Page 55 of Starfall

Elias

M y apartment felt foreign when we stumbled through its threshold.

Ari held my hand like I might float away if she loosened her crushing grip. And I had no desire to release her. If anything, the feel of her velvety skin interlocked with my bruised and callused fingers brought me peace.

What happened back there after seeing my father’s face…

I hadn’t cried in over a decade. Tucked away between the festival’s tents, tears flooded out of me in a rush, a dam breaking, an explosion I couldn’t defend myself from.

I let all of my ugliness and self-loathing from over the years pour from my veins, and Ari had surrounded me, keeping me together so I didn’t bleed out.

She’d rubbed my back and whispered soothing words into my ear, even though she experienced her own grief minutes before.

Ari stood in the center of my space, my sanctuary. While she’d forgone a costume tonight, I never found her more stunning. Those striking silver-blue eyes held mine, and my body moved, my limbs possessing a mind of their own.

Striding over to her, I raked a hand into her silken hair and gripped the strands, relishing her shocked gasp. She peered up at me with dilated pupils, her features softening under my intense perusal.

She didn’t gaze at me like I’d grown weaker by my outburst. She didn’t step back or shun me for needing to be held. Ari looked at me like she saw me for who I truly was, and didn’t find me wanting.

And I saw her, too.

I couldn’t stop. Not now.

Lowering my head, I brushed my mouth against her throat, a low groan leaving me when I scented the jasmine clinging to her skin.

I had to taste her, to consume . Ari hissed out a breath when I eagerly nipped at the sensitive spot between her shoulder blade and neck before soothing it with my tongue, her hips arching forward in response.

I didn’t pretend to be anything other than who I was, and she leaned into me with a low moan, wanting my teeth, loving when I scraped her soft flesh before marking her with my lips.

“What are you doing to me?” I murmured against her mouth, enjoying her ensuing shiver. Ari made a low sound in her throat before she took my face between her hands and kissed me gently, tenderly, like I was something to be cherished.

I’d never shared such a kiss before. It went beyond the physical and spoke to my very soul. And fuck me, I craved more.

Grasping her thighs, I hauled her up and into my arms. She gasped when I pushed her against the nearest wall, one hand moving to wrap around her waist, keeping her exactly where I wanted her—trapped in my arms.

“The need I have for you, Ari…it’s like poison in my veins.” I kissed the sensitive spot below her ear. “Not taking you is killing me.”

Shit, I knew I shouldn’t be doing this. My mind knew I shouldn’t be doing this. But my body, my fucking soul, wanted it all . I pressed against her, showing her just how much she affected me. A breathy whimper left her lips and my cock throbbed painfully.

I didn’t just want her?—

I wanted to unravel her.

I wanted her to see the stars that I could give her .

Ari murmured my name, her eyes rolling back as I explored, my kisses turning hungrier. My hands shook with the urge to rip her shirt open and yank down her trousers, but I wasn’t some mindless beast. I had to hear her say the words.

“Tell me what you want, Arina.”

If she turned me down, I might actually die.

She panted against me, her hands digging into my hair. “Elias…” She ran her lips across my cheek and pressed her mouth to my ear. “I want everything .”

I groaned. “You don’t know what you’re asking for,” I whispered, my pulse racing. Lowering her feet to the ground, I drew back to take her in; her panting chest, her blown pupils, the way her lips begged to be swollen from my kisses. I’d remedy that soon.

Closing the gap, I clutched both sides of her button-down and yanked.

She sucked in a sharp breath as buttons pinged on the floor, her shirt now a torn mess.

My hands fell to her breasts as I leaned forward and kissed her like a dying man, like she was an oasis in the desert.

Kneading her tender flesh, I rubbed her aching buds between my thumb and forefinger, watching as her head lolled to the side with a moan.

A moan I stole with a kiss, my lips pressed against her mouth while I savored her pleasure like it was my own.

She liked the sting, my brutality, and it fueled me.

Tearing off the scraps of her top, I grabbed her by the hips and yanked her against my pulsing length. “This is what you do to me. What you’ve been doing to me.”

“Fuck,” she cursed, the word a plea. She arched her body, seeking friction, anything to soothe the ache I knew she felt.

Ari cursed again before shredding my shirt, the material no match for her divine strength.

Her fingers found the buttons of my trousers, and she ripped them clean off before pulling the top half down, exposing me.

Eternal below. I was screwed in the best possible way.

“You’re perfect,” I said reverently, working on her trousers as she rubbed against my thigh.

The sounds she made…they made my hands shake with need, but I focused on the barrier separating us until her tr ousers were just as ruined as mine.

Easing them over her hips, I let them fall down her legs to a puddle on the floor.

She suddenly shoved me back, moving with me until the backs of my knees struck the bed, and I toppled backward, my heart racing while she yanked off both of our boots.

The rest of my pants came next, Ari barely taking the time to inch them over my thighs before impatiently wrenching them down.

The sound of tearing fabric filled the air, but I didn’t give a shit.

When she stood above me, a fallen star, a goddess, the yearning in her eyes shone. No , the silver in them did.

Like the first night we met, her eyes glowed, the raw power coursing in her veins causing my cock to rise, begging for her touch.

Ari climbed onto the bed, her lush body and her delectable curves swaying as she moved over me like a predator cornering its prey. But I was her willing prey. Desperate for her bite.

My hands grasped her backside, squeezing the flesh while pulling her on top of me, skin to skin. I gripped the nape of her neck and yanked her to my lips, not able to hold back any longer. I had to feel her break for me; that first time wasn’t enough. I wondered if it ever would be.

Ari tasted like fucking sin, her plush lips the sweetest torment. My tongue slipped inside her mouth, dueling with hers, both of us lost to our bodies and the basic urge to conquer. And she wasn’t backing down.

I hissed when her hand snaked between us, and she wrapped her fingers around my cock, squeezing hard. She gasped, and I couldn’t help but smirk. I was large and thick, and I couldn’t wait to see how we’d fit together.

“Ari.” She lifted her head, glowing eyes hooded. I took her chin so she couldn’t look away. She needed to hear my words. “This isn’t a dream.”

I refused to carry through with this and pretend nothing had happened tomorrow morning. Not like the first time I touched her. This wouldn’t be swept under the rug. Not this.

This was magic.

Ari paused, biting her lip. Those few seconds where she deliberated my fate felt like she held my life in her hands.

“I’m awake,” she said, right before diving back to seal her lips to mine.