He chuckles, the sound thick with passion. He takes almost more time than I can stand to move back up my body, but it’s the sweetest kind of torture. Unrelenting, he drowns me in sensation.
When Griffin finally reaches the top of my legs again, I’m desperate for release. His hands splay over my hips, holding me steady, and his hot kisses are everywhere except for where I want them the most. I clutch his head, trying to center him. His eyes flick up, meeting mine. I tilt my hips in offering, and he finally gives me what I crave. A long, sinuous lick. A good hard suck.
I buck, and his hands tighten on my hips. The throbbing pulse between my legs beats hard, and I cry out. He gives me more of what I need until my head kicks back, my spine arches, and I climax on a ragged breath.
I feel Griffin’s husky groan clear to the center of me. It’s like a coil of heat deep in my core. He waits me out, watching my body settle and my breathing slow. Then he says, “Again.”
His mouth lands on me for another blistering sweep of his tongue.
I gasp, arching away. “I can’t.”
“Again,” he rasps out, merciless.
I settle beneath him once more and tangle my hands in his hair, alternately pulling him closer and pushing him away. Panting, I dig my heels into the straw, my legs going rigid with mounting tension. My head thrashes, and my pelvis comes up, riding his mouth. I shudder, already close to shattering again.
Griffin slides his hands up my body and then palms my breasts, squeezing. He finds my nipples and gives them a light pinch, but it’s the sharp tug that pulls me over the edge. The explosion starts beneath his mouth and then streaks outward in perfect, pounding waves.
He coaxes every last ripple from my release. I moan, long and deep, and then go limp, my eyes half closed. I eventually remember to breathe.
Griffin moves up my body, stopping to nuzzle, kiss, and lick. Heat ignites inside me again, and I start to shift restlessly against him. I didn’t think it was possible, but I still feel edgy with need. I want Griffin. Not just the climax he can bring.
Wrapping my legs around him, I meet his gaze. “I need you.”
He kisses me deeply, taking my breath away. I grip his shoulders and frantically kiss him back.
Griffin lifts his head. “No. Slow.”
I press up into him. “You don’t like slow.”
“I like everything with you.” He slides his arms under me, one behind my back and the other angling up underneath me to cradle my head in the palm of his hand.
I reach down between us to guide him inside me. Griffin moves forward with a slow thrust, and I start to close my eyes.
His fingers tighten on my head. “Look at me.”
I open my eyes again.
“Do you feel this heat?” He rocks once, filling me completely. “I burn for you.”
My lips part on a soft gasp.
“Touch me, Cat.”
I skim my hands over the hard muscles of his shoulders and then up his neck. Diving my fingers into his hair again, I grip the inky locks.
He looks down at me, his expression open and earnest. “I am caught. You caught me. Not the other way around. From the very first day. And from the very first day, I would have done anything for you—except let you go. I couldn’t. Not when deep down, I knew we were meant to be like this. To love like this.”
Without moving inside me, he dips his head and kisses me. It’s slow but nothing like gentle. It’s intense and fierce, burning and passionate.
“I was arrogant and high-handed,” he says, lifting his head. “I took you from your home and from people you love. Sometimes, I wish I could say I’m sorry for that, but I’m not.”
“I’m not, either,” I tell him. “I still have them. But now I also have you.”
“Always,” he says fervently.
“Always,” I echo in kind.
“My eyes are fully open, but I see only one thing.”
“Griffin…” The threat of tears thickens my voice. My eyes blur, and I blink.
“Don’t cry. Not now. I need you to listen to me.”
The urgency in his voice makes my breath hitch. I banish the dampness from my eyes.
“I don’t care if the Gods changed me for you. They changed you for Thalyria. The gifts. The Oracles. Your whole life. That doesn’t alter how I feel about you. My love isn’t conditional. We are who we are.” He holds me close, surrounding me, speaking to me straight from his heart. “The first time I saw you, it was like a thunderclap hit me. My ears rang. My heart raced. I knew I would never be the same again. So what if they chose me for you? Planned me for you? Something like that can never be a path with only one direction. If they made me for you, Cat, then they made you for me, too.”
I nod, but he grips my head, making me stop.
“No, don’t just nod. Believe it. Believe me. I don’t care who came first, why, or which God played a role in any of it. That thunderclap? It didn’t come from them. It came from you, and me, and what was inevitable between us, even though I’m the arse who kidnapped you, and you’re the spitfire who fought me for all she was worth. I love you. There is no place in my heart where you don’t belong. Do you understand me, Cat?”
My chin trembles, and I press my lips together tightly. Finally, my voice wavering, I manage to ask, “Are you still expecting me not to cry?”
Griffin’s grip relaxes on the back of my head, and he searches my eyes with a softening gaze. “You’ve changed so much.”
I sniff. “I know. It’s awful.”
He chuckles. “It’s not awful. You’re finally living.”
Is this what living feels like? Beautiful and painful all at once?
I swallow hard, and my tears ebb back down my throat. Hate is an easier emotion to deal with than love. Hate is cold, with a strong, hard shell. Love is burning, with a thousand fragile cracks that lead straight to your soul.
“My heart is on fire, Griffin. I don’t know when it’ll stop.”
His expression seems to light from within. “It won’t ever stop. I won’t let it.”
I nod, understanding better now. This isn’t a bad thing, this living, loving, feeling. It’s a gift. Just as Griffin was a gift to me, and I’m his gift as well.
“Thank you,” I say, touching his cheek.
“For what?” he asks.
“For showing me that I can be loved unconditionally, and love wholly in return.”
He smiles. It’s small, crooked, and perfect, and I love him even more. How can joy make a person want to both laugh and weep?
“I was so stupid,” I say. “I can’t believe I ever fought you. Fought us.”
“You had every right to fight me. I’m not perfect, and I don’t always do what I should. You don’t need to be perfect, either, Cat. You just need to be you.”
I kiss him gently. “And together, we’ll do our best.”
Griffin nods. Holding me, he starts to move. We let our bodies speak for us, and I wrap myself around him and feel.
CHAPTER 18
The army grew exponentially while we were away.
“Where did all these people come from?” I ask, just barely keeping my eyes from popping out of my head.
“Everywhere,” Flynn answers. “That whole group over there is from Fisa.” He points to a far-off gathering of people and tents.