Elias shook his head. “How many battles have you been involved in?”

  “That doesn’t matter.”

  “It does,” he insisted, then had to lower his voice again.

  Bronwyn dropped her gaze for a heartbeat before looking at him. “I know what I have to do. I’ve always known, but I didn’t want to admit it. Putting it off is only delaying the inevitable.”

  “You’re going to kill him.” Elias didn’t know why he hadn’t realized that sooner. Maybe it was because he was trying to put death and murder as far from his thoughts as possible that he hadn’t reached the same conclusion. If she turned to that side of her drough magic, the darkness would take her. He could very well lose her forever.

  “It’s the only way.”

  Her simple statement was like a punch to the gut. “The Knights are out there,” he said, moving to prevent her from leaving. “They’re the ones who alerted me that we had visitors. Let us help you. We would outnumber them.”

  Bronwyn put a hand on his chest, the heat of her burning through his sweatshirt and skin, straight to his heart. It was only the second time she had willingly touched him. He hadn’t realized how much he had wanted it, needed it, until that moment.

  “You’re a good man, Elias. But you can’t save everyone.”

  “I can damn well try.”

  She flashed a sad smile. “You’ve been there for me three times in my life. We both knew how all of this would end. I chose this. And I’m going to face what’s coming. I had a chance to end Sydney’s life in Inverness, and I couldn’t do it.”

  “Because you are no’ a killer.”

  “It’s the only resolution to this situation. I have the means to do it now.”

  His heart skipped a beat at the implications. “The darkness will—”

  “Take me,” she said before he could. “I know.”

  “Call Rhona. Please,” he begged.

  Bronwyn dropped her hand. “I’ve already told you, this is my mess. I’m going to clean it up. No one else will be hurt because of me.”

  “Contact her, or I will.” The threat was out of Elias’s mouth before he could think twice.

  All the warmth left Bronwyn’s gaze. “Don’t make me regret granting you sanctuary. You contact her, and you’ll be turning yourself in.”

  “Then so be it. I’d rather that than watch you be taken by the darkness.”

  Her nostrils flared as fury rolled off her. She took a half-step toward him. “You think so little of my abilities, then? I’ve kept the darkness at bay.”

  “Killing someone invites it in. You’re a drough, which means you’ve already invited it. You’d be allowing it to take you.”

  “Need I remind you that I’m a drough who has turned to blood magic.”

  “As if I could forget,” he retorted, letting his anger show. His phone vibrated. Elias yanked it out and read the text. “They’re gone.”

  “For now. Sydney will return. You’re only here because I allowed it. You know what’s going on because I’ve shared it. Don’t mistake that to mean you have a right to interfere.”

  He watched her walk around him, and Elias turned with her. “Right, because God forbid you actually feel something for someone.”

  That halted her in her tracks. She whirled around to face him and stalked back to where he stood. “You know a small fraction of my life. You don’t know me.”

  “Oh, I know you better than you think.”

  They were nose to nose now, tension sparking in the room. And God help him, but all he wanted to do was press his lips to hers. Taste her, take her.

  Claim her.

  His gaze dropped to her mouth, and his anger switched to white-hot passion in a heartbeat. He looked into her eyes and saw her desire reflected at him. But they’d been here before, dancing close to the flames but never plunging into them.

  Suddenly, her lips were on his. Elias wound his arms around her and pulled her flush against his body. He groaned at her sweet taste, her soft curves. He forgot Sydney, the Knights, the threat, and their fight. All that mattered was her—and the raw, unadulterated need that surrounded them.

  He’d never felt this heat, this longing before. No one had ever moved him as Bronwyn did. He was in too deep, in way over his head. Because he knew that what he felt, what had driven him to her, was something special.

  Her hands tangled in his hair as the kiss deepened, intensified. All the hunger, all the longing he’d tried to ignore rose to the surface. He rocked his aching cock against her, and his desire doubled when she moaned in response. He didn’t just want Bronwyn, he craved her, yearned for her. He needed to be inside her, to have their bodies joined in a dance as old as time.

