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Afton
Ragan’s warm body unraveled from Afton, causing her to blink. She parted her lips to protest, but only a whisper escaped her sore throat. He’d held her through each of her screams, her curses, her raging.
A cool gust of air spilled into the room, followed by the crack of an imp’s wings, when Ragan opened the glass door. Afton tried to lift her head, but she was too weak to move after the energy took what it had wanted from her.
“Why is she suffering the same way the others had?” Ragan demanded, his voice a desperate shout.
Afton’s gaze fell to a female imp hovering in the air outside, the same one she’d seen on the other side of the glass when she first woke in Valgmyr. The imp’s white eyes glowed, her dark wings cracking against the night. Afton wanted to use her magic to burst the creature’s blood vessels, but she didn’t have the strength to do it.
“Tell me what I can do?” Ragan asked when no answer came.
After a few seconds ticked by, the imp shrugged and flew away from the open glass, the sound of her wings fading away.
A heavy breath escaped Ragan, his shoulders sagging as he shut the door with a soft click. He slipped back in bed beside her, and she closed her eyes.
Before she could attempt to sleep and drift into a raven-colored world, the torturous pain came once more, shooting through her body like sharpened arrows released from bows.
Afton continued to take in deep breath after deep breath. She wished she could have traveled into a rooted dream and stayed there. Instead, she’d been lying here, after the sharp pains and biting aches had dulled then dissipated.
Even after that, she was afraid to move for fear she would feel like she was being ripped apart from the inside out again. But the vicious energy didn’t stir.
She was still in the bed and not alone. Ragan’s strong, comforting arm curved around her waist, and she’d pressed in closer to the warmth of his bare chest during the night. She’d been thinking for a long time while he slept. Debating whether to remain down here forever and hate him or take the chance and truly understand the things he’d done.
Slowly, so as not to wake Ragan, she rolled over to study him. His eyes were still closed, his long-curled lashes dusting his cheeks. He pulled her closer, and she allowed him to as he pressed his forehead on hers. But his lids remained shut.
“You still haven’t slept?” he rasped, his voice tinged with guilt.
Afton lifted one of his lids so he was looking at her. She missed his brown eyes, but these ones were more truthful—they told her everything. They were the same shade as hers, yet they appeared so different in the way he observed things.
“No,” she said. “I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to.”
He winced and opened both eyes. “I knew you were going to hate me, but I also knew how much Ketill meant to you. If you were down here and understood that your energy could make sure nothing ever destroyed your home, then all of this would be worth it. I didn’t take you here just for selfish reasons—although some were—but so the land you loved would be safe. Yet now...”
Afton hadn’t thought about that. He’d explained to her by the lake how the tainted energy wouldn’t seep into the land because she wasn’t temporary. But she hadn’t realized that it would mean Ketill would always be safe, as would Enare and every other territory. If she’d been in his place, she knew she would have done far worse. Would have lied to anyone she could to lure them to Valgmyr herself to try and save the world above. And he hadn’t even done all of that—he’d used up his time to be with her, before he was forced to return.
“You didn’t know, and I won’t hate you for that.” She exhaled softly. “But how can I truly let it in? I already feel it’s attached, so I don’t understand.”
“When the energy is pulled from you again, I want you to only look at me. Focus. Focus on what makes you happy. Your sister. Ketill.”
Afton couldn’t lie to herself and say she hated him, couldn’t even pretend to, didn’t have the energy to anyway. And if the energy didn’t become a part of her, then who knew how much time she really had left. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t take down however many imps she could before that would happen.
“You,” she whispered.
“Hmm?” Ragan’s brows rose, and his breaths halted as he waited for her to continue.
“You make me happy too.” She sat up and crawled on top of him, her face inches from his. “I may have wanted to rip your heart out at times and will continue to do so, but you do make me happy. I like a messy story better anyway. Besides, I did stab you, claw you, pretended to be my sister when coming to Enare...”
“I’d rather have you at my side wanting to rip my heart out than not at all.” His lips pulled back into a radiant smile. “I love you. I should have told you before, and I wanted to, but I needed you to see the true me saying it. That was the one thing I held back on, even though I tried to show you in every way possible.”
He loved her, and she’d known it, but she’d held back too. Kept those words trapped inside her mouth, let her kisses remain hers.
