Page 160 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Thirty

Griffin

I didn’t remember how much feeling my body was capable of containing. Or maybe it never held so much emotion before, when our existence was so strictly regimented, when I’d never shared anything more with Riva than smiles and the occasional hug.

Now my adoration radiates through every pore, like I’m shining with it right down to my soul.

It’s incredible and also overwhelming. I don’t want to let go of her, even just to walk down the path to the river.

The slide of my arms around her bare back sends fresh shivers of sensation through my body. Slivers of pain lance through the joy here and there, punishing me for the indulgence, but the eager thunder of my pulse drowns those out enough that I can ignore them.

I can’t keep all this happiness in.

“I love you,” I murmur, kissing her forehead, her cheek. “I love you. I love you.”

Can I say it enough times to make up for the years when I wasn’t there to say it at all? For all the time I’ve been aware of her and then around her in the last few months when I couldn’t even feel it?

My mind slips back to images from our shared past—to a younger Riva tucking herself next to me on the sofa in the facility’s lounge area, trusting me not to betray the eagerness only I could sense to the others.

To the spirited arguments with Jacob that neither of them took too seriously back then.

To the strength that flowed through her body when she pushed herself through a challenge.

But with each of those memories, sharper shocks of pain jolt through my nerves. My stomach starts to cramp.

I have to clamp my jaw against the other memories that try to rise up, that the guardians seared into my brain in tandem with every image they could find that provoked the slightest emotional reaction in me.

But every memory since we came to the island is safe. I can revel in the hunger that winds through my veins at the touch of her, not satisfied even after the intimacy we just shared.

I can think of the compassion in her gaze and the tenderness of her kiss after I first told her what her touch was doing for me. Of the flash in her eyes when she told off Clancy for profiting off us.

I don’t think there’s any part of her I don’t love.

A matching emotion shines from her into me. She was right that I don’t need her to say it for me to know her heart, but my pulse still skips when the words pass from her lips again.

“I love you too, Griffin. I know… I know now that all six of us are back together—really together —we can figure this out eventually.”

I capture her lips, losing myself in their softness and heat—but not totally. Her last comment echoes through my mind.

Eventually isn’t good enough. I screwed this up—it’s because of me that she and the others ended up under Clancy’s thumb to begin with.

I will make this right. I was willing to end Celine’s life to make sure I was in a position to save us, as sick as that memory makes me feel.

I would give up my own life if it comes to that. There’s no sacrifice that wouldn’t be worth it.

Better to die knowing I gave them everything I could than to live with the awareness that I was nothing more than their downfall.

The unsettling thoughts finally loosen my need to hold on to her. What we’re doing here isn’t going to save anyone.

I take a step back, ignoring the protests of my desire pleading for more. “I guess we’d better get on with washing up.”

Riva smiles bright enough to almost compensate for the loss of her embrace and tugs her bra and tee back on. I collect my shirt from the ground and pull it over my head reluctantly.

But I haven’t lost her yet. She curls her fingers around mine to walk with me down the mountainside.

The guardians keeping watch have stayed far enough back in the jungle that I’m not sure Riva will see them. I can sense their presence, their mix of boredom and apprehension—and the jolts of alertness when they spot us coming into view.

I head straight for the riverbank at the base of the waterfall and slip over the coarse grass along the water’s edge to plunge in waist deep.

Riva dips her feet in with a wince, though nothing on the island is really cold. It’s more lukewarm.

I wade around, adjusting my pants so the current will carry away the outcome of our interlude and trying not to think about exactly what I’m doing. But Riva’s gaze follows me, and my face gradually flushes hotter until I think it might burn right off.

I sensed her with the other guys that night in the abandoned hotel. I didn’t set out to pry, but with the invisible bonds we’ve already formed, it’s hard not to pick up on how they’re feeling when they’re nearby.

I know how much pleasure they gave her and how much enthusiasm they brought to the task. They all know that side of her so much better than I do, even when I can read her from the inside out.

How can I catch up when I’m not even totally sure how to feel anymore?

But I also know that she doesn’t care. There’s nothing in her now as she watches me except the warm glow of affection and a little worry that I can tell is for my own well-being, not hers.

