. “You’re my heart and I’m your armor. I would destroy anyone who tries to harm you, Freckles.”
Butterflies fluttered in my belly. “Ditto.”
“I love you,” he murmured. “I love you so damn much it hurts.”
My heart imploded. “Took you long enough.”
“I won’t ever let you go,” he said fiercely, the back of his knuckles running along my jaw. “I won’t let them hurt you, never again. I would destroy them if it meant keeping you safe.” His eyes burned brightly in the dark.
He was sincere in his vow to protect me, but the Institute wasn’t only one person or a half dozen. How many lives would be lost? Hundreds? Thousands? More? Was our love worth the price?
“I love you,” I said in return.
Shortly after, I closed my eyes and fell into a deep slumber, not the hundred-year kind, but a dreamless sleep. No snapshots or glimpses of nightmares to come. It was a refreshing change, and it made me wonder if maybe Dash’s arms were as magical as his lips.
They sure felt like it.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I don’t know what woke me. It wasn’t a vision but an eerie ambiance that drifted over my skin. Moonlight streamed through the curtains, telling me I’d only slept for a few hours. Dash still slept soundly beside me, and as I surveyed the room, I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
And yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.
I wanted to blame it on the full moon, but then a flash of a green glow lit up the window from outside.
What the—
It wasn’t my imagination. Something was out there.
I climbed silently from the bed, careful not to wake Dash, and went to the window. It faced the marsh with a clear view of the mist beyond, and in the darkness, something swirled in the toxic haze that kept us boxed into the Heights. It kept appearing to me for a reason, and I needed to find out why, what it wanted, and what it was.
Tossing on my discarded clothes, I slid my feet into my boots. Dash didn’t wake, which was good, because he would have only talked me out of what I was about to do. Probably rightfully so.
This was a stupid idea.
But hopefully, I would be back before Dash even noticed I was missing.