Page 107 of The Unseen Hour

“Still ready?” he asked.

I managed a nod, not trusting my own voice.

I gasped as Orion entered me, pressure and a sharp pain shooting through me.

“I’ll go slow,” he assured me, his movements steady and slowing, just as he’d promised.

He continued to trail kisses down my neck. After a few moments the pressure eased, and the pain decreased. It was still there, but mounting alongside it was that increasingly familiar sense of growing tension and desire.

Just like the first time he’d kissed me, I needed him closer, deeper.

My hair fell back against the blankets. If I was ruined, I was ruined. And it wasn’t because of the shame for anything we did.

It was because Ry had captured me, heart and soul, and I was ruined for anyone else.

Orion’s rhythmic movements sped up. He braced himself with one hand to the side of my head, staring down at me.

“All gods, you are stunning. I never thought that I could have this. Someone here, someone who understood me.”

I wrapped my arms around him, my fingers trailing through his hair.

“Until Emrys and all the gods’ realms fall, I will be yours, Ry.”

He groaned, and I gasped in response, the two of us moving together.

Ry drove into me, his thrusts speeding up as he pushed deeper. I kissed his neck, trying to match his rhythm.

He reached between us, his fingers finding my clit again as he continued to thrust into me. It didn’t take long for me to reach a peak, and then that same shattering release.

I came apart beneath him, and his entire body tensed.

“Starlight!” he yelled my name like a desperate plea. I could feel his release, and I wanted nothing more than to keep him that close forever.

For several moments afterward we lay completely still, utterly spent. Then he moved, rolling so he could hold me.

“How are you feeling?”

“Overwhelmed,” I admitted. “I fantasized about you even before I knew who you were. I fell for words on a page, and never thought I’d meet the author.”

“And now?”

“I feel closer to you than I even imagined I could. It’s nice, but also terrifying.”

“Because it’s one more thing you might lose?”

“Exactly.” I knew he could relate to that sentiment.

Night had fallen outside. I could see blue and green creeping in from under the door.

“It’s similar for me. I’ve had no one this entire time, and now that I have you, I won’t let even Charon stand in the way. I would do anything for you, Starlight,” he whispered into my hair.

“Would you let us delay until tomorrow?” I couldn’t imagine letting him go at the moment, even to go after Charon’s second item.

“We can leave first thing in the morning,” he said.

After Orion had fallen asleep, I was still awake, thinking over our next destination. The Unseen Hour had taken Ry from Emrys once, and if we were found out, Charon might remove him for good. I knew I was also in very real danger, but I’d chosen to take a risk when I entered the Ether. I had gained Orion, and an ally in Death. We’d been given the chance to end the Unseen Hour once and for all.

He’d had to wait for this moment for a century. I couldn’t let him be the one to suffer if things went wrong.