by MJ Prince
He curses as I press down on him again and his arms around me tighten as he shifts me so that I’m straddling him. From this angle, I can feel just how equally affected he is. He thrusts upwards at the same time as pulling me closer, so that his hard length presses into the building ache at my center. I gasp at the contact and I think I lose all coherent thought.
“Is this what you want, baby?” His voice is gruff and I can’t even form words, let alone answer.
I want him to kiss me and I can sense that he knows it, too. But I was right about him teasing me or at least making the ache between us build enough so that when he does actually kiss me, I know that the universe will probably explode.
A loud buzzing sound goes off, signalling that our prints are ready. I couldn’t care less because all I want is for Raph’s lips to keep moving on my skin.
But Raph just chuckles as he pulls away, and grabs the strip of photographs.
What the hell just happened?
I slowly return to my senses and as I step out of the booth. I’m mortified when I look down at my dishevelled clothing and even more so when Raph steps out of the booth. His golden hair is sticking up and mussed, as if someone was just running their fingers through it. Yeah, me—I remind myself. That was me in there pulling at his hair, grinding almost shamelessly against him. Those breathy moans were also mine, coming out of my mouth as I reveled in the feeling of Raph’s lips and tongue working on my throat. I can barely believe that those sensations were real or that I was the one feeling them, but Raph … Raph does something to me that makes every fiber in my body come alive with feelings and sensations I’ve never experienced before in my entire life.
Raph flashes me a wicked smile that tells me he knows exactly what I’m thinking and how shaken I feel, but the slightly dazed look in those vivid blue eyes tells me that he’s equally affected.
I expect him to tease me then, but instead, he takes my hand in a surprisingly sweet gesture.
“Walk with me,” he says.
I let my fingers intertwine with his and nod because I still don’t think I’m able to speak.
He doesn’t let go of my hand as he lets me lead him away from the pier and along the familiar stretch of coastline.
The beach is deserted apart from a few stragglers at the edge of the pier and I feel the familiar calm settling over me as I look out at the last rays of sunlight disappearing behind the violet and pink horizon.
Being here with him, sharing this place with him that is so sacred to me, is frighteningly intimate. I’m terrified to realize that not only do I trust him enough to share this with him, but I also want him here with me, beside me. That after years of walking this shore alone, and being content with that, I want someone walking it with me and never in a million years could I have imagined that the someone would be Raphael St. Tristan. The guy who, up until a few weeks ago, was the only real enemy I’ve ever had.
“At the risk of sounding lame, I don’t think I’ve had so much fun in a long time,” Raph says from beside me.
“Ditto,” I reply. “I love amusement parks, this one in particular, for reasons that you know.”
“I’ve never been to one before.” I’m not sure why Raph’s words surprise me.
“Don’t they have amusement parks in Eden?” I ask.
“Sure, they do.” He shrugs then.
“But I didn’t really have time for that kind of thing growing up—or at least my father didn’t think so.”
I feel a pang of sadness at that and I remember what he told me last night about his life not being his own and what it meant to be the heir to the throne. I realize that he hadn’t had much of a childhood at all—another part of him which is a mirror of a part of me, my own childhood ripped away when I was seven. But at least I had those seven years with my mom, whereas it seems like Raph didn’t have a childhood at all.
“So, thank you for sharing this place with me,” he says finally; he looks humbled in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.
He lets loose a long breath as he looks out at the sun dipping lower behind the horizon.
“I’ve watched Earth from afar so many times, but this is the first time I’ve been down here. I used to think that nothing could be more beautiful than Eden but there are colors here on Earth that I’ve never seen, colors that don’t exist on Eden.”
His words surprise me because I had thought the same about Eden. But as I follow his gaze out over the horizon, I see those hues of deep pink and purple that perhaps I hadn’t seen on Eden.
“Do you want to try shifting the day into night? It’s close enough to sundown that it won’t disturb the natural cycle,” he says and something occurs to me then.
“How does it all work? Magnus only mentioned that the day is by the hand of the St. Tristan Dynasty, the night is by the hand of the Evenstar Dynasty and the other Dynasties watch over everything in between.” I’d never really thought about it before, mostly because I was trying not to get too caught up in the alternative realm that was Eden, but there was no denying that it had happened regardless.
“Well, everything on both planets runs its own cycle—night, day, sunrise, sunset, winter, spring, summer, fall—you get the point.
“It’s not like one of us is constantly on watch, manually shifting the seasons or making the sun rise every morning. But it’s by our power, the power of the Seraph, of the Dynasties, that it does happen.
“When things become imbalanced or something throws the cycle off, then as keepers of the elements, that’s when we’re made to intervene to restore the balance.”
I nod, although part of me still doesn’t understand fully. This is all still so new to me—only a few months ago, I had no idea that any of this even existed.
“So, do you want to give it a try?” Raph asks then.
I hesitate for a moment, but I don’t see the harm.
