Page 53 of The Endless One

“Gathering power,” he replied. “This is the only place where I can store the excess. And if we’re going to spread that to you, we’ll need every ounce I have gathered over many, many years.”

She could feel the troubled expression was back on her face. The wrinkle of her brows made it damn near impossible to hide what she was feeling. “How do you do that?”

He waved a hand, and some of the greenery she had spread parted. Suddenly, all she could see was darkness. It was a pool, she realized. A pool of dark water that spread until it was large enough for both of them to fit in, and who knew how deep.

The longer she stared at it, the more she realized it wasn’t just darkness. It was like looking into a galaxy. There were bright, sparkling lights within it, and stars that caught her attention with every glittering movement they made. A whirlpool lazily spun in the center of it all.

“Your magic?” she asked.

“Centuries of it.” Elric looked at her, then back at the gently moving water before tugging her toward it by the hand. “Join me, nightmare.”

“It’s your magic. Can I even touch it without it rejecting me?”

He gave her an unimpressed look. “Darling, it’s my magic. Do you really believe there is any part of me that doesn’t crave your touch?”

She felt her cheeks go bright red. It wasn’t that she was surprised all that much. But with everything that had happened, they hadn’t really had the time to… to…

Her mind stuttered and then stopped as he stripped his shirt off over his head. All those coiled muscles on either side of his spine caught her attention. Even the smallest ones that bunched between his ribs as he bent and worked on the tie of his pants before pulling that off as well. She couldn’t take her eyes off the movement of that fabric as it went over his ass and then down those long legs.

She’d never thought a man was pretty until she’d seen him. She had thought they were utilitarian, shaped like creatures who were meant to work. But then she saw Elric, and her entire opinion changed. He was just… beautiful. In every sense of the term. Beautiful and captivating and so hard to take her eyes off of.

He stepped into the whirling darkness and then looked at her. “Come on, then, nightmare. Your turn.”

She’d never taken her clothes off faster. She stripped out of her nightgown and then stood before him, naked as she had been so many times now. But his eyes still danced over every inch of her, desire turning his gaze to liquid. It never ceased to amaze her how much this man wanted her. Even in the most dire of circumstances.

She took his offered hand, allowing him to draw her into the pool of magic. He was clearly standing on the bottom, so it couldn’t be that deep. The black ink came right over her shoulders, while it was only at the middle of his chest. The water felt strange, but also…

“How is it?” he asked with a small laugh.

“Like I’m touching nothing at all.”

She’d expected a cold slickness and the shivering that would follow. Or perhaps that his magic would be warm to the touch, like a hot spring where her muscles would relax and she would feel like she was floating. Instead, this was the eerie absence of touch.

He smiled, his hand coming around her waist and tugging her into him. “I suppose I could have warned you.”

“Why turn it into a pool, then? If it doesn’t give any sensation?” She stared up into his eyes as he clearly tried hard not to laugh.

“Maybe I just wanted an excuse to get you naked, nightmare.”

Ah.

The man was anything but subtle.

“Elric, all you had to do was ask to get me naked.” Her hand danced down the planes of his chest, his muscles twitching at her touch as her fingers slid lower and lower.

“I refuse to allow us to be boring.” His words twisted, words hitching as her fingers danced down something hard and pulsing. “Besides, we haven’t had enough time together.”

“No, we haven’t.” Jessamine hadn’t felt this good in a long time, and she was going to make sure he remembered this moment, even if they only had a few stolen hours together.

Dropping to her knees, she felt suddenly uncertain if she could breathe. But she wasn’t underwater, even though the dark magic of his swirled around her. Her eyes were open, and those didn’t hurt.

She took a tentative inhale, coiling her body in case she needed to shoot up and awkwardly ruin this moment with a coughing fit. His energy flowed into her lungs. It filled her with energy and a sense that she could do quite literally anything. It was a shot of adrenaline, the same wild rush she might have had if she jumped off a cliff.

Her lips found the head of his cock, and she sucked him into her mouth. The darkness had closed around her, but she felt him as his hands struck the back of the pool. There were stones there, enough to hold him up as he slumped beneath the heat of her lips, her tongue, working around him as she’d craved for far too long.

He deserved this, and she damn well needed it.

How long had it been since they’d had a chance to connect like this? Jessamine could hardly remember. So much had happened, and continued happening. Now, she was just going to enjoy the feel of him. The taste of him. The flex of his body as he arched against her touch.