Please, God, don’t let me forget.
How could I tell her I was afraid?
Afraid of losing her, of hurting her.
I didn’t trust my own mind.
“Gem, I—”
“It’s okay, Kas.” She arched her back, pressing our bodies together, angling me against her wet entrance. “Stay with me. Just...stay, and everything will be okay.”
My eyes snapped closed as instinct took over.
I surged forward.
I thrust my entire length inside her.
She cried out.
I groaned.
We shuddered and clung to each other as the sensation of being whole, of becoming complete swamped me.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
All I could do was feel.
Feel her heat wrapped around me, her heart galloping against mine, her hands latched onto my hips.
My headache roared with new agony, compounding with dizziness and threatening white blankness. Digging my fingers into the dirt, I fought to stay with her. I lost my bearings. I forgot simple things. I growled as the world exploded outward and inward, scrambling me up inside.
Stay.
Stay with her.
Ghosts of Quell, Sarez, and Wes surround me.
The trees whispered with punishments.
The breeze licked across my naked ass like a whip bringing pain.
I couldn’t even thrust inside her.
I was on the precipice of blacking out.
“Gem...I...you need to get away—” I buckled over, crushing her as I fought so goddamn hard not to give in.
She stroked my back.
She kept me anchored.
But it wasn’t enough.
I felt myself slipping, falling, growing dark even as white light blinded me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I HAD A REASON for wanting Kas right there and then.
It went past wanting to cement any hope that he’d one day be stable enough not to hurt me. It was more than some misplaced desire after being strangled.
It was my way of, once again, protecting him.
One chance.
Jareth had given him one chance.
And this was me, using that one chance to ensure that the man who’d saved my life and so casually placed a guillotine over Kas’s knew that if I could forgive what Kas just did to me, then he could too.
He had no right to hurt this man, not after everything I’d sacrificed and achieved. Not after weeks of living in fear, slowly gaining his trust, inching my way closer and closer to a sane man who could become my everything.
So yes, I became an exhibitionist.
I was aware every second of Jareth watching.
I felt his eyes on us all while I caught the occasional thread of cigarette smoke as we kissed.
I heard his sharp inhale as I encouraged Kas to thrust inside me.
It went against all etiquette that I’d been raised with. I willingly put on a show for a dangerous stranger, all to protect a dangerous lover.
I didn’t know if Jareth watched because he liked to perve or he was honestly waiting to see if Kas would try to kill me again.
A part of me rebelled at the idea of anyone seeing me have sex while another part was grateful that I had a guard ready to step in if things went too far. But another piece of me, a deeper, darker piece...actually liked it.
I was wet knowing another male watched me be taken by the man I’d chosen. A man not entirely functional or trustworthy. A man who was dominant and aggressive, who suddenly wanted to treat me as if I was made of spun glass.
No matter what I did, Kas didn’t snap. He didn’t let lust cloud his self-control.
I respected that. I wanted to honor that.
But I needed him to let go—to prove to Jareth that I was safe. That he was strong enough to fight his demons and love me instead of hurt me.
He said he was in love with me.
Heat flared in my heart.
Passion flowed in my blood.
I wrapped my legs around him, burning up with connection and the need to be taken.
Roughly, completely, eternally.
Kas grunted as his hips obeyed, driving deeper and claiming me.
I shivered and clawed at his back.
Kas was going to leave this valley.
He was going to go home with me, willingly.
He was going to get physical and mental help.
And we’ll live happily ever after.
And there was no way in hell Jareth was going to get in the way of that.
Kas shuddered above me, his cock deep within my body, his weight pinning me on the ground. Tingles shot through my clit for a release. I wanted him to move. To fuck me like he had in the bath.
But he just froze, his breath hitched and eyes closed.
Sweat broke out over his brow. Goosebumps puckered his skin. He looked as if he fought so damn hard to stay with me but was losing with every heartbeat.
Shaking his head, he tried to roll off me.
I held him, locking my legs around his naked hips. “Stay. Stay with me. Just breathe. It’s okay.” I stroked his back as he groaned and trembled.
His hips thrust again, filling me with tease and torment. Kissing me, he poured agony down my throat. “I don’t know if I can. My head isn’t right...”