I wait to hear his instructions but instead I feel him stepping closer to me from behind, until I feel the solidity of his chest flush against my back. His warmth and closeness play havoc with my senses, and it’s a wonder I’m able to stay standing.
He reaches out and takes my hand in his, stretching our arms out towards the horizon.
“Find the connection.” The feel of his breath against my ear sends a thrill racing down my spine, but I force myself to focus.
I find that connection, the one I’ve felt inside me for as long as I can remember and I feel it take over my senses.
I feel the pull of the moon just beyond sight, the stars just beyond reach and I draw them both closer. Just like that day in elements class, it feels like some primal part of me knows what to do. The connection is dizzying, the power in my veins throbs. The intensity of the power is frightening, and exhilarating at the same time.
Raph’s fingers entwine with mine and suddenly I can feel his own connection to the daylight. The sheer power that he has over it takes my breath away and I’m reminded of exactly who and what he is. I’m reminded of the sheer force of him. A god in every sense of the word.
He sweeps the sunlight away, just as I coax the darkness forward, our powers perfectly in sync. The connection that I feel between us in that moment shakes me to the core. I’ve never felt so close to someone in my entire life, so connected, and I’m certain there’s no other feeling like this in the entire universe. The feeling is so alien, so new, yet at the same time, it feels as ancient as time itself, as primal as my deepest desires.
In that moment, with our powers fused together, it’s as if we’re one person. Like two halves of a whole snapping into place with such finality, that it’s almost frightening. It feels like I’ve been wandering through the universe for an age, lost, searching for something and in this moment, I’ve finally found that lost fragment of myself. It’s him.
In that moment, he isn’t the heir of the St. Tristan Dynasty and I’m not the heir of the Evenstar Dynasty, we’re nothing but the power of day and night breathing side by side. Breathing as on
e. There is no him, there is no me. There’s only us.
I watch through wide eyes as the last of the sunlight disappears behind the horizon, as the moon appears and as a blanket of stars descend on the now midnight blue sky.
Once night settles fully over the scene, we both let go of the connection. I don’t realize how much effort I’d been exerting until I hear my own ragged breathing as I try to catch my breath. But I know that breathlessness is from that universe shattering connection that I’d just felt with Raph, too.
I’m suddenly aware of my own body again. I can feel Raph’s eyes on me. When I turn to him, he’s looking at me with something like wonder and something else I’ve glimpsed before, but never allowed myself to acknowledge.
I don’t have time to, either, because my thoughts are jolted when I feel the pattering of rain against my skin. Raph is equally surprised and we both look up to see the heavens opening as sheets of rain blanket us both.
“Was that you?” Raph asks through the sound of the rain.
“No—definitely not. Maybe it’s Baron up there telling us to get our asses back home.”
We’re both laughing then, as the rain falls in thick sheets around us. The water soaks through my clothes and every inch of my skin is slick with rain. I tilt my face up to let the rain wash over my cheeks, and when I turn back to Raph, all laughter is gone from his face. Those vivid blue eyes blaze into mine and even though I’m now totally soaked and freezing, I can still feel the heat of his gaze and every inch of my skin burns under it.
He moves closer to me, brushing my soaked hair away from my face and I think I stop breathing altogether when I feel his breath against my cheek, against my lips.
The air is hushed, still, as if waiting for something. Time itself seems to have stopped and I feel the same stillness in my own body, every fiber hushed in anticipation. It feels like the universe itself is watching as we stand there, Raph’s lips a hair’s breadth away from mine, the rain falling around us.
“What are you doing?” I ask then, my words barely a whisper in the inch of space between us.
This time, he answers. I feel the words on my lips and they wrap themselves around my chest like a vice.
“I’m kissing you.”
Then Raph’s lips meet mine and whatever else I’d been thinking suddenly doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore but this kiss. This moment.
Just like that day in the forest, it’s barely a kiss at first. Just his lips brushing softly against mine and just like that day in the forest, I feel the touch in every part of my body. White light explodes behind my closed eyelids and every pore in my body is awakened by the sensation.
Before I can even think, I’m kissing him back with an intensity that frightens me. His arms around me are both strong, yet terrifyingly gentle, as he slides his hand up my spine, in a caress that causes my body to tremble. He buries his hand in my hair, and I hear a moan escape my lips as he deepens the kiss.
Some part of me is terrified and I can hear the whisper of danger echoing through my mind. This kiss, this touch is taking me to a place from which I know I can’t return. But it’s impossible to think of anything other than the intensity of the sensations whirling around us in that moment, threatening to consume us both.
I open myself up to him, and he makes that low sound in the back of his throat as he explores my mouth, his tongue slicking over mine, moving against it in the most intimate caress. I realize faintly that I’m clutching onto him as tightly as he’s grasping for me.
My mind is swimming in the torrent of emotion that is carrying us away and everywhere we touch, sparks arch between us. I’ve never kissed like this before, never been kissed like this before—it’s insane and at the same time, beautiful in its intensity. Too frightening to contain, too fierce to control.
