Chapter 21

Dear, sweet, merciful heaven, she tasted good. His stomach tightened and he tried to remind himself to be careful. Go slowly. Enjoy the ride. In theory, it was a good idea, but in reality, with her body softening against his and her lips parting wider in invitation, restraint just wasn't feasible. He needed more of her. All she had to give.

He threaded his fingers through her wet hair and tipped her head back like he'd been longing to do all night. Too bad those wicked braids were gone, because he was just sure that tugging on them would make him hotter than hellfire. She complied eagerly, going where he led until the angle was perfect for him to tease her mouth open, to give him room to taste her deeper, to sink into her and let his senses just soak her in.

Sparks of power jolted through him and were absorbed by her wherever bare skin touched bare skin. The rush of sensation made him dizzy, greedy for more. He didn't want any barrier between them—no space, no clothing, nothing.

Her fingers curled over his naked shoulder and held on to him like she thought he might try to get away. Not bloody likely. She made lovely little desperate noises that had him halfway to insane with need. All he could think about was what she'd sound like once he had her spread out naked and open and slid inside her, filling her up. What would those streamers of energy feel like there? Would she be able to stand the intensity? Would he? Or would they both just careen over the edge into pleasure and never come back? He was more than ready to find out.

Helen's fingers dug into his shoulder and she lifted up on tiptoe, pressing their bodies tighter. The towel between them pissed Drake off, so he ripped it away, exposing her bare breasts to his chest. She was so soft, her breasts molding to the hard contours of his chest as if she'd been made to do just that. It was perfect. The way she fit against him, the way she smelled, the way she tasted. All of her was perfect and he couldn't get enough.

His hands slid down her spine until he could cup her soft bottom, all naked and warm under his grip. He could die now and be happy that he'd gotten just this much of her. He wanted more, but even this—just the feel of her body against his, the sweet play of her tongue over his—was satisfying on some deep, visceral level he'd never known before. All the pressure he carried seemed to drain away, making him feel stronger, like he could do anything if it meant that he'd get another moment to hold her in his arms.

Helen pulled away from his mouth and pressed a line of kisses over his jaw and down his neck until she reached his luceria. The wet, hot path her mouth and tongue traced over his skin made him shiver and clutch her bottom tighter until he was sure she could feel how hard he was for her. Helen sighed and wiggled her hips, teasing him.

Oh yeah, he could definitely die happy knowing she wanted him, too.

Her tongue slid under the luceria, and that contact made both the necklace and matching ring hum in response. Power and desire both surged up inside him, mingling together until he couldn't tell the difference between the two. Some instinctive part of him urged him to let go of that power, to send it flooding into Helen. Somehow, that power belonged to her and he'd only been holding on to it long enough to find her.

Drake wasn't sure what he was doing, but he followed his instincts and willed that tidal wave of energy to leave him. It streaked through his body, gathering in power, concentrating itself into a single bolt that flowed along the trunk of his lifemark, down his left arm, and into the iridescent ring.

Helen gasped and jerked away from his necklace as if she'd been shocked. She held a shaking hand to her mouth and looked up at him with dark, heavy-lidded eyes. "What was that?"

"I don't know," he said, hoping that whatever it was, it hadn't disgusted or hurt her.

A shiver shook her and he felt her thighs press together and her nipples bead up against his chest. She gave him a look so full of desire that it nearly melted the metal button on his jeans. "Can you do it again?"

Drake let out a low groan. "Oh yeah. Anything for you, sweetheart."

She gave him a slow, sultry smile that had his guts twisting into knots of need.

The bathroom door rattled under the weight of a heavy fist pounding against it. "Are you coming out sometime this century, or should I just go after Kevin's sword without you?" asked Thomas.

Drake closed his eyes in frustration and struggled to regain a toehold on sanity. It took a bit too long, but finally, he found enough of himself to gather a coherent thought. Thomas was right. As much as Drake was enjoying this, he still had a job to do. "We'll be out in a sec. Can you find something for Helen to wear?" Just asking the question was like ripping off his own arm. He wanted her to stay naked way too much.

She looked like she just realized that she was standing there naked, pressed up against him from knees to chest, and tried to pull away and cover herself. Drake wasn't ready to let that happen. Not yet. He kept one hand on her curvy bottom and the other between her shoulder blades. She wasn't going anywhere until he let her.

"I'm not going to let you get shy on me now," he told her. "As soon as I'm done with this job, you and I are going to pick up right here and finish what we've started. I want you to remember where we left off. You naked. Me nearly so. Burn this image into your head because this is right where I want you when I come back."

A deep blush crept up her neck and over her face. "This is not happening."

Drake gave her bottom a light squeeze. "Feels like it's happening to me."

"I assure you it's a mistake. A temporary lapse in judgment on my part. It won't happen again."

"You liked it."

"Yes, well, that was part of the lapse."

"You'll like it again," he promised her.

She closed her eyes and dropped her head to his chest. "Only if I'm stupid enough to get undressed while you're around. I think it's time for us to part ways. Permanently this time."

"You don't mean that." She couldn't mean it. Drake couldn't stand the idea of being the only one left out there dangling in lust-land. He needed her right there with him, wanting him as much as he wanted her.

"I've never meant anything more in my life." She was serious. All the softness had drained out of her and she was rigid in his arms. Frightened.

Well, hell. So much for his plans to pick this up later.

He hated seeing her like this and wished they could just go back to the place where she was asking him to make her feel good again. But from the way she was closing herself off more by the second—naked in his arms or not—he didn't think that was going to happen. Shit.

And he had to find Kevin's sword. He couldn't very well do that with her hanging on to him. She might get hurt if she came with him, and if he didn't go, Thomas would get hurt.

It was time to bite the bullet. Time to pull away from her and take the pain like a man. "Hold still," he ordered her, sounding more gruff than he'd intended.

He closed his eyes, shoved aside his lust, ignored his damn hard-on, and took a step back. No way was he going to look at her nude body and not combust. Not a chance in hell. So he kept his eyes shut tight and slid his fingertips over her arms, easing away slowly as Logan had taught him. When the only thing keeping them in contact was the tip of his finger on the back of her hand, he pulled in a deep breath and jerked it away.

Pain ripped through him and he felt as though he were going to blow apart into a million flaming pieces. A cold knot of agony gripped his stomach and he had to struggle to stay upright. He could feel the skin under his luceria and ring burn and blister and he had to grit his teeth against the compulsion to reach for her, to force her to make the pain stop.

Drake held on to his control by a thin thread and accepted the pain, let it become a part of him until it defined his existence. All he felt was pain. Scalding, burning, pounding pain. Nothing else.