Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione [129]
“That’s it,” he whispered against her throat. “Ride me, sweetheart. Ride me hard.”
There had never been another option. She was caught up in a maelstrom of raw, animal lust and pure, soul-mending love, and for the first time in her life, she felt it all come together, as if she was finally whole. Finally happy with who and what she was, and had found the man who complemented her.
They rocked together, their bodies slapping as he pounded into her and she arched up to meet every impact. Sweat glistened on his skin, creating even more contrast and texture in the hills and valleys of his muscles, and when he threw his head back, teeth bared, tendons straining, the sight blew her last circuit. The most intense orgasm of her life tore through her with such power that she bucked her entire body off the mattress. Ares’s arm went around her and pulled her up so he was sitting back on his heels and she was perched on his thighs, screaming as the pleasure popped along every nerve ending.
His roar of release joined hers, his hot semen splashing inside her and turning her orgasm into a fiery, stinging ecstasy that bordered on pain. Beneath her, Ares jerked, his muscles twitching, his breath coming in halting gasps. His pelvis continued to pump upward, though his movements were weak, uncontrolled, and after a few seconds, he fell forward with her, twisting so she wouldn’t have to bear the bulk of his weight.
They lay like that, breathing heavy, sweating, trembling, for a long time. This should be the point where they drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms or engaged in pillow talk, but instead, a terrible tension grew between them.
It was time, and there was no sense putting it off. Not when she could feel the energy Shade had given her seep away now that the sexual hunger had been sated.
“Ares?”
He squeezed her so tight she could barely breathe. “No.”
For some reason, that made her smile. Then she reached across him to the dagger he’d set on the bedside table. It felt oddly warm in her hand. Seemed like it should be cold.
Carefully, she pushed against him, and he slid out of her, leaving her feeling empty. He propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her, the expression on his handsome face laden with tragedy. “There’s so much to say.” His voice was halting, broken. Like her heart. “And yet…”
“And yet, what can be said?”
“Yeah.”
Poor Hal. At least this was going to be a quick end for him, much better than being torn apart in a pit.
She put the tip of the dagger against her breastbone, took his hand, and placed it around the hilt. Then she wrapped her hands around his. They both shook as he moved the blade to the left, just under the swell of her breast, clearly knowing exactly where to shove it through to make the fastest, most lethal strike.
“Now,” she said.
He gave a single, sharp nod, and his hand tightened beneath hers. “Now.”
Twenty-four
Now didn’t always mean now.
How could Ares possibly do this? If Hal was reasonably healthy, Cara could suffer for a long time as his energy poured into her, keeping her heart beating even around the dagger’s sharp blade. The pain would be excruciating.
His chest constricted. “I can’t,” he rasped. What if Kynan was wrong?
“You have to. You know you do.” She tightened her grip around his, steadying it. How ironic was it that he was the battle-hardened warrior, part demon, part ruthless angel, and his hand was shaking, yet Cara, a mere human, was steady as a rock.
No, there was nothing mere about her.
They’d found each other too late. Way too late.
“We could wait. Just a little longer.”
Her sad smile made his eyes sting. “You know we can’t. I can feel myself getting weaker. Hal is getting weaker. I could fade away at any minute, and then where would you be?”
Evil.