“I love you and I hate that I do, but I love that I do more. So, I’m giving you the one thing no other man has gotten from me. I had wanted to give it to you every time I was with you, but I’m also glad I held back until now.” Afton leaned forward, slowly, her lips only a feather’s touch away from his. Her heart pounded, roaring for her to do it, but she liked the anticipation it was bringing her, bringing him. Then she gave in to temptation, cradling his face and letting her lips mold to his. The kiss was soft, gentle, but it was as perfect as when they would ride each other to bliss, just as fulfilling.
“I’ve been hoping you would do that.” He grinned against her lips. “Now, will you let me do something?”
“Only if you can make my toes curl.”
Playfulness danced in his eyes, and she knew that look, her body yearned for it. Then his mouth captured hers, and her back arched as his hand traveled down to cup her backside. His tongue swiped up her lips and parted them. She mirrored his caressing movements, then moaned as his tongue plunged into her mouth. Afton matched him stroke for stroke, claiming every inch of his mouth. She hadn’t known a kiss could be this bright, this satisfying. His warm tongue tangled with hers, and she ran her hands up his chiseled stomach, his naked chest, across his broad shoulders to the back of his neck. Her fingers entwined with his hair—it felt as it always did, like touching silk. His wings were tucked tightly at his back, and she removed a hand from his hair to trail her fingers over the leathery texture, then to one of his smooth horns. Her body heated even more as he growled with approval.
“Remove your pants,” she demanded, her body rocking against him.
His mouth didn’t miss a beat as she lifted up so he could unbutton his pants and shove them down. He kicked them off, becoming completely bare before her. She leaned back, taking all of him in, and even though they’d been like this together, he still made her heart accelerate. Afton wanted to stare at his naked form until the end of time, but she desperately needed him inside her.
Ragan’s fingertips skimmed up the length of her spine, expertly loosening each button at her back, knowing just what she wanted. He peeled the dress from her shoulders, exposing her bare breasts, her peaked nipples.
“I won’t ever get enough of you.” He sat them both up, hungrily kissing her beneath her jaw and down her throat to one of her breasts. With his tongue, he drew circles around her nipple, then stroked and sucked. Her center pooled with her wetness from his rhythmic movements.
Rolling Afton to her back, he removed the rest of her dress and undergarments. He then took that impish tongue to her belly button and glided it down in between her legs to taste how ready she was for him. As he nipped, licked, and grazed her with his teeth, it was as though he was performing some kind of spiritual summoning with the combined brushing of his horns along her thighs.
“Tell me what you want?” His eyes met Afton’s, his lips glistening from drinking her. He crawled over her until his mouth was inches from hers.
“You.” She reached down and grasped his length, squeezing until his eyes fluttered.
“Have me.” With one swift movement, she was off the bed and back in his lap, her legs cradling his hips, his hardness at her core.
She wrapped her hands around his shoulders and sank down on him. A moan escaped her as he filled her. Ragan gripped her hips, driving them forward. Her lips needed his once more and she kissed them, devouring them as her body’s pace picked up.
He growled against her mouth. And she would never exhaust of that beastly sound.
“Show me everything you have,” she purred with a grin.
Ragan knew exactly what she yearned for—he pulled out of her to flip her to all fours. She couldn’t help admiring his strength while he hovered behind her. She was about to curse at him to get back inside her, but he must have read her thoughts as he slid into her, agonizingly slow. Then he pulled back and thrust forward. Afton groaned in ecstasy. He thrust again, harder, faster—she needed more and he gave all of himself to her, their bodies smacking, her breasts bouncing, his growls igniting everything in her. With each fierce movement, the exquisite feeling expanded inside her, coming closer and closer until a burst of energy barreled through her. She shouted his name, hoping the entire world outside the portal would hear her. Ragan panted her name in return while his body shook and quaked. He folded himself on top of her, his hands cupping her breasts as they breathed in and out together.
Ragan kissed her neck softly, trailing his hands down to her stomach. “I didn’t think you would want me again once you discovered who I was and came here,” he said.
“It was inevitable.” Afton smirked, releasing a low chuckle. She turned so she was on her back, and he settled between her thighs. Drawing his head to hers, she pressed her lips to his. “Now—”
A sharp agonizing pain, harsher than before, shot through her. It felt as though all her organs were being squeezed until they burst. Afton could barely hear Ragan shouting her name over her own screams.
She didn’t think she would ever stop screaming.
