Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“We can reverse it.” His face turned angry. “Everything is fixable if we try hard enough.”
“Our bodies are breaking.” I swallowed hard as the room spun. “My parents condemned us by trying to give us immortality, and the ironic thing is we would’ve lived so much longer if they hadn’t.”
Rocking me gently, Lucien pressed a kiss to my sweaty forehead. “I know I’ve asked this before but are you sure there’s nothing we can do? Nothing you remember from your parents’ files?”
“The only way to know for sure is to go to the lab in Iceland.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go.” He hugged me so hard, his pain became a third entity between us. “We’ll look through every record, every note. I don’t care what it takes. You’re never allowed to leave me. Ever.”
His head dropped, pressing his lips to mine.
He kissed me—desperately, fiercely.
I tasted black blood on both our tongues as I kissed him back just as desperately, pouring everything I had left into him.
The switch from here to elsewhere was instantaneous.
My heart jerked as if it’d been yanked through a tear, and the familiar snow globe manifested around us. However, this time, no snow fell. Golden auroras shimmered in the clear starry sky, and a single blossom tree rose up from the centre of an ice-glittering meadow.
Lucien pulled back just enough to catch my eyes.
We didn’t speak but we knew.
The last time we’d fallen into this place, we’d somehow tripped out of it feeling so much better than before.
The pleasure we’d shared had healed us.
Fire and ice had returned...buying us a little more time.
If this was the only way to buy more days together, then—
Lucien groaned, tipped up my chin, and kissed me.
Chapter Twenty-One
I ROSE ON MY TIPTOES AND KISSED HIM back, trying to consume his very soul through his mouth. He met me with equal need—teeth clashing, tongues sliding, hands gripping hard enough to leave marks.
My fictitious nightgown tore apart beneath his urgent fingers. His clothes burned off in sudden flares of golden flame.
No slow build or teasing.
We crashed together like the world was ending and this was the only way to stop it.
Lucien lifted me and carried me to the tree. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pressed me against the trunk. We didn’t stop kissing, touching, pawing—utterly starving to connect.
The pain we felt was already fading—just an annoying little distraction instead of life and death. Life shot into my limbs. Wetness welled between my legs.
Reaching between our nakedness, he fisted himself and notched against my core. I shivered as he slipped in a single inch, holding himself back from taking me fully. Breaking the kiss, his eyes danced over mine, asking for permission.
He never had to ask.
My answer was always yes.
He heard me. Accepted me. And I cried out as he drove inside with one deliciously deep stroke. Ice flared awake around my heart. His skin smouldered with smoke.
We’d been with each other often, but this time...this time felt different. It wasn’t just about physical pleasure, but energy. A synergy of his heart and mine—the ultimate connection that flowed through our bond, rekindled our power, and hauled us back from the brink.
And I felt him.
Not just inside me, but deeper. I felt him rewriting me, healing me, giving me what I needed to stay alive another day.
Closing my eyes, I tried to concentrate on the intensity. On how strength rushed back into my cells as if I fed off him—replenishing my system from the rawness of our joining and the love flowing from his heart.
He thrust again and it felt unbelievably good. “More.” I moaned, growing greedy, needy. “More. Give me more.”
He growled and drove deeper. Every thrust pushed his fire into my veins, encouraging more ice to flare. Every clench of my body drew his heat deeper, melting the frozen edges of my soul. Frost bloomed across my skin, webbing over his shoulders where I wrapped my freezing arms around him. Our mirroring powers clashed and soothed. Every moan, every slap of skin, every bite and lick and gasp wove the bond tighter, healing us quicker, eradicating the weakness and fear.
A ripple of delicious need clenched my core as he dropped his mouth to my throat and kissed his way along my collarbone. He groaned as I raked my nails down his back as another wave of healing energy crashed through me.
“Fuck.” Angling his hips, he hit that perfect spot inside me. Stars exploded behind my eyes. “I can feel myself feeding off you,” he groaned. “I can feel the fire getting stronger the longer I’m inside you. I can feel your ice getting colder the longer I ride you.” Burying his face in my neck, he bit down hard as he drove faster. “Tell me I’m not hurting you. Tell me I’m not making you worse.”