Page 113 of A Cruel Kindness

He was my Soul Mate. There was no one else for me.

That only spurred him on, taking my mouth again in rougher, deeper pulls until I could barely catch my breath. Fine by me. I wanted to drown in him.

I was in the air a second later, lifted by his strong hold. My legs wrapped around his hips, and I could feel our Mark burning into the part of my lower leg it touched.

“Please don’t leave,” I said again, urgency pumping through me so harshly I felt seconds away from coming already.

The Bond’s contented humming was doubly powerful, fueled by energy contained for too long, even if but a day.

A low growl loosed from Soren’s throat as he laid me back on the bed. He pinned my hands over my head, that move telling me everything I needed to know about what he meant.

I was the one that would be leaving him.

That fact was why I let him secure me as he attacked my neck again in deep pulls, surely intending to leave me covered in marks created by his mouth.

He was marking me in his own way, even though the evidence of our bond was inked into my back, into my very soul.

I didn’t care if the Prince would think that we were laughing in his face by doing this. I pulled Soren more firmly to me, feeling like I wouldn’t be satisfied until our skin fused together.

There was so much I wanted to say to him, but couldn’t. Instead, I let my hands do it for me, brushing over his shoulders and down his back in comforting strokes.

As Soren started trailing his lips down over my chest, heading further and further down my body, I wanted to tell him to stop, to say that I was the one who should be comforting him.

I was scared to do anything that would make him stop, so I held my breath as his hands drifted under my shirt, pushing it over my chest.

I moved it the rest of the way, ripping it off. My chest was exposed to the air, my already taut nipples pinching even harder.

“Yours too,” I whispered. He knew what I was asking. I wanted to see his Mark, even the little I could on his upper back and shoulders.

Soren complied, ripping off his shirt before diving back down. Both of us were naked within seconds, clothes dropping to the floor in between heated kisses on my mouth, my chest, my stomach.

And when his head dipped between my legs and I felt his tongue against me, two twin tears slipped out of my eyes. I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to trap in a pleasured sob, especially since we weren’t alone in this cabin.

I was at Soren’s mercy as he worked me over and over and over with his tongue and his fingers until I finished on a sharp cry. I didn’t know how I was ever supposed to give this up.

That thought was cemented as he rose over me, looking at me with an emotion I couldn’t quite name, but felt deep in my chest.

The world and our worries collapsed around us as Soren notched himself inside of me and slid forward with a slow thrust, his lips meeting mine right as a low groan sounded from his throat.

With each roll of his hips my chest pulled tighter and tighter, almost unable to breathe from the force of it. The idea that this might be one of the last times, if not the last time, we were able to do this made me want to draw it out.

I settled my hands on his hips, pausing him. He look horrified for a second, assuming I was stopping this. He started to pull away, respecting my wishes, but I brought another hand to the back of his neck and sought out his lips.

We kissed, slowly, mindlessly, for a while before our bodies started to take over again. My hips tilted up as Soren’s pressed forward, seeking the pleasure that was just out of reach.

Still feeling the need to cement this as the closest I would be to anyone, I turned over to my stomach on the next time his hips pulled away.

I knew exactly what I was doing.

Soren paused with a heavy breath, smoothing his hand down my back reverently. If I wasn’t mistaken, his hand was shaking.

I turned around to face him, waiting for him to look at me so I could hold his eyes while I spoke. “It’s yours. I’m yours. You’re branded on me.”

That was the only true promise I would make. Whatever vow I was forced into in the future would be a lie. I was already committed. Anything after that would be fraud.

Soren knew what I meant and it snapped his control. I hadn't even realized he was in control until he lost it.

His hands tucked under my hips, yanking them up as he positioned himself and slammed home so hard I felt heat shoot all the way from my core to my throat. A garbled moan was lost against the pillow, strangled out by the near painful force of bliss.