I can feel the fine tremor that has overtaken Raph’s body, the way the same tremor has taken hold of mine and neither of us seems to be in control of ourselves anymore. The kisses are too much, yet not nearly enough.
Raph’s hands travel to my waist, to my hips and the urge to be closer to him is irresistible, undeniable. He lifts me in an effortless motion and I wrap my legs around his waist. I hear myself gasp as he rolls his hips into the softest part of me and I’m whimpering as he crushes the center of me against his hard length. Heat flares in my core at the contact, and I can feel the shudder quaking through Raph’s powerful body. The rain pours over us, blankets us. But neither of us seems to care.
Raph’s lips brush against mine again and again with such passion and deep heart-wrenching emotion, that I can feel something inside me shattering at the deep rooted knowledge that nothing this good can ever be right. Nothing this intense can ever last. Even the brightest stars burn out. But as all the pent up longing and emotion that we’d both denied since that first day on the beach in Arcadia washes over us, drowning us, it’s almost impossible to remember caution or reason. It’s impossible to think of the consequences of indulging in this kind of earth shattering passion, for allowing ourselves to fall into the chasm that’s gaping before us. I can’t remember the hate that I once felt for him and the equal hate that he has felt for me. Except the way that he’s kissing me, the way that he’s touching me, makes me think now that perhaps it hadn’t been hate at all.
His hands are everywhere, as if he can’t touch enough of me, can’t hold me hard enough and everywhere he touches, my skin burns and awakens. He is the fire and I throw myself into it.
We’re both gasping for air like two divers resurfacing when we break away from each other. He’s still holding me against his body and my legs are still wrapped around his waist when he touches his forehead to mine. My lips feel swollen and still tingle with the ghost of his kisses. My skin feels raw and aches at the absence of his touch.
Raph’s eyes are locked onto mine, his chest rising and falling rapidly. The emotion smouldering in the depths of those midnight blue eyes convince me that all those months, it hadn’t been hate that I thought he was feeling. It hadn’t been hate at all.
I draw a shuddering breath as I try to speak then.
“Raph …”
My voice is barely a ragged whisper and I trail off because I have no idea what to say in the wake of everything that came before.
But he smiles then, a small smile that wraps itself around my heart. There’s something like wonder in his eyes, so fragile and so at odds with that icy glare that I saw that first day on the beach, that it takes my breath away.
“Say it again,” he says.
I don’t know what he means.
“That’s the first time you’ve ever said my name to me.” The realization that it’s true, hits me then, too.
“Not asshole, not prick …”
I let out a laugh, and it sounds shaky as hell, because my senses are still fried from those kisses.
“Or dickhead, or fucker …” I add, which only makes his smile widen.
That smile turns wicked as he nips the bottom of my lip with his teeth.
“I want you to say it again. But next time, I want you to be screaming it when I …”
He whispers something in my ear that sends shivers through my body and makes me feel like I’m going to burst into flames.
“Let’s go home,” he says, the promise of that whisper in his eyes.
I remember where I am and a few months ago there was no way anything could drag me back through that portal and back to that world. But now … now the only place I want to be is in these arms. As foolish as that might sound, and as much as I don’t want to think of that place as home, I find myself nodding in response and when I open my mouth, it’s to tell him to take me home.
I take one last look at the night sky above us, and it seems like even the stars are smiling down on us.
25
The moment we crash through the portal, Raph’s lips are on mine again and this time, the first touch is anything but soft and tentative.
I’m aware that my bedroom is
dark and of my back hitting the plush rug in front of the fireplace, but not much else as Raph kisses me with a hunger that shakes me to the core. He devours my lips and I meet his hunger with equal intensity.
Distantly, I can sense him setting the fireplace ablaze as he covers my trembling body with his powerful one. He breaks the kiss only long enough to tug off his soaked shirt and my mouth goes dry at the sight of his bare body. Every single part of him is corded with muscle. His chest and abs are ripped like a diamond, so defined, that I can see shadows against his golden skin from where the muscles cut. My gaze lands on the row of suns tattooed on the side of his left rib that I’d seen once before and again, I can’t help but think how freaking sexy those tattoos are.
It’s not like I hadn’t noticed Raph’s physical frame many times before, but the sight of that large body over mine makes me realize just how big and powerful he is and how small my frame is in comparison. The sight thrills me in a way which sends delicious shivers down my spine. I want him, I want him so much, and I let myself feel all of that just then.
He reaches out to touch his fingertips to my cheek in an achingly tender caress, which a few months ago, I could never have believed he’d be capable of. But I’d been wrong about him, wrong about that hate which I knew now was not hate at all. But something far deeper, something far more dangerous.
The tremors racking my body are telling me that I should be terrified, but I know that it’s more than just fear racing through me because I can almost taste the desire in the very air I’m breathing. Mine or his, it’s impossible to tell.