Each caress was deeper than the last. Their lips and tongues danced to a tune as old as time itself as their bodies moved together.
Ryker groaned, his fingers digging into Brynleigh’s hips as he thrust into her warmth. He didn’t have to worry about being rough with her—she could take everything he gave her.
She moaned, throwing her head back and digging her nails into his chest as she rode him, chasing her pleasure. Shadows slipped from her palms, covering them in a black mist.
She was an angel of darkness, and he would happily follow her into a starless night.
Ryker slid his hand between them, finding her clit, and rubbing that sensitive bundle of nerves. She gasped, her movements gaining a frantic edge as she climbed towards her release.
There was nothing sweeter in the world than watching the woman he loved find pleasure with him.
“Come for me,” Ryker ordered on a groan.
Brynleigh obeyed beautifully, breaking apart with a cry he was certain could be heard for miles. Her mouth parted, her fangs glimmering in the pearly moonlight. Her walls clenched around him, pulling his release from him with a strangled groan.
“I love you,” he panted as soon as he could form words once again, peppering her with kisses. “I promise I’ll never stop loving you.”
CHAPTER 21
The Couple that Slays Together
Brynleigh was pacing.
Fuckingpacinglike a nervous wreck who couldn’t sit still. It was an odd feeling that was wholly unbecoming of a graceful vampire. Her Maker would surely frown upon this action, yet she couldn’t seem to stop. Even the beautiful vampire-safe glass that allowed her to watch the sun didn’t calm her nerves.
Ryker was returning home. He’d texted an hour ago that he was picking Marlowe up from the kennel and coming to the apartment.
She’d been sitting by the windows; her attention split between the book she’d stolen from Jelisette and the noon sun glowing so brilliantly in the sky when her phone buzzed. His message broke her concentration, and she hadn’t been able to read a single word since then.
After her victory at Horizon and the subsequent meeting with Dimitri, Brynleigh had returned to the apartment and nursed her injuries. Several pints of blood later, both her wounds and the fight were just memories. Painful, but in the past.
Yesterday, Jelisette messaged that she’d have another job soon. She also hinted at another rebel meeting.
Thank all the gods, it seemed like Brynleigh’s theft had gone unnoticed.
Brynleigh’s socked feet padded silently along the hardwood floors of Ryker’s apartment. Their apartment? She wasn’t sure.
The blanket she’d used for the past few days was folded at the base of the couch, with her pillow on top. She wasn’t returning his shirt, though. She’d claimed it as hers.
He could fight her for it. She’d probably win.
Last night, she’d dreamed of Ryker. That, in and of itself, wasn’t strange. She’d dreamed of him every night since he’d left for Sandhaven. But last night had felt more… real, somehow. As if he’d really been there.
Brynleigh had dreamed of them coming together, and when she’d woken, she could have sworn she tasted him on her lips. It must’ve been their conversation. Talking to him on the phone and hearing him call her sweetheart had been the highlight of her week, if not her entire fucking month.
They were mending things. Every text they exchanged and every word they spoke closed the distance between them a little bit more.
That was why Brynleigh was so nervous. She didn’t want to ruin all the work they had done. Not now, when things were finally improving.
So, she paced and paced and paced.
Every so often, she looked out the window. She briefly admired the sun’s golden glow before continuing her path across the wooden floors.
Then she heard it.
The softdingof the elevator, a sound she’d come to recognize over the past few days, was followed a minute later by a key turning in the lock.
They were here.