CHAPTER 25
Aiko caught the fear in Esher’s blue eyes, a flare of it that he tried to conceal from her. It rang through her veins, as clear as her own feelings, together with something else. Need. He needed her as fiercely as she needed him. It had been building inside her since her return, a steady welling that had come on so gradually that she hadn’t noticed it until today, when he had come to her, and it had felt as if she had seen him with clear eyes at last.
And he had been beautiful.
Breathtaking.
When he had come to her at the cherry tree, all of his feelings on show for her, none of them hidden, and the light had played over him, the peace she had been feeling had grown, completed by his presence, and it had dawned on her that she loved him. Truly loved him. It was deep, unconditional, infinite. A love she knew would never die. It would only ever grow stronger. Through every trial they faced, every setback and every victory. All of it would mould that love into a stronger form.
She had never realised love could be so powerful, so consuming, and so beautiful.
Fear of what was to come flowed in her veins too, colliding with everything that had happened to rouse a need in her, a deep and desperate desire to lose herself in a moment and forget the rest of the world existed. She wanted to narrow everything down to only them, and that feeling grew stronger as she stared into his eyes, saw it reflected in them. He needed it too, ached as she did with a desire to forget, to push tomorrow aside and focus on today, on the here and now.
She wanted to crush the darkness too, to let light back in and feel alive again, to forget what lay behind her and focus on the now, on the fact they were both alive.
He didn’t resist as she captured his lips, or when she crawled onto his lap, settling herself astride his thighs, the position making her remember when they had made love in the bath. He lowered his hands from her back to her bottom, exhaled hard as he drew her against him and angled his head, kissing her deeper, sending the rest of the world and her worries drifting to the back of her mind.
A thrill chased through her, a surge of desire stirred by the way he pulled her closer still, pressed her against his hips and had that moment in the bath rushing back into her mind. The memory of him inside her, their bodies joined, had the heat of passion flaring hot in her veins, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her fingers through his hair, clutching him to her as she kissed him, tangled her tongue with his and lost herself.
He groaned and swept her up into his arms, tearing a squeak from her as he stood. She held him tighter, kept kissing him as he carried her, each step making her desire flare hotter, her blood run quicker, heart beat faster. An ache started low in her belly, flames licking outwards over her body from it, making her restless in his arms. He moaned again as she gripped the back of his head and raised herself in his arms so she could kiss him as deeply as she desired.
When he reached his room, he set her down, his mouth still fused with hers, his kiss turning wild and deliciously desperate as he skimmed his hands down her sides, up again and over her breasts.
She lifted her arms when he grabbed the hem of her navy jumper, tugged it up and broke the kiss for only as long as it took to get it over her head. He tossed it aside and groaned again as she fumbled with the buttons of his black shirt, some of them snagging in her haste to strip him, her need to have her hands on his bare flesh again.
He helped her, dealing with the last few buttons, and shirked the garment as he continued to kiss her, his breath coming faster now, rising to match the pace of hers. She moaned as she pressed her palms to his chest, frustrated as she met cotton, and slid them down, that heat blazing hotter as his muscles tensed, delighting her fingers as they traversed each powerful ridge. When she reached the hem, she dipped beneath it, and moaned all over again at the feel of his soft warm skin stretched tight over hard muscles.
He shuddered and stilled, breathing ragged against her lips as she explored him, charted every muscle and each scar, feeling them on his skin.
“Aiko,” he groaned, the sound rough and low, strained as he trembled.
It was too much for him. She knew that, because it was too much for her too, had that need rising to startling heights where she felt as if she was losing control, would die all over again if she didn’t kiss and lick every inch of his bare flesh and satisfy the need rolling through her.
She pushed his dark grey t-shirt up, exposing his stomach to her eyes, and trembled at the sight of him as he pulled it off, the action of raising his arms above his head making his muscles even more pronounced.
She leaned towards him and kissed the scar on his right side, and he froze with his arms in the air, tangled in his t-shirt, his breath rushing from him. She gently kissed across his stomach to the other side, brushed her fingers down the scar above his hip that was paler now, finally healing. She dipped her head and kissed it, willing it to no longer bother him, aware that it was a source of pain and conflict for him, that it had something to do with their enemy.
