Piper

 

Kissing Balt.

We were kissing.

His skin was burning against mine, but I found myself shivering. Every touch made me wilder, but there was also a deep contentment singing through my bones. And I wanted more, but this was also enough. Balt was always more than enough.

Mine. I thought, one hand pressing against his face.

As those wayward thoughts of mine had supposed back in London, the contrast of his beard and lips was delicious. When he pulled away and kissed my neck, the scrape of unruly stubble had me gasping and Balt chuckling.

There was a studied tenderness to his hands and lips, but at the same time, the pressure was bruising. Hungry. He bit lightly on my lips and I arched against him.

No, starving.

I’d had some careless flings in my life as I knew Balt had. Fun and sexy, sure.

Not this.

Not this craving under my fingertips, echoing and amplifying through both of us. This voracious, unchecked passion that showed no sign of tapering off. One of connection and familiarity, but also new, exciting, and mysterious.

Balt and I both had secrets. I’d thought that had meant our bond was somehow flawed and breaking. But now, as we broke apart and looked at each other, I had the sense it had only grown - now as strong as a diamond. A synchronicity I’d never dreamed of. But maybe he had. It was borne of both belonging to one another and the beauty of choosing one another.

“Do you think we would have found each other if you hadn’t moved?” I blurted out.

He tilted his head and smiled – that Balt smile full of sunshine. Only now it had a sexier and darker edge that I was certain only I could see. “Of course. But we don’t have to worry about that.”

My hand slid down to his left pec and the hair brushed my palm as his heart drummed underneath the thick muscle. “No, but I mean, do you think we’re meant to be? Soulmates?”

Balt gazed up at me, his face becoming serious. “I didn’t think you believed in that, Piper.”

He fell silent as my cheeks flamed. What was wrong with me, bringing up a discussion right now? We should be kissing.

"There is no name, maybe," Balt suddenly said. "Not for this." His hand covered mine and squeezed it. "If you are asking if I feel the connection between us, of course, I do. The world is bleak and confusing without you in it, Piper. You make sense." Balt’s voice became husky. “Not in words or numbers or anything like that – but you make sense. You always have. My Piper.”

Tears had welled up in my eyes and I didn’t realize it until I blinked. Wetness touched my cheeks. “Balt, I–” The rest of the words were lost as he brushed them away.

“You’re crying because you’re happy,” Balt said in wonder.

“I don’t think there are words for what I’m feeling right now,” I whispered, leaning in and slanting my mouth across his. “But maybe I can show you,” I murmured between kisses.

His hands were at my waist and then moved lower, before sliding onto my thighs. Panting, I had to come up for air and Balt smirked. “You always go first,” he said. “My turn.”

“Fine,” I said, pretending to huff, but I giggled when he bent down and kissed my stomach.

Suddenly he raised his head, his face serious – all gentleman. “Piper – you’re sure?”

The sudden shift from dark and wild Balt to gentleman Balt made me laugh. “Yes. Yes. A thousand times, no a million, an infinite–!”

Balt’s lips were on mine again and the rest of the words were lost. His hands became more insistent, playing with the edge of the shorts on my thighs, then drifting up my spine.

As he began to kiss my neck again, lingering on the hollow at the base of my throat and rendering my brain into nothing but fizzing, dizzy neurons – I suddenly realized his hands were fumbling at the back of the bustier. And I whimpered.

Balt began to laugh and I went to hit his shoulder when he got the bustier off and his hands were cupping my breasts. Holding on to him, I cried out as thumbs circled and fingers tweaked. Shuddering, I squirmed against him and dug my nails into his arms.

In response, his head dipped lower and his tongue swirled around a sensitive nipple. Barely coherent, I knew I was moaning now and one of his hands gripped my waist. After he switched, I realized his other arm was wrapped around my back.

Suddenly fingers slipped into my shorts and curled into my heat.

“Balt!” I cried, delirious at his touch.

