Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

void. I can barely feel. I can barely connect with people. I feel so little.
    His aching emptiness touched her, drawing tears to her eyes.
    My only mission has been to protect humanity. To make a difference. To save another life. And another. It was all that kept me going.
    Sarah felt the truth of his words, the emptiness inside him that had been filled only by his knowledge that he was saving innocents. There was nothing else in him, no heart, no soul, no passion. Just the emptiness of honor and duty.
    Until I heard your voice, Sarah. She felt his hands frame her face, and she tried to touch him, but she couldn't move her hands. Couldn't act. Her body felt too heavy, her limbs like dead weights. When I heard your voice, it was as if something plunged straight past the emptiness inside me and brought it to life. It hurt, and the pain felt so unbelievably amazing. The raw, unbearable emotion of being alive...it's incredible, Sarah. What kind of incredible gift is that? You need hope and faith? You're the one who already has it. You gave it to me the minute you reached out and found me. I won't let you die, because you are the one damn thing in my life that has ever made my heart beat. Do you hear me? His hands tightened on her face. You are my salvation, Sarah. You are the first breath of hope I've had in five hundred years.
    Sarah felt his pain in every fiber of her being, and she felt his disbelief, his awe, his raw, untamed, desperate hope that she could save him. His emotions plunged deep inside her, awakening that part of her that had lost faith, that had given up, that had abandoned that which gave her life.
    The white light inside her stopped fading, hovering in the balance, trying to decide which way to go.
    Kane. She reached for him, and this time she felt his face beneath her hands. The moment her fingers touched his skin, electricity leapt through her. Life. Passion. Fire. Hope. It was as if he were the very source of life she'd been searching for. He was her chance. He was the hope for humanity.
    He was so close, but still out of reach. She needed more of him. She needed all of him. She needed all he had to give her. The white light flickered, and she screamed in protest, unable to pull herself out of the chasm she'd fallen into so deeply. Kane!
    You are mine, Sarah. The words were almost violent, thrusting past her shields and assaulting her fading light. Then his fingers tightened in her hair, his body tensed against her, and he kissed her, a kiss that claimed her very soul and offered her his. It plunged deep inside her, past the darkness, past the despair, past the approaching death, right to the light that burned in her very core.
    A tiny spark flickered. One spark. One spark of life, of renewal, of hope.
    Yes. The word burned deep in her soul, calling to Kane, asking him for all that he had.
    Yes. His answer was fierce in her mind, and then he clasped her face and deepened the kiss, an almost violent assault that demanded her response, that allowed no room to ignore him. It was a kiss of ownership and connection, a forced merging of their spirits. It was so full of intensity and strength that it stripped away all her despair, hopelessness, and abandoned faith. Instead, the kiss ignited such passion, yearning and fire within her that it almost hurt.
    The kiss was everything she needed. Kane was everything she needed. This kiss was their future, their hope that something good still existed in this life. She flung her arms around him and kissed him back, opening herself completely to him, entrusting him with her very soul...exactly as she'd sworn never to do again.
    After her soul mate had murdered her family, Sarah shut herself down to save herself, and now her only chance to survive was to throw her entire being into the safekeeping of the man meant to destroy her.
    Sarah didn't hesitate. She just pulled him down and kissed him back with everything she had.
    This man, this moment, was worth the risk.
    * * *
    When Sarah's body softened beneath his, Kane realized she'd accepted his kiss. Passion instantly rushed over him so intensely he could barely breathe. He tangled his fingers in her hair, plunging into the kiss, into the connection, desperate for the relief she gave him.
    The void inside him, the one that had been threatening to consume him for so long, raged in fury, refusing to relinquish its grip on him, refusing to lose him to Sarah. It swelled in intensity, trying to suck him down, battling