One had hurt him, and damn, she wanted to make them pay for that, a fierce need to protect him as he protected her rushing through her, setting fire to her temper.
He tipped his head back and moaned, shuddered as she licked the scar and travelled lower, towards his navel. She kissed around it and followed the fine trail of dark hair downwards to the waist of his black jeans.
For a moment, she feared he would stop her, would treat her as if she was too delicate for this, still weakened by what had happened to her when she was strong now, wanted this moment with him with all of her heart.
He remained immobile, hands trapped in his t-shirt, breath stilled in his lungs.
Waiting.
She undid his fly, carefully slipped her hands around his hips, under his trunks and jeans, and eased them down, her eyes glued to him, drinking her fill as she revealed him and not wanting to miss a thing.
She moved to kneel before him as she pushed his jeans down his legs, as he stepped from them and finally discarded his t-shirt, and when he was naked, her eyes lifted, taking in every honed inch of him, some deep part of her purring in approval at the sight of him.
He moaned again when she leaned towards him, his breath hitching as his bright blue eyes followed her. He tensed, his entire body going rigid as she stroked her tongue over the head of his shaft, and his low groan went through her, had her stroking him again, hungry to hear that sound she had pulled from him again, wanting the thrill that had come with it.
She circled his cock with her right hand and wrapped her lips around the blunt crown, drank every groan that left his lips, each moan that stirred the heat inside her and had her growing restless.
When she moved her hand on him, his shot down to grip her wrist, and she looked up at him.
His eyes were dark as he shook his head, his pupils gobbling up the blue, revealing the depth of his desire to her.
He was still a moment, and then he pulled her up to him and kissed her hard, pressing his rigid length against her belly as he gathered her into his arms. She clutched his shoulders, swept up in the kiss, losing herself in it as she clung to him, her passion slipping beyond her control.
She needed him.
Now.
The urge was desperate, hit her so hard that she couldn’t hold it back, clawed at his shoulders and kissed him harder, matching his fervour and groaning when it didn’t satisfy the need rolling through her, one that only grew more frantic as he dropped his hand and cupped her through her jeans.
She rocked into his touch, moaning into his mouth, swept up in the moment and needing more, wanting more.
“Esher,” she whispered, shocked by the sound of her own voice, so raspy and needy.
He growled and tackled her jeans, his movements jerky and rough, as if her desperation had flowed into him and was affecting him now, had him on the verge of losing control, frantic with a need to take things further, faster.
She could barely breathe as he pulled her dark pink camisole off, tossing it aside, and swooped on her breasts. He tugged her left nipple into his mouth and she gripped his shoulders again, his head, couldn’t decide where to hold him as she rose on her toes and melted under the onslaught, her entire body singing and coming alive.
Giving her everything she needed.
He pushed her jeans down, growled again as he struggled to get them off her feet. She kicked at them, heart thundering, that desperate need mounting again as cool air washed over her body, each brush of it a blast of sensation that made her finally feel alive again.
It overloaded her, had her crying out as Esher stroked his hands over her sides, her breasts, and lower, delving one between her thighs. She tiptoed, threw her head back and moaned, holding nothing back as bliss swept through her, each caress of his fingers between her folds and his tongue over her breasts sending her out of her mind.
This was what she had been craving, needing. This bliss. This heaven.
Nothing else existed here.
There was only her and her beautiful Esher.
Lost in each other.
In their love.
He dropped to his knees, and she cried out as he pressed his mouth between her thighs. The first stroke of his tongue had her tensing, and the second had her grabbing his head, the onslaught of feeling almost too much to bear. She rocked against his face, shame forgotten as she spiralled higher, flew on wings he had made for her, each stroke of his tongue over her flesh sending a thousand volts rushing through her, cranking that feeling in her belly even tighter.
“Esher,” she moaned, bit her lip and frowned as she desperately rode his tongue, the hard press of his fingers against her thighs sheer ecstasy.
He lifted her left knee, spreading her thighs, and she cried out again, not caring if anyone heard her as he licked her, flicking his tongue over her pert bead, sending electricity arcing along her every nerve.
