Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,168
he asked.
Because then there’d still been walls. I hadn’t realized it until now, not until those walls were gone. “Because you gave me stars, and that means this is...this is more.”
His thumb swept over my cheek. “I don’t know what more means to you, but it means that I love you, Trinity Lynn. That I’m in love with you.”
I didn’t know who moved first, who kissed who. We were separated and then we weren’t. It was gentle and soft, like it could’ve been our first kiss, and there was something more powerful about this kiss, and maybe this was our first real one. I slid my hands to his cheeks and opened my mouth to his.
And then it became infinitely more.
It was love that I felt for him, love that had me worked up into so many tiny, twisted knots. It was love that coursed through me, even if the words never left my lips.
It was love that fueled the need to give him something as beautiful as the stars he’d given me, and I knew of only one thing, something Jada had once told me about.
Sliding out of his lap, I gripped his shirt and pulled. He needed little instruction, lifting his arms and letting me pull the shirt off, and when I reached for his pants, he rose, toeing off his boots. He undressed. I helped. Sort of. I mostly distracted him during the process, causing his strong legs to tremble. Actually, I distracted myself, learning and exploring as I went, pressing kisses against his hip.
Then, only when he pulled me up, did I shimmy out of my bottoms and kick them aside as I met his gaze. “I want you.”
“That much is obvious.” His eyes glimmered as he reached for me.
“I want you to be who you really are,” I added, holding on to the hem of my shirt. Zayne opened his mouth, closed it. Not exactly the response I was looking for. “You’re my Protector. You’re a Warden. I want you.”
He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. “Do you know what that means?”
I knew what it meant.
It was what Wardens did when they mated, according to Jada, and it was pretty much just like humans, but it was only shared with their mates. For a Warden, it was a true expression of love, and while I couldn’t do it, I knew what it meant if we did it.
Then it occurred to me that perhaps that was making things a little too serious. He loved me. I could look at the ceiling every day and see his love, but this might be too much, too soon. Embarrassment crept over my skin.
“You don’t have to,” I said in a rush. “It was just—Never mind. It’s dumb and too soon. Can we forget it?”
“No.” His pupils stretched vertically. “It’s not dumb or too soon. It’s just...” A wondrous look filled his features as he shook his head. “You amaze me.”
A different kind of blush swept over me, but then Zayne rose, and he showed me who he truly was.
I might’ve stopped breathing as he extended his hand. “Forever.”
“Forever.” I placed mine in his and as his fingers curled around mine, he returned to the bed, sitting. I felt like I wasn’t getting air in my lungs as I placed a knee on either side of his legs.
His eyes were wide, pale and luminous as he stared up at me. His sharpened nails snagged the material of my shirt as he lifted it up and over. I reached out, fingers fumbling over the tiny hooks on my bra. Carefully, he lowered his head, his fingers chasing the straps as they slipped down my arms, off my wrists, to fall to the floor below. I touched his cheeks, my palms flattening as I guided his gaze back to mine. Tilting my head, I lowered my mouth and kissed him. The taste of him branded my skin, the feel of him as I slid a hand down his chest, over the tight muscles of his stomach and even lower, tattooed itself into me, and the sound of his groan echoed like a prayer.
There was a pause to grab protection, and then I lifted up slightly only to ease back down, my breath mixing with his. Zayne did not rush me or move a muscle. I knew he would not until I did, forever patient as I adjusted, and when I did move, it was like nothing I’d felt before.