Page 113 of Darkness Births the Stars #1

CHAPTER

Noctis

I carried Rada to the bedroom when she was in the state I loved most: loose-limbed with pleasure, fucked thoroughly out of her mind.

Her glorious hair spilled over the sheets in a fiery wave of copper, gold, and red, her silver eyes hazy as I laid her down on the bed.

I followed immediately, crawling on top of her, claiming those beckoning lips in a deep kiss.

My hand wandered back between her thighs, a groan escaping me at how incredibly wet she was.

A tremble racked her body as I breached her.

Oversensitive after all I had done to her.

And still quite ready for more, her hips canting up instinctively.

So ready I suspected I could do to her whatever I wanted, and she would let me.

The knowledge settled hot and heavy in my stomach, my already hard cock twitching painfully.

Our eyes met and held as I slowly pushed inside her, the feeling of that welcoming wet heat around me so intense, my control threatened to unravel once more. Stars, she was my undoing. And I wouldn’t want it any other way .

Then suddenly Rada tensed. A helpless sob escaped her, her hands fluttering over my shoulders like small, agitated birds.

I froze, catching sight of her face, where rapture mingled with piercing anguish.

Tears welled up in her eyes, one glistening drop tracing her temple before vanishing into her hair.

“I thought I had lost you,” she whispered, her voice fractured by another sob that shook her body. “For so long, I truly believed you were gone…”

“I know. I know.” I kissed each tear that escaped off her skin.

My heart ached at the thought of how alone she must have felt, how desperate.

If only I had known she didn’t hate me. If only I had found the courage to seek her out sooner.

“Should we stop?” I asked, bracing myself on my forearms above her.

She shook her head and kissed me, the sweetness of her mixed with the bitter taste of her sorrow. “No. Make love to me.” Her legs wound around my hips, pressing me deeper inside her. “Make me forget everything that has happened.”

Our bodies started to move in a slow, languid rhythm.

I had wondered if it would feel different now that we were both Human.

And it did. Gone was the fierce, sometimes aggressive passion we had shared as enemies, drawn together against all reason.

Gone was the frantic desperation of our secret encounters.

Our powers were no more. There was no otherworldly magic binding us across space and time. It was just the two of us, making love.

Yet it held a magic all of its own—a breathtakingly beautiful magic.

My hands clasped hers in an unbreakable grip above her head, our gazes locking as we both slowly unraveled. Something fierce flickered through the bright silver of Rada’s eyes.

“You can,” she breathed against my mouth.

“I can what?” I asked, confused .

A reckless smile danced across her face. “Take me like you want to.” She captured my mouth in a deep, searing kiss, the unrelenting heat in her gaze fueling my own desire into a blazing inferno. “It has been fifty years. Just let go, my love.”

For a moment, I stared at her, teetering on the edge of indecision. But the raging need inside me could no longer be denied. Who was I to refuse my queen what she wanted so much?

I slid one of her legs up at my hip and thrust inside her so deeply that all thoughts left my head, only sensations remaining. Rada’s head went back on the mattress with a hoarse moan, her eyes closing. We both drowned in the overwhelming pleasure raging through us at every thrust.

“By lyr , Baradaz.” My mouth closed around one tempting nipple, caressing and sucking until she cried out at the intensity. I could get drunk on the way she was squirming underneath me. “You are so beautiful. And all mine.”

To my delight, she did not deny my claim.

Her eyes fluttered open again as I moved to the edge of the bed.

I yanked her closer with a sharp pull at her ankles, smiling at the surprised sound that escaped her as I put her legs on my shoulders.

Then I thrust back inside her, using the new angle to increase the force and depth of my thrusts.

She could barely move in this position, only take what I was giving her.

She did so perfectly, her hands twisting in the sheets, her body bending back, those glorious breasts on full display.

And I could watch her. Watch the flush on her cheeks travel down her collarbone, watch her pleasure build up until she finally came around me with a soft cry of my name.

I didn’t slow down, fucking her right through her climax, drawing it out endlessly, making her clench around me again and again.

She had no words anymore, only breathless gasps and whimpers falling from her lips .

Still, it was not enough. I wanted all she could give me and then more.

I spread her legs wide and lifted her lower body completely off the mattress.

It was a strain to hold her up like this, my muscles tensing up, but stars, it was worth it.

To have her at my mercy completely, my cock thrusting inside her relentlessly, filling her in just the right way.

She had once accused me of treating her body like my temple, a sacred place where I could worship endlessly for a fleeting glimpse of the divine.

Perhaps she was right. My eyes devoured the arresting beauty of her face, caught in the throes of rapture.

