Bitter Oath (New Atlantis) - By Nhys Glover Page 0,51

been wild and explosive, like the thunderstorm of two nights before. It had beaten her into submission with pleasure, and then sent her over the edge into ecstasy. Had it been painful? Exquisitely so!

And now as she felt Rene ease his weight from her, she wrapped her legs around his thighs so that he could not take from her that part of him that had fit so perfectly. That part that had made her whole.

Sensing her need, he pushed into her deeply, and the rush of pleasure swamped her for a moment. So tired… her body felt so tired… and yet she was energised in a way that she’d never experienced before. She wanted him to take her to that place again, and she squirmed under him, wanting more.

He laughed against her neck, and moved a little. Then his muscles of his torso became rigid. ‘Mon Dieu, I am hard again. This cannot be…’

She didn’t know what he meant. But she didn’t question him. The feeling of fullness was returning, and she moved her body so that she could make the most of the sensation. Then he was drawing back from her, and there was a moment’s fear that he would leave her. Then he was driving deep once more, and she cried out, and clung to his strong shoulders, afraid that she would fall.

The piston beat began in earnest again, and she lost herself to the rhythm. It fleetingly reminded her of the sight of Travis orchestrating colour. But it was her blood that was swirling now, thrumming like a taut string from her toes to the top of her head. And it was the heat of Rene’s body that fuelled the fever inside her, until she exploded in white-hot flames around him, screaming out his name as she fell into darkness once more

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The next week was the happiest and most contented Rene had ever known. The world was more beautiful than he had ever realised. For so long, he had only seen the wounds of their damaged planet. All that stood out was what had been lost. In his mind, the Earth had seemed like a mutilated and broken victim of some awful crime, the blood and filth hiding everything else that was there. But now it was as if he saw what was beneath, what had always been beneath, even in the worst moments of destruction. He saw the strength and resilience of life. He saw the beauty of all that had survived.

And his sense of wonder expanded every time Liv gasped with awe at one thing or another. He saw his world anew through her eyes – not a dying planet, but a reborn one, filled with fresh and exciting possibilities.

When he had shown her the terrarium with the giant earthworms burrowing down to the water below, she was fascinated. So much so, that he was hard pressed to get her out of the laboratory again. Her questions were all intelligent, and sometimes they pushed him into areas he hadn’t considered before. She was insatiable, in bed and out of it.

When he thought of the person he had been before her, and the person he was now, it was hard to credit. For hundreds of years, it was as if he had been sleeping or comatose. His brain had functioned, but his body and emotions had been dead. Now they were alive, coursing through him like fire. Jane had observed that he was lighter after meeting Liv. But it was more than lightness; it was energy – pulsing, insistent energy. And it kept him on a constant high.

Some days, he couldn’t work out what he needed more – to be inside her, or to be showing her the wonders of his world. When he did one, there was a part of him that was anxious and impatient to be doing the other. There didn’t seem to be enough time. He felt like he was on some kind of drug like MDMA, which used to be popularly called Ecstasy.

At other times, particularly as they lay together after sex, he felt a peace he had never known. It was as if he wanted for nothing, as long as she was beside him. The world was perfect, just the way it was.

And he wanted to be perfect for her. He wanted to root out all his shortcomings, and correct them. Where this insecurity came from, he wasn’t sure, but it drove him relentlessly.

One morning, toward the end of