Shadow's End (33 page)

He settled back against the pillows, parting his legs to give her better access, while he stroked her hair and watched her, his look turning heavy-lidded and sensual.

She smiled up the length of his body and told him, “I love you.”

As he opened his mouth to respond, she bent her head back to his cock and took him in her mouth.

His whole big body jerked, and he slammed his head back against the pillow. “Holy gods,” he gasped. “Your mouth is so fucking hot.”

She was too busy licking and sucking along the broad,
thick head of his cock to reply out loud. Telepathically, she murmured,
Is that a good thing?

“Sweetheart, it's an amazing, amazing thing.” Gently, he caressed her cheek, and ran a finger along the edge of her lips where he penetrated her mouth. His hands were shaking. He whispered, “You are so beautiful.”

Wordlessly, she crooned. He was beautiful too, everywhere, both inside and out. Opening her throat, she took him all the way in and held the position for one long, luscious moment. When she couldn't sustain it any longer, she pulled back, sucking hard along his length. Then she impaled herself on him again.

She lost herself in sensuality, working him with her mouth, while she cupped and caressed his sac, and spread her hands over the flat expanse of his stomach. When she ran the edge of her fingernails lightly down the inside of his thighs, his body tightened until he was rock hard all over.

“Here it is,” he warned on a harsh gasp. “Goddamn.”

Ooh. She wanted his climax more than she wanted her own.

Closing her eyes, she reached blindly up to him with one hand, concentrating everything on his pleasure. His hand closed over hers, gripping her tightly, as he groaned and jetted into her mouth.

She found the rhythm of his pulsing, stroking his cock with her tongue. Shaking and swearing, his powerful body jerked underneath her caress, and his warm, salty semen filled her mouth. She swallowed him down eagerly, embracing every last, earthy part of him.

After a few moments, he exploded out of his reclining position. Pulling her head away from his erection, he growled, “I can't take any more of that, but it isn't enough. I've got to get inside you.”

He sounded harsh, stripped of everything but need. His compulsion to mate rode him relentlessly, and she surrendered herself to it.

Following his urging, she rolled onto her side, and he lifted one of her legs to spoon her body and enter her from
behind. She nestled back against his chest. It was one of their favorite positions, leaving her torso bare so that he could caress her everywhere.

As he fucked her, he pinched her nipples gently between thumb and forefinger, rolling the stiff, peaked flesh between thumb and forefinger. It sent sparks of sensation along her nerve endings, heightening her pleasure. He hooked one arm underneath her waist, reaching around to finger her opening.

When he found her clitoris, she jerked in his hands. He growled into her neck, encasing her in his arms, plucking and rubbing at her pleasure points while his cock slid in and out, in and out.

Making love to him was so unbearably good. So good. As the inner pressure built, her breath came in sobs. She twisted and pushed back against him, trying to find relief.

“I have to come so badly, it hurts,” she gasped.

“It's okay, love,” he murmured into her ear, the sensation of his voice curling deep into her body. “I'll take you there. I'll always take you there.”

He was a man of his word. She could trust in him completely. Whatever he said he would do, he would do.

He kept his promises.

Always faithful, always true.

She had just enough time to think it, before the demands of her body took over completely. The press of his callused fingers moved against her hypersensitive nubbin of flesh, hurtling her forward.

Pleasure cascaded, one peak following the next, as he took her there, just like he said.

He took her home.

•   •   •

M
uch later, after Bel had fallen asleep, Graydon couldn't turn his mind off. He eased away, tucking the covers around her warm, lax body. After pulling on sweatpants, he scooped something he'd been keeping secret out of his bedside drawer, and stepped outside, onto the balcony.

A moody, fitful wind played with his hair and flowed like
invisible water along the bare skin of his chest. He opened the small box and considered the contents, nestled in dark velvet.

Brilliance sparkled in the shadows. Chewing on his lip, he considered the eternity ring covered in a row of bright, flawless diamonds.

Maybe it was the wrong way to go. He thought the ring was beautiful, and he loved the symbolism of an eternity ring, but perhaps he should have chosen something more traditional to offer as an engagement ring. A diamond solitaire, or better yet, an emerald.

He felt pretty sure she would love an emerald. Maybe he should go back to the jeweler's one more time. And he needed to make a reservation at the right kind of restaurant.

