As her body tightened like warm velvet around his, Torin spilled all that he was into her depths.
Chapter 34
“If we kill each other, at least we’ll die happy,” Shea said when she was sure she could speak without her voice breaking.
Tiny, delicious little aftershocks still trembled throughout her body, making her sigh with the quiet pleasure. The burning sensation on her breast had passed, and she knew without looking that more flames had been branded into her skin. Torin lay beside her, one arm tossed across her middle, one leg thrown over hers.
He took up a lot of space, her Eternal, but it was more than his massive size that was carving out a spot for him in her heart. It was his fierce tenderness. The vulnerability she only occasionally caught a glimpse of. The protection he offered her so willingly and the quiet determination to do whatever was necessary to keep her safe.
Also, he was the most amazing lover she could ever have imagined.
“You won’t die,” he said, his face in the crook of her neck, his breath warm against her skin. “I won’t allow it.”
She ran her fingertips up and down his arm, loving the feel of his skin beneath hers. “I know you’ll do everything you can, Torin.”
“No.” He pushed up on one elbow and met her gaze. She stared up into his pale gray eyes and wondered how she could ever have been afraid of that unusual stare. When she saw his eyes now, she saw the past and the future and the ever-shifting present.
“Don’t make promises you might not be able to keep,” she said softly, as she lifted one hand to touch the corner of his mouth.
“This promise will be kept. At all costs. Have I not proven that to you yet?”
Her heart clenched in her chest. Yes, he had shown that he would do anything for her. To save her. The prison guards he’d killed to help her escape. The assassins he’d killed to try to prevent further attacks.
“You have. But even the most stalwart protector can’t defend against every danger, Torin. You’re just one man.”
“Eternal.”
She smiled and corrected herself. “Eternal. I know you’ll do everything you possibly can, Torin. But just in case something happens—” God, she didn’t want to think about the possibility of being torn from him. Of dying just as she was discovering how to live. But the threat had to be recognized for what it was. “—I want you to know, this time with you has been the best of my life.”
He laughed shortly.
“What?” Offended, she pushed at his arm, but didn’t budge it an inch.
“You’ve been kidnapped, implanted with electronic bugs, imprisoned, shot and nearly blown up all in the space of less than two weeks.”
“True. But you know what else I’ve been?”
He shook his head.
“I’ve been with you,” she said, dragging her fingers across the breadth of his chest, tracing the curve of the mating brand. “I’ve been part of a team. I’ve found out who I am and have begun to learn how to use what I am. I’ve been made love to by a damn expert—”
He gave her a smug, purely masculine smile.
“—and if it all ends tomorrow, I’ll regret leaving you, but I won’t regret a moment of anything else.”
His arm around her tightened and the smile on his face disappeared. “Nothing will happen to you, Shea. I finally have you and I won’t let you go. No matter what. I need you to believe that. Believe in me.”
“I do,” she said, clutching him to her, holding tight and fast to the huge man who had so quickly become the most important person in her world. “I really do, Torin.”
“Good.” He kissed her, fast and hard. “Now, lie back, and let me find that damn tracker so we can get out of here.”
Shea did as he asked and rolled to her back. Lifting her arms, she stretched them out behind her head, baring herself to his concentrated gaze. His fingers moved over and under the curve of her left breast, following the trail of her witch tattoo that became more defined, more a part of her, every day.
“Can you feel it?”
“No,” he said. “I’m going to call on the fire, use magic to find it. Hold still.”
She watched him, unable to tear her gaze from the man. His long, dark hair fell to his shoulders, and his pale eyes were narrowed and focused on his task.