This sin I committed eagerly, with not the slightest desire for absolution.

I was so close to my own climax I could taste it. My thrusts grew unrestrained, losing their rhythm, a sharp tightening in my groin. I threw back my head with a low shout of Rada’s name at the fire blazing through me. Then my hips snapped against her one last time as I spilled inside her.

Could Humans perish from too much pleasure?

I wondered as I collapsed on top of her, my heart racing painfully.

Without any magic to distract me, the sensations raging through this mortal flesh were more intense than ever before.

Her body as hot as a furnace underneath mine; her breath ragged in my ear; our damp skin pressed together.

It took time to gather the strength to roll off her, a discontented sound escaping her at the loss of my warmth. I laughed at the adorable way Rada’s nose crinkled, her eyes still closed.

“I’m crushing you,” I commented as I pulled her on top of me instead.

She sighed, resting her head on my chest. “I don’t mind.

It’s a nice feeling.” Her fingers traced the lines inked on my skin, a wistful tone entering her voice.

“You once asked me to promise that things between us would never change.” A soft breeze blew in through the open window, a balm on our heated skin. “Do you think they have?”

After centuries of pain and regret, after so much betrayal and heartbreak, it should seem a strange question.

Yet… what was between us burned stronger than ever, an unquenchable flame.

Completely impossible and utterly unavoidable.

The one truth that remained through suffocating darkness and blinding light.

“Not in the things that matter,” I answered, tilting her face up to see her expression. “Your ability to steal my breath remains unparalleled.”

She smiled, but all too soon, shadows drifted over her features. “There is a war coming.”

“Yes.” I bent closer to kiss her, unwilling to let reality intrude into our little sanctuary. “But not yet.”

Rada yielded, but I felt a renewed tension in her, the slide of her lips against mine edged with a tangible apprehension. “We need to make plans,” she reminded me, sitting up. “As much as I would love to, we cannot hide from the world forever.”

“I know,” I answered, trying to pull her down to me again. “But we can for a while.”

She was not deterred. Those starfire eyes found mine, a sharp demand in them. “On which side will you fight?”

An excellent question. Surely not on the side of the Ten, yet stopping Galator and the Chiasma without help would be nearly impossible. “On yours,” I told her—the one thing that was certain. “Always on yours.”

Her expression softened at once, her hand gently cupping my face. “But can you promise me you’ll stop if I tell you to?” The need in her voice was palpable, a plea for reassurance. “That you won’t let Chaos overwhelm you again? ”

“Can you promise me that you won’t betray me again?

” I asked in return. “That when the time comes, you won’t choose duty over what is between us?

” I turned my head and pressed a kiss to her wrist, softening the sting of my questions.

“I suppose we’ll have to trust each other. And keep each other on the right path.”

Her head snapped up at my words, a stricken look in her eyes. “A guiding star,” she murmured.

My fingers slid into her hair, gripping her nape, not allowing her to avoid my gaze.

“I’m not a fool, Baradaz,” I said. “I know you’re keeping secrets.

” She tried to protest, but I shook my head.

“It’s alright. Whatever time you need—whatever proof of my sincerity—I will give it to you.

” I pressed my forehead against hers, willing her to understand that I meant every word.

“I’m just asking you to give me a chance. ”

The wild flame in Rada’s gaze burned impossibly bright as she brought her mouth close to mine. “You always accused me of not daring enough. Of not rebelling when I should have. But isn’t this the greatest defiance of all? That I dared to fall in love with you?”

I could only stare at her, my words stolen from me.

The last—and only—time she had told me she loved me, she had cried, her voice full of pain and regret, as if it were a terrible confession.

Today her expression was calm and sure. But I knew it did not mean she loved me still, that her feelings had endured after all that I had done.

Part of me was tempted to ask her. Yet I could not.

I was not worthy of her love. My feelings for her were not the pure adoration of the light that Elvish poets sang of; they were so much darker.

I wanted to possess her, make her mine for all eternity.

Perhaps Aramaz had been right so many years ago when he’d said I didn’t know what real love was, that I was incapable of it.

I couldn’t tell her I loved her, because it would bind her to me irrevocably, leaving her no way out. Even if I failed again. Even if she might need to stop me one day.

So I told her as best I could without any words. With my lips, claiming her mouth in another deep kiss. With my touch, caressing her body until the bright light of day turned into the soft glow of dusk. With every fiber of my wretched soul, which was hers, for as long as she wanted it.

I could only hope it would be enough to shelter her from the coming storm—a storm threatening to destroy not just us, but the entire world.