Her blood ran hot through her veins, so hot, too hot. Every beat of her heart sent waves of pulsing need through her veins and she whimpered low in the back of her throat.
Fingertips brushed across her forehead and she turned towards the sensation with a moan. Her mind seemed incapable of forming thoughts, only wordless impressions. A voice attempted to reach her through the fog, but all she felt was- need. She needed- him. Him, the strongest person she'd ever met. Tall and strong, dangerous and cruel, yet protective of those who belonged to him and she belonged to him. She always had. All the denials in the world couldn't change that.
She knew he was still nearby because his scent filled her nostrils with every inhale. Twisting her head towards where the scent was strongest, she whimpered, her belly coiling as she rubbed her legs together in an effort to alleviate the tension.
Who she was or where she was, her past, her present, her future, none of that mattered. All she wanted, all she needed was him. He was all she'd ever needed. He was her entire universe. That much she knew, even in this place where she couldn't form a worded thought.
Where was he? She needed to- she needed to see him.
She blinked, then sought out his face. His beautiful face that made her heart skip a beat. When their gazes met, she reached for him, catching his hand, and tugged him towards her. They'd been apart for far too long. So long it felt like a lifetime. Wasn't it a lifetime?
She wasn't able to think enough to figure it out, so she turned her attention back to the man beside her.
He said something, but her mind still couldn't make sense of anything, so she kissed him. If him speaking prevented him from giving her what she needed, she was going to make him be silent. It wasn't as though she could understand him anyway.
After a moment, he seemed to get the idea of what she needed, and he deepened the kiss, his tongue plunging into her mouth mimicking what she ached for him to do to relieve the ache in her lower belly, between her legs. With a sigh of relief, she dug her fingers into his hair.
Unfortunately, it didn't last long because he pulled away from her and started talking again.
With a frustrated growl, she threw him across the bed and straddled his hips. He braced himself on one elbow and cradled her cheek with his free hand. What was wrong with him? Couldn't he see how much she needed him?
Since he seemed to need a little more encouragement, she gripped the front of his shirt and pulled it apart and the sound of buttons popping filled her with satisfaction. There was no way he could mistake her intentions now and she kissed him again, just to make doubly sure.
He flipped her over then shed his ruined clothes. The feel of his bare skin beneath her hands had her arching towards him, her need for him rising impossibly higher. More, she needed more. No. Not more. Just him. She needed him.
With hands made clumsy by her desperation, she struggled to remove her own clothing, but found herself unable to and she whined. Seeing her struggle, he took pity on her and together, they stripped away all the barriers between their bodies and she clung to him, her legs sliding against his, her fingers digging into the muscles along his spine as she kissed his chest.
What could she do to make him understand what she was feeling? Because he was still a little reserved in his touches and she didn't like it. It wasn't fair! Tightening her grip on his hair, she guided his head towards her neck and tilted her face to the side.
His fangs sank into her skin and he moaned at the taste of her blood. Pulling away from her neck, he kissed her desperately and she responded in kind, clinging to him as tightly as she could.
Finally. Finally! He seemed to be feeling the same need she was and he gripped her hard around the waist as he pulled her against him.
With a satisfied groan, she bit his neck, then hissed in disappointment when the wound healed. He was hers and she wanted everyone to see it.
He slid down her body so that he could take one of her nipples into his mouth and he ran his tongue over the tip. She sighed and moaned beneath his touch. Didn't he understand that she was already desperate for him? She didn't need him like this!
As he continued to pay attention to her breasts, she writhed beneath him, attempting to soothe the aching emptiness that grew with every brush of his skin against hers. As good as his touch felt, it wasn't enough. More. She needed more!
The aching heaviness between her legs was too much for her to simply lie there and let him do what he wanted to her and she rocked beneath him. She was empty. So, so empty. Why didn't he give her what she wanted? She knew he wanted it as much as she did.
She whined again, attempting to convey to him what she wanted as she attempted to pull him even closer to her.
After another agonizing moment, he lifted his head and kissed her lips. As his tongue explored her mouth, he hooked her legs higher around his hips and thrust his hips, entering her.
Oh. Oh! There. That was it. That was what she needed. He was inside her, filling her, stretching her out in the way she'd been seeking for so long, and she cried out in relief.