  He slid his hands over her round bottom and lower to her thighs. Then he straightened, lifting her as he did. She wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her the short distance to the dining table and lowered her. She arched her back, pulling him close. He followed her, consumed by the fire surging through him.

  His kiss was everything. Bronwyn was lost the instant her lips met Elias’s. The blaze of passion, the unmistakable heat between them was all-consuming. Pleasure skidded along her skin, sparking each nerve ending until her entire body hummed with a need only he could quench.

  She moaned when he ground his arousal against her center, teasing her with what was to come. Being touched, being seen had brought her back into the land of the living. Whenever she tried to retreat, Elias was there, coaxing her back out.

  Her head fell to the side as his lips trailed down her neck. He tugged at the neckline of her sweater to expose more skin. Yes! That was what she needed. His skin against hers. She slid her hands beneath his sweatshirt and flattened her palms against his abdomen. His stomach quivered at her touch, his muscles contracting.

  She shoved the sweatshirt upward. Elias yanked off the top before claiming her mouth once more. She could get lost in his kiss. She tasted his insatiable hunger, felt his ravenous desire. Drank in his yearning. She couldn’t get enough of him. In his hands, she felt alive for the first time in her life.

  Their tongues tangled while her hands explored his incredible body. Thick, broad shoulders. Muscular chest. Defined abs. She reached the waistband of his jeans and unbuttoned them. He sucked in a breath and stilled. She slid the zipper down slowly and reached inside his pants to cup him.

  His groan, filled with pleasure and longing, brought a smile to her lips. Then his heat was gone as he yanked down his pants and underwear. She used the time to sit up and pull off her jumper and the tank beneath. She had been in a hurry, so she hadn’t put on a bra.

  “Fuck. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he murmured as he pulled her against him.

  She gazed into his mesmerizing eyes and flattened her hands on his chest. Her eyes closed when he slid a hand between them and cupped her breast. The breath left her in a whoosh as he thumbed her nipple. The pleasure went straight to her center that throbbed with need as wetness flooded her.

  “I need you inside me,” she begged.

  His lips skimmed her ear, his warm breath fanning her neck. He lowered her to her back and met her gaze. He didn’t let her look away as he found the waist of her flannel pajama pants and tugged them down. She lifted her hips so he could remove the bottoms. Then he reached for her soaked panties.

  She drank in the sight of him standing in the sliver of moonlight. His body was toned in a way that spoke of a lifetime of training. Her eyes lowered to his arousal. It jutted out between them, long and thick, begging for her attention.

  Elias felt Bronwyn’s eyes on his cock. It jumped in response, eager to slide inside her, but it would have to wait. He had other plans first.

  He rested his hands on her bare legs and gently spread them. She grinned, desire in her eyes. His breath caught when he saw her spread on the table in the soft moonlight like a decadent enticement. With a hand on her thighs, he bent and placed a kiss on her stomach.

  Her breath hitched, causing him to smile inwardly. Elias ran his hands upward to the flare of her hips and then the indent of her waist before finding her full breasts. She arched her back when he massaged the globes. He spent some time teasing her nipples. All the while, his tongue trailed along her stomach. He retraced a path to her thighs with his hands. Kneeling on the floor, he caressed close to her sex.

  “Elias,” she whispered in a breathy voice.

  He smoothed his fingers over her trimmed curls, coming ever closer to her center. She shifted her hips, trying to reach him. He dodged her and kissed the inside of one thigh before moving to the other. He repeated the gesture, placing his lips closer to her center each time.

  By the time his mouth hovered over her sex, her chest heaved with loud, ragged breaths.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Elias would be the death of her.

  But oh, what a beautiful death it would be.

  Bronwyn’s body vibrated with anticipation, with a longing so deep and penetrating it was like an awakening. As if her arousal had stirred her from a long, restless slumber, and Elias had removed the blinders from her eyes.

