And we kissed even more. Desperate and frantic, yet deepened by emotion. Wrapped in cool wetness, but heated from togetherness.
It was pure, unbridled joy.
Water soaked us. It was a soulful cleansing. Perhaps, the raindrops washed away the pain and horror that brought us together. Maybe, the water helped set our spirits free.
Stopping the kiss, I leaned back and carried her away.
She gazed at me like she’d never seen me before in her life. Her lashes flickered droplets away.
Stepping out of the lake, I held her up and against me. “I’m never going to let you go. Do you understand?”
“Cain. . .” She held onto me tighter and blinked through the rain. “You have to.”
I stepped a few feet into the mud and let her down. “I won’t.”
Her feet landed on the ground.
She shook her head. “I can’t stay with you.”
“Why not?”
“Because. . .” She frantically looked around as if the raindrops could give her an answer. “Because this. . .us. . .we started off so wrong.”
“But we could end right.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“I can show you. You will have to see it.”
“I don’t know if I’m strong enough to see this love. . .this broken love that you’re talking about.”
I looked down at her. “There’s no other options.”
“But—”
“You’re mine now.” I devoured her mouth, lowered, and pulled her down with me to the muddy ground.
Our bodies came down together.
Chapter 20
Mud
Cain
I
n the cool, wet mud, I lost all control with my kisses. They became hungry and desperate. Our breaths skittered in between our tongues tangling and lips sucking.
Perhaps, the roaring thunder woke the primal part of my soul.
Maybe, it was the rainy dirtiness that made me crazy. The wet sludge was a symphony of lush grass and earthy browns. It oozed and smeared all over us as we rolled and clung to each other on the soaked ground, kissing and making out.
The dark sky illuminated with bold streaks of lightning.
There was a cool, electric freshness within the breeze. A pulsing energy that whipped around us.
With my slippery hands, I brought her close to me. “I’m going to fuck you right here and make you so dirty.”
Her face flushed in shock, yet desire filled her eyes.
I yanked down my pants.
She hurried with pulling her top off.
I had my pants down before she slung the shirt to the side. I was back on her.
Kissing each other again, we rolled in the cool rain and slimy mud.
I put Phoenix on her back and hovered over. “You’re changing me.”
She widened her eyes. “How?”
“I don’t know yet, but. . .maybe that’s good.”
“I hope so.”
The storm continued around us.
“It has to be good.” I grabbed handfuls of mud and smeared it onto her bare breasts. Some of it dripped away from the rain.
Her chest rose and fell. “This is crazy.”
“It is.”
“I don’t know what else to do. . .but fall into it.” She gathered mud from her sides and rubbed it onto me.
“Yes. Join me.” I slid my slippery hand across her cheek, leaving a small trail of mud on her face. “Maybe. . .we’ll change together.”
She blinked. “I don’t know who I am anymore.”
I slipped my hand down to the bandage on her collarbone, hiding the C-shaped scar. “But I think you do know what you are.”
“Do I?”
“Yes.”
“Then what am I?”
“Mine.” I kissed her.
I drank from her.
I feasted.
I tried to consume her soul.
Our bodies slipped and slid in the mud.
A damp, earthy smell rose around us.
Groaning, I rolled us over until I was on my back. My legs and butt sank a few inches into the soft, muddy ground.
She mounted me and smeared more mud on my chest. Bits of mud dotted her cheeks and eyebrows. And her eyes blazed with a primal fierceness that I’d never seen before, since taking her.
My breath caught in my throat.
This. I want more of this.
Whatever this was.
Whatever this represented through her.
I needed all of it.
Captivated, I stared up at her.
And she gazed down at me like a goddess with the harnessed elemental power of the earth. Wet strands of her hair stuck to her cheeks. Some mud dripped from the strands.
Even her slim waist was splattered with wet clay and grass.
Dear. . .God. . .
She was bewitching me. She conjured the darkest parts of me to rise and soar into her control. Even covered in mud she entranced me. Even dirtied and in the rain, she cast a spell.
My infatuation spiraled out of control.
My need for her was endless.
How odd was it that her dirty and naked body turned me on even more?
Fuck. I could fall for her. . .if I’m even capable of love anymore.
Deranged, I plastered more mud on her full breasts and massaged the wetness into her skin. I caressed and squeezed their pillowy softness.
“Oh,” she moaned.
I dirtied those hard nipples. Her body felt slippery and silky under my touch.