Where Ashes and Oaths Collide

Chapter 74: The Only One

“I am the only one,” Amelia repeated her hips grinding against Luz, so his hardness rubbed against her thigh. His amber eyes blew wide, the friction of her thighs against him sent a violent jolt straight through his spine, and he let out a sound that was half-growl, half-sob. “Amelia,” he choked out, his fingers digging into the mattress beside her head. “You have no idea what you are doing to me.” He could not hold back anymore. He surged forward, his body pressing into hers with a sudden, heavy urgency. His hands slid down her sides finding the curve of her waist and pulling her up to meet him, his hips rolling against hers in a slow, agonizingly perfect rhythm.

Every point of contact– the heat of Amelia’s skin, the scent of her hair, the way she moved against Luz– was a strike against his remaining willpower. “I know exactly what I am doing,” she said seductively. “I want you.” His head fell back, a jagged breath escaping him as he stared at the ceiling for one final, futile second of restraint. Then, with a low growl that vibrated deep in his chest, he moved. He gripped her hips with bruising intensity, his fingers sinking into her soft skin as he positioned himself. His body was all hard muscle and burning heat, a stark contrast to the softness beneath him. “You win,” eh rasped, his voice stripped bare of everything but hunger. “You win, Amelia.”

Luz pushed forward, a single, deep thrust that filled Amelia completely. The air left his lungs in a sharp hiss, his amber eyes snapping shut at he buried his face in the crook of her neck. He stayed still for a moment, his entire body trembling with the effort of not losing himself entirely, his heart hammering against her chest like a trapped bird. He began to move, a slow and heavy rhythm that seemed to pull the very air from the room. Each thrust was deliberate, deep and filled with a desperate kind of longing that transcended pleasure. His eyes stayed closed, his face pressed against her neck as he breathed her in, as if she were the only thing keeping him anchored to the earth.

“I am going to lose myself in you,” Luz groaned, his voice cracking with the weight of it. “I am going to forget who I am entirely.” His hands moved from Amelia’s hips to her red hair, fingers tangling in the strands as he tilted her head back, his mouth finding hers in a kiss that tasted of salt and heat. He moved faster now, the controlled pace dissolving into something more primal, more urgent. His muscles rippled beneath her touch, every line of his body taut and strained. She moaned against his mouth, the sound vibrating through them both. He caught the sound against his lips, drinking it in like a starving man. The vibration of her moan travelled through his jaw, down his throat, and settled deep in his chest, fuelling the fire that was already consuming him.

Luz pace grew more frantic, less measured. The careful control he usually maintained– the discipline of a soldier, the restraint of a man holding back– was gone. There was only this. Only Amelia. “Yes,” he rasped against her mouth, his voice breaking. “Give me everything. Do not hold back.” His hands slid down to cradle her buttocks, lifting her slightly to meet each thrust with more force, more depth. His skin was slick with sweat, the friction between them generating a heat that felt almost unbearable. The amber in his eyes had turned molten, glowing with a fierce, desperate light as he watched her face, memorizing every flicker of pleasure, every catch in her breath.

Luz drove into Amelia again, a long, punishing stroke that drew a sharp gasp from her throat. His fingers tightened in her red hair, his knuckles white, as he felt the tension in her body begin to coil, tight and electric. “There,” he whispered, his voice ragged edge. “There it is.” he watched her eyes flutter shut, the way her lips parted as she chased the sensation. The sight of her unravelling beneath him was more intoxicating that any wine, more powerful than any spell. He was losing his grip on the world outside this room– the war, the darkness within him, Mestre Escuro, the blood on his hands– and for the first time in years, he did not want to find it again. His rhythm shattered into something wild and uncoordinated as he felt her walls tighten around him.

A low, guttural sound tore from Luz’s throat, his head snapping back as the first wave of release crashed through him, hot and violent. He collapsed against Amelia, his weight heavy and warm, his breath coming in ragged, uneven gasps. He stayed there for a long time, his face buried in the curve of her shoulder, his body still trembling from the aftershocks of release. The silence of the room settled around them, broken only by their synchronized breathing. Slowly, he lifted his head. His amber eyes were soft now, almost tender, as he traced the line of her jaw with his thumb. The frantic hunger had faded, replaced by something quieter, deeper– a profound sense of peace that felt entirely foreign to him.

“I am still here,” Luz whispered, as if he needed to prove it to himself. He shifted slightly, rolling onto his side but keeping Amelia tucked against him, one arm draped over her waist his fingers traced absentminded patterns against her skin, his touch light and reverent. “I don’t want to leave this room,” he said softly. “Neither do I,” she admitted breathless. “This is perfect. I wish we could stay like this forever.” Luz’s hand stilled against her skin. A shadow crossed his face, one that had nothing to do with the darkness of the room. He pressed his forehead against hers, his eyes closing tight. “I know,” he said, and the weight of those two words hung between them like a physical thing.