think they planned this somehow?” No need to say who. No need to utter their names aloud and maybe manifest them.
They crossed the road to his building. “Damned if I know.”
Not what she hoped to hear, but realistic.
“The sexual chemistry, maybe.”
Okay, she could deal with that. “The rest?”
He kept on walking without answering. They stayed silent until they entered his apartment. When the elevator doors slid shut, locking them into the protective haven, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. She had no idea if the warding symbols painted in blood on his walls would truly work against those beings with real power, but the tension she’d carried from the time they left slowly slipped away.
The doors were barely shut when he spun her around, shoved her back against the door, and kissed her. Like the warrior he was, he plundered her mouth, taking what he wanted.
All the stress from the bar and the subsequent battle, all the adrenaline and worry channeled itself into something positive and life-affirming—passion. It was a natural reaction to give the volatile emotions an outlet.
But only with Maccus. Any other male and she’d have left him. Even Asher, pretty as he was, didn’t move her as her dark warrior did.
He grabbed her hands and raised them over her head, trapping them against the metal panel. The first time she’d stepped inside his home, she would have fought such possession; now she reveled in it.
She kissed him back, her tongue dueling madly with his before she nipped on his bottom lip. Her skin tingled, her breasts ached, and the sensitive place between her legs throbbed. She couldn’t touch him with her hands, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have other options. Using his hold on her as leverage, she pushed up and wrapped her legs around his waist.
That brought her mound in perfect alignment with his erection. She took immediate advantage and rubbed herself against him. Heat poured off his big body, seeping through her clothes. “Yes.” It didn’t matter that she couldn’t catch her breath. Who needed to breathe, anyway?
Then her hands were free. Tangling her fingers in his hair, she tilted his head to get just the right position. Perfect. His passion tasted like shadows and desperation. She ate it up and went back for more.
He rocked his hips against her pelvis, driving them both closer to the edge.
Pulling away, she gasped for air. That didn’t stop him. He left a trail of kisses along her jaw and down her neck, pausing halfway to bite. Not hard enough to break the skin, but certainly enough to leave a mark.
Maybe this wasn’t smart, but she didn’t care. Life was fleeting, and hers would soon be over unless she came up with some kind of miracle.
“Look at me.” With her chin caught in his hand, he gave her no choice.
Not that it was a hardship. His eyes were fathomless, bottomless wells of darkness that drew her. Soft like a dark cloud some moments and hard as obsidian the next. When she looked deeper, moving beyond the superficial, it was like peering into his soul.
She feared he was doing the same with her.
There were such depths of shadows they seemed to swallow her. It would have been claustrophobic if not for the faintest glimmer of light. It was far away, but she gravitated toward it. It kept moving, always out of reach, growing dimmer. The light couldn’t afford to go out. Maccus would no longer be him if it did. She didn’t question the knowledge.
Then he blinked, and the connection was lost.
Lightheaded, her vision dimmed. She blinked several times, trying to get her bearings. The hard elevator door was still at her back. Maccus was pressed against her front. Beneath her clothes, she was fully aroused. And so was he. His erection pushed against her core.
“What just happened?” Because something powerful had just occurred.
Maccus shrugged and took a step away, forcing her to let go and allow her legs to fall away from him. There was only a foot between them, but it seemed like a chasm, like