51

Alayna

Thursday 1st October, Year 828

As Tiv kissed me, I almost melded with him. It felt right. Like we were meant to be. A warning signalled at the back of my mind, telling me how stupid I was. Trying to remind me that only ten minutes ago he was going to kill me. These thoughts were swiftly pushed into the box and locked as the gentle kiss soon turned ferocious. The events of the day were slowly washed away and I didn’t care about any of Tiv’s accusations or Ben’s mental break or even about the death of my mates. We held each other tightly as if we could never be close enough. My insides ached as my hands grabbed fistfuls of his hair to pull him closer to me.

Suddenly both of his hands were on my legs as he effortlessly lifted me up, moving me to my bed. I fumbled around clumsily trying to undo the buttons on his shirt but found it easier just to rip them off. Lifting my T-shirt over my head, I discarded it on the floor as he lay me down gently and continued to kiss me. I took my lips from Tiv’s, moving them down his neck. He let out a low moan which rippled through me, but I stopped when I got top of his chest where a long, angry cut was freshly healing. At my pause, he effortlessly shifted me so I was sitting on top of him. I giggled childishly at his strength.

“I’ve missed that sound,” he smiled, running his thumb over my lips. I bit it playfully.

“I don’t think I’ve laughed that stupidly since the last time I saw you,” I replied honestly.

“I’m sure I can get a few more silly giggles from you before I have to go,” he joked.

My Tiv was back—but he wasn’t staying.

I frowned. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“I’m not letting you go again. I’ll be back soon, I promise,” he smiled.

My downturned lips pulled further to my chin, “You said that last time.”

“I’m not letting you go again,” he repeated. “However Marco will notice my absence if he hasn’t already.”

“Screw Marco,” I hissed.

He grinned momentarily before it faltered, “He has already ordered back up. If I don’t go and fix that, more will come for you.”

“How long do we have?” I asked.

“They could be here as early as Friday morning.”

“How many?” I whispered.

“Three hundred.”

My breathing stopped until he gently rubbed a thumb over my bare hips, coaxing air back into my lungs.

“I should already be gone,” he whispered.

I stiffened at how quickly he had intended to kill me and leave. It did not go unnoticed. He sat up with me still in his lap, running his lips along my jawline and causing an intense throbbing between my legs in the process.

“I’ll apologise every day for the rest of my life and it will still not come close to righting the wrong of how I’ve hurt you today,” he murmured, his expression crumbling into a grimace.

I slid down us back down to the bed, tucking my head beneath his chin, just to hear the rhythm of his breathing. “I’m the one who shot you in the head.”

A chuckle rumbled in his chest, vibrations reaching my ear and he said simply, “Do not fret darling. No lasting harm was done.”

The kiss that followed silenced the guilt, burying it deep in the depression box. As his fingers traced the line of my chin and grazed the string of beads at my neck, I nestled closer to his touch.

“You kept them,” he noted, slowly stroking his nose down my neck.

“They were all I had of you,” I breathed, trying to ignore the continuing pulsing between my legs at his touch.

He pulled away and gave me a look so full of love that I stopped breathing. How he looked at me in the photo from Piker’s. Then his eyebrows knitted together before he pressed his lips along the line he had made at my throat as if the affection would wash away the violence.

“I had you with me too,” he breathed.

He raised his hand, letting the candlelight dance across the golden band on his finger. He ran his thumb over the underside of the ring where a white snowdrop petal sat floating in clear resin.

“That’s clever,” I whispered with a smile.

His responding grin sent waves through my core. After all this time he had thought of me just as much as I had thought of him. He had hurt just as much as I had. The idea was bizarre but I welcomed it like I was still the naive girl in a muddy field three years ago. Not a murderer. Not someone who had lost count of the golden eyes she had closed.

The conversation turned as he brushed a lock of hair from my face. "Your hair is different."

“Umbrith and people preferred to use it as a leash so I chopped it off. I must look like a freak now.” I felt myself rubbing the scar on my wrist, covered by my Harroworth tattoo.

“You’re still just as beautiful as the day I met you,” he whispered with a smile. “Fire and spirit no matter how long your hair is.”

“I’d forgotten how intense you are,” I laughed.

“Only for you, my darling.”

