Total pages in book: 191
Estimated words: 188966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 945(@200wpm)___ 756(@250wpm)___ 630(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 945(@200wpm)___ 756(@250wpm)___ 630(@300wpm)
I felt it in the way he touched me.
It sang in the energy arcing between us.
I tasted it on his tongue as he lowered me gently to my feet and planted his hands on my hipbones.
I swallowed all his promises and made some of my own.
His needs were now my needs, his wants were now my wants.
My allegiance switched from myself to him, knowing he’d done the same for me.
This wasn’t just a silly wedding ceremony, committed by two young lovers after a night of horror. This was a rebirth, a baptism, and the beginning of our truth. I had the son of a crime lord to watch over me, secure in the knowledge he would do absolutely anything to protect me. And in return, I vowed on my life that I would keep him hidden. He was mine, and heaven help anyone who tried to take him from me. This wedding, this marriage, this star-fated union didn’t just bind us together, it merged us into one.
One heart. One body. One life.
And as he swept me into his strong arms and placed me gently on my back in the sand, I gave in. I let moonlight flood through me. I let every cell blaze bright and true.
Ethan was nothing. Nothing more than something I’d endured and survived.
Aslan’s true heritage was nothing. Nothing more than an origin that didn’t define him.
The shadows in our past had no sway on our future and we threw ourselves into the light.
Coiling my arms around his powerful shoulders, I dragged him down on top of me.
He grunted as his erection pressed against my belly, and his chest rose and fell with lust.
He shuddered as I dug my fingernails into his nape, pulling his mouth to mine.
Our kiss was deep and slow, erotic and romantic. Our tongues danced. Our breath mingled. Our blood heated until every inch of me burned.
Running my hands down the rippling strength of his back, I slipped my fingers into the wet material of his boxer-briefs. His firm ass was cool to touch and damp with seawater.
He groaned as I squeezed, pulling his hips harder against my belly, grinding him against me.
“Neri...” he breathed, falling over me. “We can go slow...”
I kissed him hard, panting into his mouth. “I don’t want to go slow. I want you. I want you inside me.”
Digging his elbow into the sand, he hovered over me. The moon glowed behind him, granting a halo and scribing him as a looming silhouette.
My heart kicked.
I ran my hand through his hair.
And then I froze as my gaze shot to the dark horizon.
Only faint. Barely noticeable. But there. Like colour dusted straight from the heavens.
Pink and green.
Green and pink.
Dazzling, flashing, blanketing.
“Oh my God.” I sat up, pushing Aslan off me. He rolled onto his side, getting sand stuck all over him.
“What? What is it?” He went to leap to his feet, looking for a threat, but I grabbed his hand and pointed at the sky. “Aurora Australis.” Tears filled my eyes in awe. I’d only seen the stunning display a few times in my life. Normally far out to sea, away from light pollution and people, but having them appear tonight of all nights? The night when I’d suffered something unimaginable only to stand taller than I ever had before was...symbolic. It reminded me that I was so much more. So powerful, invincible, and strong.
My heart skipped and tripped and glowed.
“Wow...” Aslan flopped onto his back.
Faint flamingo pink flickered above, followed by a wash of faded emerald green.
“It’s brighter the farther south you go,” I whispered. “Tasmania is said to have the best light shows in Australia.”
“Better than this?” he choked, his delicious baritone thick with amazement. Another flash of pink, bleeding into midnight purple. “This is insane.”
The catch in his voice made my eyes drop to him instead of the perfect sky. His lips parted as his gaze flickered from one subtle splash to another. The moon cast him in silver, and his entire face went slack with wonder.
For a boy of twenty-one, he seemed so wise, so present. He lived with the daily threat of death, yet he never became numb to that fact. Instead, he existed as if each day was his last, aware and perceptive, experiencing with as many senses as possible.
He whispered something in awed Turkish as his eyes mirrored the pink and green magic from above.
And I couldn’t help myself.
I tripped even deeper into love.
I wanted him.
Right now.
With the sky raining colours and the stars giving us their blessing.
Without a word, I sat up, brushed off as much sand as I could, then kneeled and straddled him.
His eyes shot to mine.
Questions filled them, worry for my state of mind, questions of what I would do, but then, with a sigh of surrender, he dropped his hands to my hips and swirled his thumbs along the paper-skin fragility of my lower belly.