Heat was licking up through every vein and I was writhing, seeking release. Pleasure was overwhelming me and I was gasping as it continued to build. There was no end in sight.

Finally, just as I was sure I was about to be devoured by this intensity – I shattered in his hands. Balt let out a hum of satisfaction as I quivered against him and held me gently. Then he slowly laid me down on the bed and smiled down at me.

“You need a minute?” he asked.

“Yes,” I admitted honestly, too overcome to pretend otherwise.

Grinning, Balt suddenly stood up and jerked me towards the end of the bed. “Too bad.”

“Huh?” I asked, as my shorts were ripped off and thrown to the side. He was kneeling, my legs on his shoulders and then his face was between my legs. “Oh, ah, damn,” I cried out, gripping his hair with one hand and throwing the other one out for support. “Balt, I’m–”

But he was merciless and I was gone. Worshiped to the point of blinding bliss. Being devoured again by heat. I’d no idea how much time passed, but I was conscious of a satisfaction screaming through me. One I’d never felt before.

Until I finally came and was lying on my back, gasping for air.

This time, Balt moved me to the center of the bed and laid down, spooning until I caught my breath. Smiling over at him, I let my hand drift down to his belt buckle and tugged on it.

His eyes darkened as he stared down at me, then swung his legs off the bed and stood up, shedding his pants. I sat up as his boxers slid down and caught my breath.

Balt may, in fact, be a Greek god. I thought dazedly.

Miles and miles of ridged muscles, the lines shadowed and hard in the moonlight. He raked his hands through his hair, dark eyes finding me and devouring me with a glance. A thick, ready rod, long and hard was straining between his legs as he crawled towards me.

Realizing he’d put off his own pleasure, maybe to the point of pain, I touched his face and tried to laugh. Tried to make a joke, but it died on my lips.

The passion in his eyes was such that I couldn’t focus on anything else. All that mattered was right now and the moment to directly follow. All that mattered was him.

Our bare skin met and my eyes closed.

Wrapping my arms around Balt’s neck, I whispered the words that rose to my lips suddenly. “I’ve missed you.”

Balt stilled. When I opened my eyes, he was looking down at me and the look he’d had in the desert was on his face. My breath caught as I realized and my heart was leaping in my chest.

“We’ve been missing each other,” Balt suddenly said. “But now we’re here.”

“We’re here.” I smiled up at him. “Took long enough.”

There was a glint of the predator in his grin. “Now who’s impatient?”

Arching against him, my breasts brushed his hard chest and the sensitive skin danced at the brush of his hair. Balt shuddered and I smiled at him. Then he was kissing me, hard and hungry.

Our tongues slid and fought as my legs went around his waist. He was kneeling over me, a hand locked onto the headboard and the other slipping under my lower back, lifting my hips to his. I was still holding onto his neck as his length brushed against me and I gasped.

Breaking apart, Balt’s eyes met mine as he slid in. I was biting my lips, scratching his back a little as our bodies fully joined. Bodies that fit together perfectly.

Moving against each other, everything else fell away. There was only Balt, his dark and intense gaze locked on me, his big shoulders caging me in and his hands holding me close.

Connected on every level, I couldn’t hold back my own pleasure in his or vice versa. Lines blurred and swirled. Music thrummed through my body.

We were spinning higher and higher, lost in each other's bliss before light broke and rained down. Every nerve in my body lit up with pleasure and I felt myself arch as some deep spot was hit with near-impossible precision. Then, I heard Balt let out a deep sound of satisfaction as he shuddered against me. Another pleasure rocked through my body and I was gone.

When I opened my eyes, I half-expected to see stars in the room, or at the very least, embers drifting by. Balt was lying next to me, catching his own breath and I rolled over, half-onto him. He groaned, a big hand rubbing up my back to my neck. I studied him and he smiled at me, putting a hand behind his head.

“What?” he asked.

Crawling up over him, I smiled and kissed him. An arm locked around me, pulling me flush and our kisses became deeper and wilder. Without having to say a word, I knew how the rest of the night would go.