Page 56 of Unveil

She tugs her bodice, trying to get it off, and I curse, sitting up and grabbing the fabric at her back to rip the shit in half. But the water’s shrunk it so tightly I can’t even get my fingers down the back. Her arm stretches behind her, trying to reach the clasps, and my heart pounds painfully as I wave her hand away.

“Fuck, I’m getting it. Just hold on for me.”

I tremble as I undo one impossible clasp after another until the whole thing falls off her chest and onto the ground. She sucks in a ragged breath that shreds me in two, and I roll her onto her back so her lungs can fill, keeping her arms splayed out with my hands on each wrist so she doesn’t curl around herself.

“You’re okay, Luna. You’re okay. Breathe, alright?”

At a loss of how to help, I wait for her breaths to finally slow, then exhale the terror gripping my chest and let her go.

“Jesus, you scared me.” One of those strange, stressed, manic laughs bursts out of me, and I sit back, raking my hands through my hair. “Thank fuck you’re safe.”

Even in the dark, I can see her eyes shine with rage.

“I’msafe?” she growls, her voice a ragged rasp. “No thanks toyou.”

“No thanks to me? You would’ve died if I hadn’t jumped in. Those were damn near Class VI rapids. SomeOlympiansdon’t even attempt those.”

“And I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t forced me to run and fall in!”

“Ah hell no. I gave you the choice.” I throw my arm up. “You’re the little bird who decided to go swan diving off a cliff to your death.”

She sneers, sitting up on her forearms. “And I’d do it again to get away from you.”

“Be my guest.” I gesture tiredly with my arm. “River’s right there.”

Her only response is crossing her arms and scowling.

I scoff. “You’re a piece of work, you know that?” I lean over her, resting one hand beside her head to block the rain from dripping into her eyes. “I saved your life, yet youthinkyou’rethe one that gets to have the attitude?”

Anger thins her lips… until she suddenly melts underneath me. Her brows furrow in something I’d swear was guilt, and I’m immediately on high alert.

But then she touches me.

Her hands slide over my shoulders and cup my neck, fingers brushing through my hair. Entranced, I climb over her more to slip my knee between her legs, caught in this tenderness so freely given that I’m not sure I trust it. But… what if it’s real?

My mind goes hazy. I’vestarvedfor her softness.

“You’re right,” she whispers.

“I… am?”

She nods slowly, then squeezes her legs around my knee. “I haven’t been grateful, and after that? I don’t want to think about what could’ve happened. God, just thank you.”

Holy shit. I was afraid I’d never hear those words, at least not until I’d convinced her to love me.

I swallow as she bites her lip. For the first time, I truly register that she’s naked from the waist up, and like the dog I am, my eyes drop to her breasts. I want to lick them, flick my tongue over the small buds, peaked from the cold rain and icy spring water.

A shy look crosses her face. I wipe her hair off her forehead to better see that sweet expression, tugging free a feather that clings to her hair for dear life, the crown itself long gone. When she slowly pulls me down, I close the gap, my heart pounding faster with every inch. My hand shifts from caging her in to holding her waist.

Our lips brush tentatively until she teases my mouth open. I’m lost in her touch as her nails scratch my scalp, and my hands glide up her slick torso to cradle her head.

“You’re mine, Luna. No one else has had you, and no one ever will.”

“Orion,” she whispers, shivering. From cold, rain, or from us, I’m not sure, but I press my body heat into her anyway. I sink my tongue into her open mouth again, mimicking what I want to do when we finally have the time. This will have to tide us over until I can get us safe.

But my cock is rock-hard right now, and it’s taking everything in me not to give in. I’ve waited this long for her, hopefully a few more days won’t kill me.

“Say it for me, baby,” I beg. “Say you’re mine.”