And when I walk over to where she’s sitting on the bank, my clothes clinging to my frame and my hair slicked back, a flare of desire sears through her too.

She doesn’t let it show other than the brief flick of her tongue over her lips. The tiny movement acts like a magnet, drawing me in.

Without speaking, I step right up to her, set my hand on her cheek, and kiss her.

Riva trails her hands down my chest, the heat of them seeping through the damp fabric of my shirt. I wish it was off again—I wish I’d never put it back on.

Maybe Riva’s thoughts are traveling along similar lines. When our mouths part, she leans close so only I can hear her whisper. “There are a lot of places I haven’t gotten to touch you yet.”

I swear my dick rises to half-mast in an instant, as if volunteering for duty.

I lower my head to nibble her jaw where I know I can set off a spark of bliss before answering. “I’ve missed out too.”

“Hmm. But I bet the guardians are monitoring us out here.”

“Yes.” I drink in her heat and the flavor of her desire, and an impulse grips me that I can’t shake. “But we could work around that.”

She cocks her head, but before she can voice her question, I scoop her off the bank. As Riva lets out a gasp of startled laughter, I push through the current to the waterfall—and propel us right under it.

The torrent washes right over us and then we’re mostly beyond it. I press Riva up against the wet rock beneath, heedless of the current streaming down my back.

I was already soaked anyway. And back here, no one can see what we’re doing.

No one can hear the breathier gasp that escapes her when I trace my fingers right down the center of her to the apex of her thighs.

When I stroke over the spot that before I only bucked against artlessly, Riva’s fingers clench in my shirt. If I had any doubts about whether I’m moving too quickly, she dispels them with the yank of my mouth to hers.

I don’t know how much more time the guardians will give us. So I’m going to make sure I leave her with the best possible memories of our reunion.

I delve my hand under the waistband of her track pants and her panties. At the feel of her slick folds, I groan against her mouth.

She already came for me once, but I can make this one better. I can make it as close as possible to the total joining we’re both craving but resisting.

I tease my fingertips over her sex until I’ve charted every spot that provokes the greatest rushes of pleasure and exactly what kind of pressure works best on each.

The exact bodily sensations don’t pass into me, but I can trace their intensity echoing through the flashes of satisfaction, exhilaration, and impatience whirling through Riva.

As my confidence grows, I delve two of my fingers right inside her wet heat. The physical evidence of her enjoyment sets off a thrill in me that’s almost as intense as her quake of need.

“Griffin,” she mumbles, burying her face in the crook of my shoulder. Begging for what I’m only too happy to give her.

I match her pose, kissing and nipping the sensitive spots on her neck while I pump my fingers in and out of her. The rhythmic swivels of the heel of my hand send even more desire flooding through both of us.

Riva whimpers, swaying into my hold. I can’t even feel the waterfall behind me anymore.

Everything is her and us and the intoxicating symphony of our coming together.

My hand grazes a spot inside her that makes her cry out. I stroke it again and again, fanning the flames until she’s shaking.

And then it happens, even more delicious than the first time. Ecstasy crackles through her, electrifying both of us.

She quivers and sags against me, wrung out. My erection throbs, but I want the moment to stay only about her.

I want her to know through every particle of her being how much I’m here for her, in every possible way.

“I love you,” she says again, barely audible through the roar of the waterfall. Then she looks up and catches my gaze, as if she’s read something inside me that I didn’t realize would be obvious. “If we make it out of here again, you’re coming with us. It’s only worth it if it’s all of us.”

A lump rises in my throat. “Okay.”

The urgency that brought me down to the river sweeps through me again. I carry Riva back to the bank and clamber out next to her.

The guardians adjust their positions among the trees, but don’t move to stop us as we head down the path.

No one steps out to intercept us until we reach the clearing outside the facility. A woman raises her hand toward Riva.

“You’re still in a training period. You’ll go in for dinner in an hour.”

Riva catches my gaze, and I nod, a gesture that feels totally inadequate. I carry her quiet answering smile with me all the way up to the facility and down the stone halls.