Primal Heat 04 - Forever in Darkness

kissed her so
passionately. It was a man who held her, not a monster. It was a man who had
brought her to life, not a demon who had stripped it from her. "It's all inside
you," she said. "The evil, and the good—"
    "No." He kissed her
again, a gentle, tender kiss that brought tears to her eyes as he began to move
his hips again, slow, seductive thrusts that began to curl sensual desire through
her again. "I'm a fucked-up mess," he said between kisses. "I'm
cursed, and I'm definitely not the kind of guy you'd take home to your mom, but
I'm not evil."
    She shifted her hips, unable to
keep from responding to the sensations he was evoking inside her with his slow,
seductive thrusts. "But there's demon inside you—"
    "No evil." He kissed her
again. "Don't keep me out, Catherine. Bring me into your soul. See who I
really am. Let me see who you really are. Let me find out your secrets, the ones
you can't tell me." Then he thrust again, deeper this time, and she
couldn't keep from gasping at the intense pleasure that cascaded through her.
    How could her body respond like
this if he was evil? It didn't make sense. It couldn’t happen. She shouldn’t be
feeling this way regardless of who he was— He thrust again, and a tremor shot
through her. An orgasm? "Dear God, Ian—"
    "Not God. Just me. But I'm
damned close." Then he took over her mouth again, and his kiss was more
than just passion, more than just desire. There was a tenderness to it that
made her throat tighten, a personalization that told her that it was simply for
her. That she was all that mattered. An offering of his very soul to her, if
she wanted it. A deep, masculine warmth enfolded her like a solid wall of
strength, and she knew it was Ian, showing her that she was safe with him. He
wasn't kissing Catherine, he wasn't making love to a name, he was completely
and irretrievably connected to her, to her soul, to the very essence of who she
was.
    The demon was still there inside him.
The despair. The shadows that clung to his heart and had burrowed their way
into his soul hadn't lessened, but beside all of that, she could sense a purity
of spirit, an honesty of intention, a commitment to her safety.
    His emotions and his spirit were
unlike anything she'd ever felt before, and she was overwhelmed by it, by how
he made her feel. Unable to articulate her emotions, she showed him the only
way she could, by wrapping her arms around him and kissing him with everything
she was.
    "And now you're mine,"
Ian whispered it into her mouth, a fierce statement of possession that made her
shiver in anticipation. Then he thrust deep, and she was lost to him.
    The kisses turned frantic and
desperate, and suddenly she couldn’t get enough of him. She clung to him as he
thrust again and again, driving deeper and deeper, sending her catapulting
toward the precipice. Tension built inside her, coiling tighter and tighter,
twisting her insides into a seething mass of desire so intense she couldn’t
even think. "Ian—" she gasped.
    "Catherine," he growled
as he thrust one more time, and then everything fragmented inside her and she
came apart in his arms. Ian shouted fiercely and then he was crushing her
against the wall, his body rigid as the orgasm took him, spinning them both wildly
out of control, into a place so dangerous and so right that she knew everything
had changed for her forever.
    * * *
    Ian leaned his forehead against
Catherine's as he fought to regain his breath. His muscles were vibrating from
the violence of the orgasm that had just taken him, and from the intensity of
what he'd felt from Catherine.
    He understood more about her. So
much more. And it wasn't good.
    "Ian." Her voice was
throaty and sensual, easing into his gut as she ran her fingers through his
hair.
    He smiled and lifted his head,
placing a kiss on her mouth. That amazing, beautiful mouth. "Hey."
    Her eyes were at half-mast, the
expression of a woman well-loved, but there was a furrow between her brows. "That
shouldn't have been able to happen between us."
    Ian nodded. "I know. I can
tell."
    Surprise flickered across her face.
"You can? What are you talking about?"
    Ian rested his palm on her chest,
over her heart. "There are shields inside you so strong that I couldn't get
past them. I could feel you reaching out for me, inviting me in, but I couldn't
get in. You're blocked from connecting with me. With anyone?"
    She nodded, watching him warily, as
if uncertain how much to share. "I thought you