Her entire body jerked as release slammed into her, crashed through her and had her breath lodging in her throat as she quivered, tingles and heat sweeping through her, the suddenness of her release stealing her voice as her mouth opened on a silent cry.
Esher lapped at her and moaned as he slowed his assault. Her legs trembled, her heart starting to race again as the haze of her climax began to fade and a new one built inside her, each gentle stroke of his tongue teasing her back towards the precipice.
She needed more from him this time.
He seemed to sense it, rose to his feet and kissed her, swept her into his arms and carried her the short distance to his bed.
She kissed him as he lay her down on it, moaned as he covered her with his body, and sighed as he eased into her, so slowly that she could feel every hard inch of him.
He pulled back, gazing down at her and stroking her hair and her face as he joined them, his blue eyes brighter than she had ever seen him, filled with love that touched her.
She savoured it just as he did, focused on their bodies fusing as one, the bliss of it even more powerful than it had been the first time they had made love.
His black hair hung forwards, brushing her forehead as he looked down at her, body still inside hers, all that love shining in his eyes but tainted with another emotion.
Fear.
Aiko framed his face with her palms, holding his gaze, trying to show him that he didn’t need to be afraid. She was stronger now, wiser, and she wouldn’t let his enemy hurt her again, and she believed in him, knew he would protect her and keep her safe. Nothing was going to happen to her.
“I love you.” She brushed her thumbs across his cheeks.
His eyes darkened.
He swooped on her lips, kissed her so fiercely that she couldn’t breathe as his pain flowed into her, swept through her and dredged up her own. She pushed back against it, refusing to let it overcome her and ruin this moment, and softened the kiss, coaxing Esher back from the brink, leading him. His kiss slowed until he was gentle again, each sweep of his lips across hers making her feel lighter inside, until she was floating in his arms.
She moaned as he moved, reminding her that he was inside her, joined with her, and his answering groan came out strained. The fear that coloured his emotions gradually drifted away with each long, slow thrust of his cock into her, each kiss she pressed to his lips.
When he pulled back again, she locked gazes with him, fell into his blue eyes and into the moment, feeling him do the same. He stared down at her, his emotions playing across his eyes as he rocked into her, slow and measured curls of his hips that had the darkness inside her receding, the light growing brighter again.
She held on to him, as fiercely as he clung to her, his fingers pressing hard into her shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her, tucking it beneath her. He lowered his other hand to her side, clutching it as he drove into her, and she breathed in time with him, each one leaving her as a soft moan as pleasure built inside her.
He groaned and lowered his head, pressed his brow to hers as he slid into her. “I love you.”
He growled and gathered her closer, held her so tight it almost hurt, but all she felt was bliss as he clung to her, his love flowing through her, mingling with her own. She wrapped her arms around him.
Breathed against his lips.
“I love you too, Esher.”
He moaned, captured her mouth and thrust harder, faster, tearing a sigh from her lips. The pressure built again, each plunge of his hips, each slide of his length into her cranking her tighter. His chest brushed hers, teasing her nipples, and his tongue caressed hers, his kiss deepening as he held her closer, his hand sliding lower to capture her hip.
She couldn’t hold back the moan as he took her higher again, each brush of his body against hers sweet agony, each deep thrust of his cock sending waves of tingles over her belly.
Light filled her.
Warmth flowed through her.
Every breath, every movement, was bliss, pleasure like she had never experienced before, filling her with light and life, with emotion that felt as if it would soon become too much for her, and she would drown in it.
She cried into his mouth as she broke apart, a cascade of hot tingles racing through her, sweeping up and down her as she jerked against him, every quiver and throb of her body around his cock sending a fresh wave rolling through her.
Esher drove deeper, harder, faster, his breathing ragged as he pressed his forehead to hers and held her tighter.
He grunted and jerked to a hard halt inside her, pressed deep in her as his cock throbbed wildly, kicking and pulsing, his warmth flooding her, making new delicious waves of bliss sweep through her with each one.
She wrapped her arms around him as he sank against her, holding him close.
He tilted his head, captured her lips and kissed her softly.
She kissed him back, forming a vow in her head and sealing the promise with each brush of her lips across his.
She would never let him go.
He would never be alone again.
She would always be there for him.
Forever.