The compliment sent a warm feeling through me and kissed him gently. When I thought about how he would soon leave me again, my kiss turned more urgent, as if determined to make up for three years without. I wrapped my leg around his hip as he held it in place. No matter how close he was to me it didn’t feel close enough. My body had never ached so much for a person. Like he could sense my desperation, he rolled us, pinning me to the bed and using deft fingers to undo the buttons of my jeans. As his hand slid down my pants, a gentle touch found its mark, moving in delicious, perfect circles. I threw my head back with a moan that was far too loud. His mouth swallowed the sound before moving to find my earlobe.

“Not that that wasn’t the best sound I’ve ever heard you make, however you must be silent unless you wish me to stop.” His voice was dark, alluring. The most fucking sensual sound I’d ever heard.

"Don't stop," escaped my lips in a breathless plea.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

A wicked grin grazed below my ear as the pace of his touch intensified. I squirmed gloriously beneath him, burying my head in the crook of his neck so as to not make a noise and gasped delicious breaths of him.

Ragged inhales sawed through me as pleasure coiled inside, tighter and tighter. It didn’t take long for my entire being to shatter into blissful fragments. I came hard as my world fell apart, barely surfacing for breath. I found his lips, parting them fervently with my tongue. I wanted him. I needed him. Rolling my hips against his, a low growl escaped his throat and at the same moment I unbuttoned his pants, I was wriggling out of mine.

Kissing him again, he stilled as he said into my mouth, “I have no protection.”

I pulled away, not daring to tell him I was so starved I hadn’t had a period in six months and said, “I use a contraceptive potion. Got about a week left on it.”

It wasn’t a lie.

But he didn’t reanimate. I pulled away glancing warily at his beautiful face. “What?”

“Nothing,” he muttered, brushing his lips against mine again.

“You still a virgin?” I grinned wickedly.

It was hard to tell in the dim light, but I could have sworn he flushed.

“No. That’s not the issue.” He paused. “You’re… very thin.”

Now it was my turn to blush. “So skinny people can’t have sex?”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he mumbled.

I brushed my hand against his groyne through his boxer shorts, which was completely at odds with the words coming out of his mouth, and he gasped.

“You won’t,” I whispered. “Now please don’t leave me unsatisfied again.”

His wolfish smile was predatory, setting me on fire, “I should have just taken you in that bloody meadow all those years ago.”

I couldn't suppress the beaming smile that spread across my face as I wound myself closer to him. I felt his heart pounding against my bare chest. In the flickering candlelight, my eyes met his. The same look he gave me years ago. The look I had begged for—dreamed of—for years. The desperation and tenderness swirling in his honey-brown eyes. This was Tiv. Not the man who had entered my room tonight. Lover. Not enemy. The man who gave me a purpose in my chaotic little world.

"I can't believe you're here," I mumbled, lacing open-mouthed kisses against his chest.

"I'm here," he whispered simply, tilting my chin up to face him. "And I won't leave you again."

His words washed over me like a warm wave, filling me with comfort. I had no idea how it would work. We couldn't stay in Harroworth. We'd have to run. But I would run. I would be free. Free from my past, from Ben, from murder, from war, from my own disintegrating mind. I could live the rest of my days with Tiv. A new adventure. We would fight monsters, save princesses, and fall in love again and again. We would take care of each other. Screw everyone else.

It was a lovely little fantasy that I entertained for a few seconds before my mind wandered back to the battlefield. The screams and gunfire, the blood-soaked ground, the anguished faces of people I’d killed. People I'd lost. I couldn't go, knowing that my freedom meant their enslavement if we lost. We would go down together as a family—

No. Tonight was not the night for those thoughts. I pushed them away, locked in the box with all the other crap from the day, and brought my lips to Tiv’s passionately. My palm slid up his stomach, tracing the lines of his defined abs. I ran my fingers over his toned chest, tracing patterns on his bare skin. Our kiss was open and deep. I indulged in the warmth of his body, feeling the electricity burn between us.

"You're incredible," he breathed into the space between our kisses, his words skating along my skin like the touch of velvet.

"Shut up and take your pants off," I teased, eager to drown in the distraction he offered.

Tiv's quiet laughter filled the small space as he complied, discarding his boxers and kicking them aside. My insides twisted with excitement as I stripped his ruined shirt off. I couldn't see much of him in the dim candlelight, but that was fine. It meant he couldn’t see much of me. He couldn’t see the scars.

