Page 258 of The Mercy of Dawn

Mikael was certain he was dreaming.

Against every instinct to savor this moment, to take his time and watch her indulge in a way she’d never dared to in front of him before, Mikael couldn’t hold himself back.

Every rough pump of his hips flooded his spine with inexplicable pressure and warmth, the cruelest test of his fleeting restraint. Hells, the soft, needy gasps she uttered threatened to spell his end on their own. But he held out, teeth gritted and a bruising grip on her backside, until every muscle in Cyril’s body tensed.

“Mika, I…”

The most intoxicating whimper of a moan left her lips.

Mikael completely lost his rhythm as her back arched and she came undone around him.

A few more ragged, groan-laced thrusts, and he fell right over that edge with her, his release stealing every bit of breath from his lungs. Little tremors of utter bliss rolled up his spine as he rocked against her slowly, riding out every last bit of pleasure he could get.

And when Cyril cupped his face, kissing him slowly as they both struggled to catch their breath, Mikael had never felt more sated.

Lying there with Cyril, and soaking in that hazy afterglow that had her eyes hooded and her smile bright, was all Mikael needed to live. Food and water be damned.

But she had other plans.

“Can I ask you something?” Cyril said quietly, a hint of breathlessness still in her voice.

That didn’t bode well.

Her hands skimmed up his shoulders with an almost tentative touch and Mikael hadn’t even realized he was still fucking dressed.

No wonder his body felt like it was damn near on fire.

“Should I, uh…”

He glanced between them.

Cyril had the audacity to look embarrassed as she unwrapped her legs from his waist and nodded.

Mikael bit back a groan as he eased out of her and pried himself away for long enough to rid himself of his pants and shirt. Cyril had already nestled in under the blankets by the time he settled back in.

“Alright, wrath,” he said, extending an arm out in invitation, “Ask your unsettling question.”

She laughed nervously, and Mikael sighed.

“That is not helping at all, you know.”

“I know, I know! I just…”

Cyril eyed him before she sagged into his open arm, tucking herself right up against his side. At least she was exactly where she was supposed to be when she unloaded whatever fresh hell was important enough that it demanded an answer now.

“You just…?”

He felt her sigh.

“When you were away…did you feel it too?” Her question was such a hesitant, cautious thing, as she splayed her hand low on his chest. Just below where his heart was finally slowing its frantic pace. “Pain, here?”

“Pain? I…” Mikael went still. “Yeah.”

Hells, his entire damn body felt foreign in the days he was gone. He just chalked his aching chest and crawling skin up to the unimaginable shitstorm that happened before he left. Thought the stress had finally caught up with him in those first quiet moments that he had to breathe, to process it all.

That pain now though?

It was like it never existed.