“Seth,” I breathed out his name.

He went deeper and faster, and I was aware of his hips moving, as if he couldn’t control himself, and something about that made me run red-hot. Somehow I innately knew he was as close as I was, and I wanted that. I took a breath, but the coil deep inside me sprung. I cried out, and I heard his husky, throaty sound against the softest part of me. The release pounded through me, stealing my breath, as I liquefied under the crushing, pulsing and throbbing whirl of sensations.

Seth stayed with me, easing me down and slowing it all until I could catch my breath. My hand slipped from his hair, falling limply to my stomach. He kissed me one more time, then each of my thighs, before he lifted up.

Through a haze, I thought his expression looked kind of startled, a little knocked off his axis. That was okay. He’d blown my axis apart.

Climbing up me, he kissed me softly, and there was a mingled taste of both of us. “You okay?” he asked. “Perfect,” I murmured. “I have no bones.” He chuckled. “I’ll be right back.”

“Uh-huh.”

His face softened as he pushed off the bed. Reaching down, he grabbed a quilt and dragged it up to my waist. It felt long enough to cover all of me, but when his gaze fell to my breasts, I figured he’d done that on purpose.

With eyes half-open, I watched him stop at the dresser and pull out another pair of boxers. He looked over his shoulder at me and winked. “That was a first for me.”

Completely unashamed.

I loved it.

I grinned a little as he disappeared into the bathroom. I heard water running, and I imagined he was cleaning himself up. He returned in a few seconds, and I hadn’t moved an inch.

He climbed into the bed, sliding an arm under my back. He rolled me onto my side and then he hauled me back, nestling my butt into the cradle of his hips. His arm was tight around my waist, our bodies sealed together.

“You still with me?” he asked.

“I…” It took a moment to gather my wits. “I never knew it could be like that.”

Seth pressed a kiss against my bare shoulder, and then he shattered my heart a little. “Neither did I.”

Chapter 29

MY HEART was still pounding, and I wasn’t sure how much time passed as we lay there. Josie had a hold of my right hand, my dagger hand, and was dragging the tip of her finger along my palm, tracing idle designs.

She never knew it could be like this?

Hell, I hadn’t either. For real. Never in my life had I found release without getting my boxers off, and even as powerful as that had been, I still wanted her now. Like a caveman, the word mine, mine, mine repeated over and over again, and yeah, that was a first. Kind of fucked with my head, feeling this strongly. Wasn’t like it was something that had happened overnight. It had been building for a while.

She knew everything—every fucking thing about me, and she was here, in my arms, gloriously warm and soft. Lucky? That didn’t even cover it. She was…she was a gift. Salvation.

It was dangerous feeling this way, because it made me want to think about things I couldn’t have. A future, for one thing, and then there was the fact that she was virtually a weapon. One day she would face off with Hyperion. My arm tightened around her waist.

I didn’t want to think about any of those things right then.

“When I was a little girl…” she said. Since we had settled in together, she started talking about random stuff, and I didn’t want her to stop. I liked the sound of her voice. “I was really chubby. My granddad used to call me Butterball.”

I grinned against her throat. “I like your butterball.”

“Oh my God,” she laughed. “That sounds so wrong.”

“It’s true.”

“I bet you weren’t chubby. You were probably born with an eight-pack.”

Dipping my head, I pressed a kiss to the crescent-shaped scar on her neck, pushing down the anger that accompanied seeing that tag. “I was the fittest baby around. Could lift two bottles with just one fist.”

Her body shook with her soft laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”

Unable to help myself, I nuzzled her neck, eliciting a shiver out of her. I was already ready for round two, but I held that in check, satisfied with holding her. It didn’t take long for her to drift off to sleep in my arms. And even though I was tired, I found myself wide awake, centered on her, soaking in the slow and steady rise and fall of her chest, the way her lips were parted, and the long length of her lashes.

As I lay there, for what felt like seconds but could’ve been hours, the lead ball in my stomach resurfaced and got a little heavier. Doubt crept into my thoughts, diminishing the sated haze. It wasn’t regret. Fuck no. I would never regret these moments with Josie. The dread ran deeper, rooted in everything I’d experienced. It was that icy, nagging sensation that even though I held her right now, she was going to slip through my fingers, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I was only operating on a few hours of sleep, but as corny as it sounded, I felt like I’d slept for a week when I woke up and found Josie right where I’d last seen her, in my arms.

She was awake, her face turned to me, and a small smile pulled at those lips. “Morning,” she whispered.

Closing the tiny distance between our mouths, I kissed her softly, ignoring the sudden resurgence of what I’d been thinking about before I’d fallen asleep. Her lips were soft and warm under mine, and hell, I didn’t want to move from this bed.