A classy one, with a maître d', cloth napkins, unpronounceable wine names, and too many glasses and forks. Alexander was a classy dude. He would know of the right place.

Or maybe she would prefer something else. A concert? A day cruise out to sea?

Oh hell, he was no good at this kind of traditional shit. It wasn't like he'd ever proposed before.

The balcony door opened, and Bel's sleepy voice sounded behind him. “What are you doing out here?”

Closing the box with a snap, he hid it behind his back as he spun to face her. “Nothing. What are you doing awake?”

“I missed you. It woke me up.” She squinted at him. “What was that snapping sound?”

“Nothing!” he insisted.

She stepped outside and drew the door shut behind her. She wore a rose-colored silken wrap that came to midcalf, leaving her lovely ankles and slender feet bare.

“Did you know, you are an excellent liar with everybody except me?” she asked, wagging a finger as she approached.

“What are you talking about?” he muttered, backing away as she advanced. “I don't lie to you.”

She chortled. She sounded utterly delighted with life, and with him. “Of course you don't, my love.”

The endearment caressed his emotions. It felt almost as if she had stroked her fingers down his chest.

“Never stop calling me that,” he whispered.

“Never stop loving me,” she whispered back.

At that, he stopped retreating and began to advance. “I'll always love you, always.”

As he drew close, she glanced up at him slyly. “Do you love me enough to show me what you're hiding behind your back?”

Oh, damn. This wasn't what he'd had in mind. As he looked around the balcony, he sighed. The ring box was burning a hole in his hand. “Yes, I do.”

The sound of her soft laughter wrapped around him again, as warm as a hug. “Gray, I'm sorry for teasing you. If you need to keep what's behind your back a secret, it's okay. Truly.”

Now that she had caught him red-handed, as it were, he discovered he couldn't wait a moment longer. Finally, he obeyed the impulse he had felt so very long ago.

He went down on one knee to the Lady of the Wood.

Her eyes went wide. “What are you doing?”

He brought the box around and opened it for her, so that the fire from the diamonds spilled out.

“I never saw myself as a romantic before,” he told her in a low voice. “Mostly I'm a simple guy who likes a cold beer and a good steak. You've taught me differently. I want the vows. I want the ceremony. I want dancing, champagne and celebration, and cake. I want a bachelor's night, and for everybody we love to hug us and wish us a happy life, and I want a honeymoon. I had no idea I could want all those things, until you. Beluviel, you are my heart and my home, and the love of my very long life. I don't want to just call you my mate. I want to call you my wife. Please marry me.”

Halfway through, she started crying.

Anxiety twisted his insides. Lord, he must have really screwed it up, but if so, he didn't know how proposing in a swanky restaurant could have made it any better.

When he stopped speaking, she fell to her knees in front of him.

“You have given me everything,” she whispered. “You've saved my life, my soul. You freed my son, and you've given me another one. I'm so honored you've come into my life, Graydon. I thought I couldn't adore you more than I already do, or be more happy, but I was wrong.” Wiping her eyes, she looked into the box. “What a beautiful ring.”

He muttered, “I was going to take it back and get you an emerald.”

She snatched the box out of his hands. “Oh no, you don't. This is too gorgeous. I think an eternity ring is just perfect.”

Pleasure at her obvious delight warmed him to his bones. Bending his head over hers, he whispered, “Here, let me help.”

The ring was solidly caught in its nest. Between the two of them, they wiggled it free, and he slipped it onto her finger. The diamonds flashed, lighting up her hand. She splayed her hand, and they admired it together.

“I want cake too,” she said. Her dark, smiling gaze turned up to him, and the light in them outshone the diamonds. “And a pretty dress. And vows, and a party.”

“And a honeymoon,” he insisted. He really didn't want to miss out on that.

“Oh yes, and a honeymoon.” She threw back her head and laughed. The sound danced like champagne bubbles in the night. “Who'd have thought it?”

Life had its own kind of rhythm. Shadows might be inevitable, and winter too.

But winter passes. It always does pass.

Bending his head, he kissed her. As he put his heart and soul into the caress, he inhaled her scent.

That first, rare breath of spring washed over him. He knew he would fly at this new life with everything he had.

He, for one, couldn't wait to see what happened
next.

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