“I can’t do this, it will only make our parting more agonizing,” he said fiercely, but he was already closing the distance between them, already reaching to frame her face in his hands.
Gavyn lowered his head to capture her mouth with his in a kiss of brutal tenderness. Thud. Thud. Thud. She had no notion where the beat of his heart started and when hers ended. She’d had so many wicked and clandestine kisses with this man—brief, passionate kisses, tender kisses, stolen kiss
es, deep kisses. This one was raw and filled with lust and carnality.
The subtle hint of wine flavored his mouth, and his taste was dark, heady. Xian felt spun out of control as an unknown fire raged inside her body. It felt darker and hotter than desire, but she did not shy away from it but allowed herself to be consumed. Their tongues tangled wildly, and a long, low moan broke from her lips. His mouth on hers was hard and fierce and urgent. Xian met his kisses with equal passion, moaning into his embrace, conscious of how wet she got.
Flame washed from her, and her hair crackled. But her lover did not flinch but breathed the fire into his body. All around them was an orange glow, and the heat was incendiary, turning the clothes on their bodies to ashes. He gentled his kiss, quieting the pangs of hunger that raged through her body…and his, for his eyes were no longer the bleak silver after a winter storm, but the fire itself.
They stood naked, the erratic power of her Phoenyx creating a fiery glow around them. She felt the power cloaked her form, sensed it writhing inside of her to get out, and she could only endure, for she did not understand its force.
“I’m afraid,” she whispered. “Whenever I feel too much…it comes out.”
Her locks were coated in bright red and danced as if they had a life of their own. He reached out toward the wings of flames which had risen from her.
“Don’t touch it!” she cried, terrified what it could do to him.
But to her utter astonishment, the flames reached for him, greedily, he inhaled deeply…and wisps of her fire went into his mouth and nose. It was as if he consumed a part of the Phoenyx. He stood braced, legs apart, his head tipped slightly to the ceiling as her flames caressed over him, certainly with a will of their own for she did not send them.
Her heart pounded, and her hands trembled as she reached out and touched him, trailing her fingertips over his chest. He was beautiful, corded with smooth muscle, full of power and elegance. Tight buttocks flowed into lean, strong legs. His cock throbbed, long, thick, and more intimidating to her virginal senses than she would like to admit. Xian’s entire body flushed and ached.
Her lover’s body was an exquisite work of art she wanted to worship with her lips. His muscles rippled and contracted across his chest and stomach. A dark and heady desire rose in Xian, and the shivering sensation low in her stomach felt as if she were falling.
When he lowered his head, his eyes had been eclipsed by pure blackness. A jolt of shock went through her. The harsh contours of his face were uncompromising, dangerous, and implacable. There was an otherness to him she had never seen before. And inexplicably she felt frightened. “Gavyn…your eyes, they are pure black.”
His thumb dragged softly across her tender bottom lip. “I must tell you…”
The awareness she stood on the edge of revelation scythed through her heart. "Must tell me what?" she breathed shakily.
“The reason I did not ask for your hand in marriage all these years…even though I am hopelessly…desperately in love with you Xian Rein Haddin."
The world shattered at her feet and a sob rose in her throat. She slammed her fist into his chest with driving force, yet he did not move or stumble back. “You tell me this now…when it is too late!”
“I tell you this now because you do not hate Tehdra.”
Confusion rushed through her. “What does Tehdra have to do with us?”
He hauled her to him and dragged her up the length of his chest. Xian tilted her face to his, and he dipped, their lips only a scant inch apart. There was something eerie about the pit of blackness that had taken over his eyes. In their unfathomable depth, she spied a power that seemed dark and mesmerizing. Swirls of black, blue, and red ink appeared in slashing streaks across his jaw as if painted with violence from the inside.
An awful suspicion flowered in her heart and she lifted a trembling hand to cup his jaw. “Gavyn….” She breathed. “Why did you not ask me to marry you?”
“I am a half-blood.”
A fierce shiver overtook her entire body. “Say it!”
“The blood of the dark ones run through me.”
“You are part Darkan?” she asked through bloodless lips, her thoughts frantically churning at the implications. “Exile…Darkans are not welcome in Nuria. You will lose everything…I…I…”
She stared up at him, pain and anger tightening her throat. "You feared I would hate you. And why wouldn't you? So many times when we camp in the mountains all I speak of is revenge against the people who killed my mother on the battlefield. I only spoke of hate and revenge.”
Her forehead dropped to his chest, and the fierce beat of his heart trembled through her.
"I should have trusted you," he murmured, kissing atop her head. "I should have shared my darkest secret and trusted that you would help me understand the powers that rise in me when I least expected them."
She slipped her hand around his neck and hauled herself up against his body, wrapping her legs high around his waist. A wave of energy rushed from him and surrounded them. Perspiration glistened on her skin, and the fireplace roared and leaped to life as fire climbed the walls of the chamber and swirled around them. Xian peered into the blackness of his eyes and did not feel fear or see ugliness. His face was dark, savage, and beautiful in his arousal. “It is impossible for me to hate you,” she said hoarsely.
One of his thumbs stroked away the line of tear that ran down her cheek. “I could not have hated you,” she said, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Nothing in this world or the next could make me hate you. I love you.”