He stared down at her now with wild eyes and he slammed into her over and over again.
Throwing her head back, she cried out in relief and pleasure as she lost herself fully in this need finally being satiated. But even as the emptiness was sated, a new need flooded her and she hooked her legs more firmly around his waist so she could meet his thrusts even harder than she had before.
This was too much, yet not enough and she bit at his throat again, the taste of his blood on her tongue sending her need even higher as a possessive fire ripped through her. She was the only one allowed to bite him. She would hurt anyone else who tried to taste his blood like this. He was hers!
She growled savagely and he moaned in response, as though he knew what she was feeling and he agreed with her.
The coiling need finally reached its crescendo and the cresting waves of pleasure tore a scream from her lips. She couldn't bear it. It was so much. Too much. How was she expected to endure this? It felt so good, too good, especially when he spilled inside her, threatening to make her fly completely apart in the most incredible way.
After an endless moment of pleasure, she blinked and sighed, caressing his back with her fingertips. This was what she'd wanted,—no, not wanted, needed—to be one with him, to feel his weight on top of her, between her thighs.
He seemed to want to stay buried inside her as well, because he remained where he was for a long moment, his face pressed against her neck. He caught one of her hands and pressed it against the bed, linking their fingers, as though he needed as much of his skin pressed against hers as he could get.
When he stirred to move off her, she clutched at him and whined. No, she wasn't ready to be separated from him. She'd waited too long to be with him, hadn't she? She wasn't sure, because time meant nothing. She just knew that not being connected to him was the last thing she wanted.
His gentle kisses and reluctance to move off her comforted her and she finally relaxed her grip on him. As long as he didn't leave her, it was okay that he moved off of her. Her thighs were starting to protest anyway, especially the leg he'd slung over one of his elbows at some point.
As he withdrew from her body, a very small sense of herself returned, though not enough to process much of anything aside from the fact that she needed the man lying stretched out beside her. Words still escaped her, but that didn't matter because the only person that mattered right now, the only one she needed was here, with her.
His gaze met her and she kissed him softly. His eyes. She loved them, so intense, revealing everything, yet nothing at the same time, the eyes of someone who'd suffered through so much and felt it was a requirement for him to protect others from his pain.
Lifting his hand, almost as though he couldn't believe he was here and allowed to touch her, he cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb along her cheekbone, and she pressed her lips against his palm while meeting his eyes.
That was all that either of them needed to feel the need for each other rising once more and he pulled her flush against him once more, his mouth seeking hers. Teeth and tongues clashed as they started this age old dance once more, that was somehow new because of the man she was with.
When he deepened the kiss, her body melted into his and he rolled onto his back, encouraging her to straddle him. It didn't take much for her to throw one leg over his hips and then shift fully on top of him. The feel of her breasts against his chest had her moaning and that desperate need flooding her once more.
Rising up on her knees, she took him fully inside herself once more, keening as he filled her.
As she rode him, some small part of her mind that was gaining more awareness, she knew that after this, nothing would be the same. How could it be with the power crackling in the air around them? For better or worse, she wasn't sure, but in this world, somewhere between everything and nothing all at once, she didn't care. All that mattered was that the man she'd been born to love in every way was right where she needed him to be.
He gripped her hips, guiding her into a familiar rhythm, one they could have done together for years for all she knew, and she placed her hands on top of his to brace herself better.
Whatever changes this time with him brought, they would face them together. After everything, there was no way he wouldn't stand with her now, not when they'd already been through so much.
Magic tingled through her as she regained a little more awareness and it heightened her pleasure even more, and she threw her head back with a moan. Why had she ever thought she could be with anyone other than him? It didn't matter what he'd done, who he'd hurt, what enemies might come after them, this man was her entire world.
The pleasure of him within her, while his hands roamed her body, it sent her nearer to that little death that the cresting wave would bring when it rushed over her.
When the coil in her lower belly snapped, a strangled cry tore free from her and she soared.
After she came down from her climax, she blinked hard, struggling to fight against the last of the fog still clouding her mind as she left the in between plane of somewhere neither of the living or the dead and she met his confused gaze.
It was a little comforting to know that he was as flummoxed as she was about this turn of events, because this was not how she thought she'd be waking up.