Page 38

After a long nap, I wake to see Aura staring up at the ceiling, a hand tucked behind his head. There’s a distance in his gaze that worries me.

“What’s on your mind?”

“So many things and yet nothing useful.” Aura holds me against him, draws in a breath of me, and tension leaves his body.

“I’m afraid of how many others were there, not because they were criminals but because they didn’t follow the same Storm rituals or lack thereof.

I just keep thinking that there has to be a way to free them of Storm arrest and let them live in a normal cell where they can still enjoy food and conversation.

At least, maybe we could sort through them, release the ones who never actually hurt anyone. ”

I hook a leg over his hips and leverage myself on top of him. “Why don’t you just focus on your current situation for a little while? Let’s get you back into shape before we take on anyone else.”

A mischievous grin decorates his face. Aura collects me, rolls us over, and positions me beneath him. His erection is hot as he gently grinds into my hips.

“One part of you isn’t cold,” I mutter.

He chuckles, strips me out of my race suit, and then clambers to his feet and tears himself out of his. Aura is all firm electric flesh as he gathers me in his arms, finds my opening, and buries himself in me.

With every thrust, warmth floods back into his body until he is radiant again. He kisses my neck, rakes his teeth down my shoulder, and clutches me against him.

His bulging back muscles flex under my fingers. Aura pushes inside, wraps himself around me, rolls onto his back, and gets to his feet. He carries me by my hips into the shower, turns on the hot water, and steps inside, never once withdrawing like he doesn’t want to ever be apart from me again.

After a quick rinse, Aura presses my back against the wall and kisses me deeply. Steadying me with one hand, he pumps gently and tenderly weaves his fingers into my hair with the other.

His scintillating cock quickly has me riding a high I don’t want to come down from. I blink through the mist that sprays up from his muscled contours and admire the way his radiant eyes affectionately survey every curve of my body.

Aura nibbles my ear. “Can I give you a better memory to erase the one from Pronkus?”

He says it so dark and dirty that I can’t bring myself to say no. I’m curious what he has in mind.

Aura eases himself out, sets me down, and slowly repositions behind me.

He takes my hands and places them on the wall in front of me so the water sprays over my back.

His fingers travel down my arms to my breasts, where he caresses each globe before sliding lower.

Then, he slips his feet under mine one at a time, so I’m standing on the arches of his.

His massive hands rotate my hips, and I feel him dip inside my opening.

Aura rasps a note of lust.

The heat of his tip slicks me with hungry need, making me wiggle and slide back.

Aura sheathes himself inside me, pants, and plants a hand against the wall above mine. His rigid length flexes. “Give me a second.”

The electric tingles in my core have me tightening even as he simply soaks in my pussy. Then I feel his fingers in my hair, winding my ponytail into a loose rope that he gently gathers. Aura rumbles a low, animalistic growl and gradually pulls, arching my body.

He penetrates me deeper than he ever has, and I’m certain my hips are maxed out. When he bump-thrusts into me and slaps my backside with his hips, the lovezap shocks me. I grip him hard, and the tremors of release begin.

Aura curls over me with a groan in ecstasy. “Oh, Jovie.”

I struggle to hold myself up as the hot tides of euphoria melt my insides. Aura pumps his scorching seed into me. It is a raw, primal bonding that makes me certain he wants me and no one else ever again.

When our bodies are calm, Aura curls an arm around me and kisses my neck as he helps me stand up. He is so strong, even though I’m a puddle in his arms.

Aura washes me as I catch my breath while I lean against his chest. He doesn’t have to tell me how much he cares. I feel it in the way he touches me.

When I can stand on my own again, Aura steps out and flash-dries himself. He reaches for a towel and doesn’t give me a choice as he dries me off.

Then, he picks me up and cradles me against his chest. “There are many days that I feel all I know how to do is blow shit up and end life. Most of my life has been spent fighting the Nebs or learning to.

“When I was stuck in that tank—” Aura lays me on the bed and folds himself around me. “All I could think about were the chances I didn’t take to prove to the world and you I’m not just a crass killer. You gave me what I needed. You showed me I have another purpose.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

He closes his eyes and smiles. “You are my guiding light, Jovie. You are my hope that this life can be more than war and judgment and hate fueled by what makes us different.”

I reposition myself so I can hook a leg over his side and draw his head to my chest. Weaving my fingers into his short dark hair, I press a kiss to his forehead and pray to the stars that they’ll show us a way out of this in one piece.