  The instant his lips touched her center, her body went rigid, and her breath locked in her lungs. He ran his tongue along her sex, licking every part of her before swirling around her swollen, throbbing clit.

  It had been so long since anyone had touched her that she came apart immediately. The intensity of the orgasm was such that it robbed her of voice and thought. It was the sensation of electrical currents shooting through her one after the last, coming so fast they were on top of each other. She drifted along tides of bliss that surged through her over and over again.

  A lifetime must have passed when she sucked in a breath and forced open her eyes, her lethargic body still rocked by pulses of aftershocks. Her gaze landed on Elias, who finished sliding a condom onto his engorged rod. Her sex throbbed at the thought of him inside her. She reached for him as he leaned one hand on the table near her head.

  He looked at her, his eyes flashing with hunger. “You have no idea how sexy that was to watch.”

  She lifted her head in time to see him as he brought his cock to her entrance. He gently rubbed the head against her sensitive flesh, causing her to gasp at the feel of him. Then, he slowly pushed inside her.

  Her head dropped back, and she dug her fingers into his arms as he pulled out and thrust deeper. Inch by inch, her body stretched to accept him. With one final push, he filled her completely.

  She felt his muscles trembling beneath her hands. Bronwyn held his gaze as she undulated her hips. A muscle tensed in his neck.

  “Doona,” he bit out in a voice roughened with longing. “You’ll finish me too soon.”

  Unable to help it, she grinned. She’d never had such sway over a man before. It felt wonderful knowing he held on by a thread just as she had moments before. She was glad she had given in to the temptation and kissed him.

  The muscles beneath her palms bunched and moved as he began pumping his hips in long, slow strokes. She lost herself in the rhythm. She’d known he would feel amazing, and she had been right. Bronwyn wrapped her legs around his waist again, shifting herself, which allowed him to go deeper.

  He increased his cadence little by little until their bodies slapped together, and a fine sheen of sweat covered their skin. He never stopped, didn’t slow. It wasn’t long before desire began to tighten low in her belly again—the familiar build of pressure that she eagerly reached for.

  Paradise. Nirvana.

  Complete and utter rapture.

  That was what it was like being with Bronwyn. He’d never known anything so evocative, so incredible could transpire between two people. But, somehow, he’d found it with the most astonishing woman. He never wanted the night to end.

  The more he gave, the more she returned. Pleasure flowed easily between them, arousing them and bringing them to new heights. His body had never known this kind of hedonism, never experienced such carnal ecstasy. He’d found his match in every way with Bronwyn.

  He felt her legs tighten around him, saw her eyes drift shut, and heard her breathing become erratic. She was close to climaxing again. He leaned on one hand and splayed the other on her stomach. Then, he found her clit with his thumb, swirling around the tiny bud until he felt her begin to tremble.

  Elias couldn’t take his eyes off her as he continued thrusting deeper and harder. Her back arched, her mouth opening on a silent scream as her body jerked and stiffened. He bit his tongue to keep from crying out when he felt the slick walls of her sex clenching around him, sending him spiraling into a climax.

  He thrust one final time, his muscles locked as his cock throbbed, and wavelike spasms moved through his rod as his seed spilled from him. The euphoria was so intense that it felt as if he were floating, unattached to his body or the Earth. Le petite mort, the little death.

  Elias had had bad sex. He’d had good sex. He’d even had great sex.

  He’d never had mind-blowing, life-altering sex until tonight.

  It took everything he had not to collapse on Bronwyn. He found her eyes still closed, but she held on to him still as if he were the only thing that kept her rooted. He understood that all too well.

  Finally, her eyes opened. A stunning shade of copper and gold that met his. Her kiss-swollen lips curved into a grin that matched the satiated look on her face—one he also wore.

  “Fuck, woman. I have no words,” he told her.

