Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

before, the intensely erotic feeling of so much flesh sliding against each other: her foot on his calf, her breasts against his chest, and her hips beneath his.
    Kane kissed her everywhere, his hands roaming every inch of her body. He wanted to feel every curve, to taste every crevice, to feel her writhing beneath him, desperate for more of his touch, for more of his kisses, for more of him.
    He gripped her thighs and slid lower, kissing his way down her belly, over one hip bone, then the other and then to the top of her pubic bone, then he pressed his thumbs against her most intimate parts, opening her to him. Sarah gasped and grabbed Kane's hair as he kissed her, one kiss, then another, a seduction of a type he'd never done in his life. He became aware of every nuance of her body, every movement, instinctively knowing exactly how to touch her.
    Kane. She gripped his hair, her hips bucking against his grip as he held her still, locking her down at his mercy.
    Give yourself over to me, sweetheart. As he said the words, Kane realized that he meant them. He needed Sarah to chase away all the crap going on inside him. He needed what she'd given him the first time they'd made love. He needed the beauty of her spirit.
    But he felt her walls, the lock around her heart, and knew she was still holding back from him. There was the red hot burning of desire, and there was no mistaking the desperation in her kiss or the passion in her voice, but it wasn't enough. He needed all of her. Now.
    Sarah. He growled her name as he kissed his way up her body. Her skin was slick with sweat as she gripped his shoulders. Kane palmed her waist as he shifted his hips over hers. She opened her eyes, and he saw the desire burning so deeply inside them. Not just desire. Need that was as powerful and desperate as his own.
    She laid her hand on his chest, over his heart. Kane. You have so many demons inside you, but I can feel this amazing heart fighting to beat. You should scare me, but instead, you give me hope that there can be light even amidst the darkest night.
    His heart began to thunder beneath her touch, and his lungs seemed to tighten. Hell, Sarah, you're the one who gives me hope. Without you, I've got nothing.
    She said nothing, but she raised her arms to him, inviting him into her world, into her soul, and into the very essence of who she was. Rightness surged though him, and he caught her face, holding her still while he kissed her again. This time, it wasn't a desperate kiss of frantic need. It was a promise that he would protect her, that he would always find a way to make it right for her. That he would find a way to be the man she needed to have. Somehow, in that moment, with Sarah looking at him that way, Kane felt like he could make that promise, that he would somehow, some way, find a way to triumph over whatever was inside him and do it for Sarah.
    Sarah kissed him back, a kiss so tender and loving that his own throat tightened up. Her fingers threaded through his hair, her touch so soft and loving that he felt it all the way to the depths of his soul. The intimacy was a gift, sweeping the two battered souls into a moment of such beauty and peace that Kane knew it had to be an illusion, an untruth that would never truly be his to experience.
    No. Sarah's voice touched his mind, so beautiful and tender that it made his spirit ache with longing. This moment is real, Kane. We don't know what is coming. I know that. But this moment, this connection between us, it is real.
    Disbelief hummed through Kane, and he pulled back enough to see Sarah's face. Her blue eyes were soft and smoky, and she slowly smiled, a beautiful smile that went straight to his heart, shattering the scars that had bound it for so long.
    Sudden pain shot through him, the ache of a heart long since dead trying to wake up. He was filled with grief and loss. Sadness beyond words. Self-loathing so deep he felt it stain his cells. Emotions. His emotions. Painful, but also good, because they made him feel alive. But also, incredibly, he felt something else. Hope. Sunlight. Love?
    Sarah's eyes widened. "I feel that," she whispered. "That's beautiful." Then she laughed. "Terrifying and awful, but also so beautiful."
    "I know." He couldn't keep the awe out of his voice, and he bent his head to kiss her. He had no words to show his appreciation of what she'd done, of what it felt like to have all those emotions tearing through him, so he showed her the only way he