I heard his breathing deepen, his warm breath coating the bare, wet skin of my neck. It was gentle enough to barely feel, yet powerful enough to tip me over the brink of madness, far away from the confusion that tainted everything I felt for this man.
Easing down the side of my arm, his fingers left a trace of tingling flesh in their wake, continuing all the way until it disappeared beneath the water. I closed my eyes, not even trying to fight the feeling. I was desperate for it to carry me away from here, to be raptured from reality. The soft touch of his fingers against my skin was indescribable, and just like I knew it would, it slowly forced all the bad feelings that were poisoning me to the farthest corner of my soul, too weak to fight the desire he so expertly woke inside me.
It started out as a sliver of relief, but as he moved his touch to my inner thigh, the relief grew stronger, powerful, and it gently lured me away from the ugliness of this world.
I sucked in a breath, unable to control the way my body responded to his touch. It was impossible, exactly like the first time he seduced me.
“Granite—”
He wrapped his other arm around my shoulder, pushing his cheek hard against mine, finally slipping his hand between my legs.
I gasped and moaned, and he squeezed my shoulder. Gently, he teased a fingertip along my sensitive folds, exploring while earning soft whimpers from my lips. Greedy and overcome with desire, I opened my legs, giving him access—permission to take me away. Carry me far from here.
In the midst of all the ugly, his touch felt exquisite, my body no longer consumed by anguish, but rather a raw need to find pleasure. Even if just for a few moments.
He slipped a finger inside me, and I cried out at the same time he wrapped a hand around my neck, craning my head back, kissing me hard like both our lives depended on it. It was a desperate, firm, and unyielding kiss that took my breath away. The feel of his velvet tongue against mine earned a moan from deep within my chest, and the taste that was uniquely Granite disarmed me completely. The rhythm of his finger easing in and out of me was exquisite, yet torture at the same time, and I wanted more. I didn’t want it to ever end.
Peeling his lips from mine, I felt the top of his nose travel below my ear, inhaling like he was trying to get high on my scent. My body was instantly consumed with the need to be burned alive. I wanted his touch to incinerate me and leave nothing but ashes behind.
The pad of his thumb found that little sensitive bud and played it to the sweet rhythm of the euphoria I craved so much. Fingers dug into the flesh beneath my jaw, and I couldn’t stop myself from moving my hips. Searching. Wanting. Needing more. I was desperately searching for the edge, hopelessly in need of that last push to finally fall.
Warm lips kissed the hollow between my shoulder and neck. “I’m sorry, ballerina girl,” he whispered against my skin, and that was all I needed.
I fell—catapulted over the edge. His finger slipped in and out of me, carrying me through the rush of pleasure that swept through my body like an electric current. It was powerful, deep, and for those few blissful moments, I was free, no longer feeling anything but the ecstasy of release.
My body shuddered, and I pressed my cheek tightly against him, nestling into his shoulder.
As the last tremors of pleasure rippled through me, he eased his finger out of me before weaving both hands through my hair at the back of my head. My breaths came out rapidly, and I loved being in his embrace.
I hated that I loved it.
He pressed a hard and desperate kiss against my temple then dropped his lips to my ear.
“She’s alive.”
I froze. “What?”
He tightened his hold at the back of my head, gripping my hair tight. “Neon. She’s alive.”
8
Alyx
Naked and cold,I stood in the corner of the bathroom glaring at Granite, his big frame occupying the doorway. “Could you…um…could you say that again?”
Granite tossed me a towel. “Get dressed. Then we talk.”
“Is Neon alive?” I caught the towel, but I didn’t have it in me to care that I was naked.
“First clothes. Then talk.”
I locked my jaw, my chest rising and falling as anger and confusion poisoned every breath. “Did I hear you correctly, Granite? Is Neon alive?”
“Get—”
“Goddammit, Granite,” I snapped. “Just tell me!”
Granite roughed his hand through his hair before stretching his arms, holding his hands against the doorframe, head downcast. “Yes, Alyx. Neon is alive.”