My fingers shook as I reached out to grasp his considerable length. Tiv groaned, arching into my touch for a second before he pulled me close, hitching my leg around his waist. I gasped, feeling him press into my pelvis. He slipped a finger between my thighs, gently rubbing in circling motions again. Every single nerve in my body shivered. Simultaneously, he gently thrust forward, filling me. And filling me. And filling me. And I don’t know how my heart didn’t stop beating. The feel of him inside me was not like anything I had felt before, like I was made for him. I wrapped my leg tighter round his waist, pulling him closer. A growl escaped his throat as he moved deep into me, our bodies sliding against each other in perfect harmony. He had a hunger in his gaze, the kind that told me he wanted me more than anything else in the world. It was bizarre. The mixture of emotions was disorienting—one moment I was lost in Tiv, the next, my head was everywhere else.

I was a scab. I was a rebel leader. He'd travelled halfway around the world to destroy my country. But the one thought that clouded my mind like nothing else, was Aaron’s face. Guilt crippled me for a second—

Put it in the box.

Tiv seemed to sense my apprehension, his fingers and hips slowing their rhythmic dance. He paused, looking into me with an intensity that felt like he could see straight into my head.

"Are you alright?" The concern in his voice drenched me more thoroughly than any touch could. More than I deserved.

I hesitated, my nerves screaming to say yes. But I couldn't. I swallowed hard, my throat dry.

"No," I whispered, reaching up to wrap my arms around his neck and drawing myself back down on him. "But don't stop. Please."

But he did. His movements stopped immediately and frustration surged through me. Telling him the truth was a stupid idea.

"I mean—yes. I'm fine,” my voice faltered, "I just can't believe you're here."

Tiv's features softened into a smile of relief.

He leaned down, his lips brushing against mine, my worries melting away. I didn't want to think about the future. I only wanted to live in this moment, wrapped in Tiv's arms.

His sudden deep thrust broke the surface of my thoughts, my toes curled in euphoria as I gasped another breath. Shivering, my senses heightened. I could feel his every stroke, every breath. The scent of his cologne mixed with the faint aroma of candles, filling the air with a musky scent.

"Harder," escaped from me in a whisper as I arched into him.

Tiv's response was marked by a surge in strength; his pace increased, becoming relentless. Each thrust sent waves of pleasure radiating through me. I bit into his arm to stifle the moan, clutching at his shoulders. The sensation engulfed me, threatening to consume me entirely. My heart hammered in my chest, adrenaline rushing through my veins. His breaths were ragged, matching my own.

Tiv's movements became more frantic, his thrusts gaining intensity. I whimpered, clutching harder at his shoulder. The sensation was overwhelming. My body screamed for release at Tiv's burning gaze, his eyes locked on me. He gripped my ass, guiding me over him. I gasped, feeling the heat building, feeling my legs stiffen.

He brought his lips to my ear, biting down on my earlobe before whispering, "Come for me, Aly."

Those simple words unleashed an insurmountable shattering in me. Ripping me to ribbons. My body convulsed, thrashing wildly against him. My scream was cut short by his lips on mine, swallowing the sound as a sweeping tidal wave of euphoria washed over me. My nails dug into his shoulders, my fingers clawing at his flesh. I swear, fireworks erupted behind my damn eyelids, colours exploding in dazzling brilliance. Tiv's breath came in uneven gasps, his body quivering against mine. With a final, deep thrust, he gasped heavily.

Pleasure writhed through me in response to his groan. He buried his face in my neck, lips kissing me tenderly. The thumping of his heartbeat echoed through my bones matching mine perfectly. The sensation was fantastically devastating, my mind blanking from the sheer intensity of the moment.

He nuzzled my neck and I grinned widely. "If you’d just screwed me in that field I’d never have let you leave if I knew that what I’d be missing out on."

The chuckle that escaped him was a low, beautiful sound. There was a song somewhere in that sound. I wanted to hear it every night. I wanted him wrapped around me every night.

"Stay tonight?" My words were barely a whisper.

"I have to leave. I can't stay now," he sighed. "I'll come back tomorrow. I promise."

I frowned, "Okay."

Despite his words, Tiv didn't leave. My arm wrapped around him instinctively as he laid his head on my chest, listening to my steady heartbeat. We lay for a long time not speaking. It wasn't until his breath hitched that I realised he had fallen asleep cuddled up to me. My chest warmed at the thought. I had been missing him for so long, dreaming of nights like these. Even though we had just met again, he was already acting like this was entirely normal. Like he was mine. Like I was his. And I was.

"Love you, Tiv," I whispered, running my fingers through his sweat-slicked hair. "Sleep tight."

"Mmmm," he hummed.