  Her smile widened. “It was pretty incredible.”

  He stiffened, moaning when he felt her clench around him again. His breath came out in a hiss of pleasure before he rocked his hips. “I’m no’ nearly finished with you.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  “How about somewhere more…comfortable?”

  She laughed, the sound so surprising that he could only stare in wonder. “I never thought I’d say I like this dining table, but I think it did well.”

  He grinned and wished again that he had the power to halt time so they could stay in this moment for eternity. That way, the outside world and all the problems that came with it could never touch them.

  Elias slowly pulled out of her. “I need to take care of this.”

  Bronwyn sat up, and he saw chills pebble her skin. “I’ll meet you in the parlor.”

  He stepped back and grabbed his clothes as he headed to the bathroom. Once he’d disposed of the used condom, he hurried to Bronwyn’s room. He welcomed the warmth that awaited him. Elias was about to suggest they check on what Sydney had been up to when his gaze landed on the bed.

  All thought fled as he stared at Bronwyn’s naked body under the glow of the fire. Before his very eyes, her nipples hardened. Her lips parted, and her eyes filled with longing. His balls tightened as hunger surged anew. He tossed aside his clothes and climbed onto the bed, reaching for her.

  She came into his arms willingly, their limbs tangling as their lips met. To his surprise, she pushed him onto his back and straddled him. She moaned as she rocked her hips, the sound as sexy as it was hedonistic. He palmed her breasts, glorying in the weight that filled his hands. She dropped her head back, her short, brunette locks falling aside as he teased her nipples. She moaned again, the sound going straight to his cock.

  Their first coupling had been quick. He wanted to take his time now and savor each moment, heightening their need until they were drunk with it. Elias sat up and wrapped his lips around one turgid peak. He flicked his tongue around it before suckling.

  Bronwyn cried out and rotated her hips. He could feel how wet she was against him, and it urged him on. He moved to her other breast and spent his time teasing her. It was Bronwyn who took his head and lifted it to kiss him.

  Once more, she pushed him onto his back. His eyes closed when she kissed down his neck and across his chest, briefly pausing to flick her tongue over his nipples. She continued moving down his stomach as she settled between his legs. Only then did she wrap her fingers around his cock.

  Elias fisted his hands in the blanket as hers slowly moved up and down his hardened length. She placed tiny kisses along his inner thighs and on his balls, but never his staff.

  It was frustrating—and erotic as hell.

  His attention moved between her mouth so near him and the way her hands stroked him, particularly how she spent time running her thumb over the head of his cock. His need built at such a rapid rate that it took all his effort to remain still and not reach out to plunge inside her.

  Her hands stroked him as no other ever had. She knew just where to touch, just how to caress to bring him exquisite pleasure.

  Then he felt her breath on his arousal. His body shuddered, impatiently awaiting the feel of her mouth on him. He opened his eyes to discover her watching him. She shot him a sexy grin before parting her lips and taking him into her mouth.

  Elias’s hips came off the bed as he bit back a shout. His cock throbbed, heat rushing to the head.

  Bronwyn was awed at how Elias responded to her touch. She took him deep and felt him swell in her mouth. He had given her so much pleasure earlier that she wanted to return the favor.

  She used both hands, along with her mouth, as she moved up and down his length. He whispered her name in a raw voice filled with need that made her shiver.

  “I’m about to come,” he warned.

  That was just what she wanted. She redoubled her efforts, and a heartbeat later, she swallowed the first mouthful of his seed. She only raised her head when she’d drained every drop from him.

  “Lass,” he murmured in a deep voice roughened with pleasure.

  “That was for earlier.”

  Suddenly, she was on her back, and he was between her legs.

  “My turn,” he said.

  Bronwyn was powerless to do anything the moment his mouth was on her. She basked in the feeling of his tongue circling her clit. Then he slid a finger inside her. She rocked her hips forward, her eyes drifting shut as heat engulfed her.

 

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