Page 183 of Deadfall

With the intensity that radiated from him, I thought he’d attack me, but I should have known better. His hand came and lightly moved my hair off my cheek. His fingers brushed my skin and left trails of fire in their wake. When his lips finally brushed mine, it was so feather light it ached. We shared a breath—his teeth caught on my bottom lip, a light graze that sent heat straight between my legs and made my head spin.

Then his lips pressed more firmly and I understood. It wasn’t about ownership. It wasn’t about possession, or territory. Because the sea doesn’t own the river. It simply waits for the inevitable collision—

And that’s what this was. That’s what Griffin meant. His kiss sparked the realization that I’d arrived at a destination I’d been moving toward far before I knew it existed. One that was vast, endless, and impossible to fight.

88

GABRIEL

Kissing her was everything. Every instinct, every sleepless night I spent staring at her photo. Every failed job, and every moment of yearning, hoping she was okay. It was that impossible pull I didn’t understand, but knew instinctively, that she was something more than just another job. If I’d had any doubts about how I felt about her, they were gone now. All it took was that first brush of her lips, and I knew she was mine.

As her hands came up to my face, my hands slid into her hair. There was no longer a distinction between her and me, and something in my chest shattered—a release of something that had been building with pressure for years. Because no matter how far the river wanders, eventually it comes home.

I pressed against her. I wanted more. I wanted more skin, less clothes. I wanted to feel the heat of her—under my hands, with my mouth, my tongue. I wanted it fast, and I wanted it so slow that time stopped having meaning. I wanted it all. I wanted everything.

We moved together with a quiet urgency, like we had all these missed moments to make up for. I couldn’t get enough—but, eventually we had to come up for air. When we did, we hardly parted. Our lips were less than an inch apart, as we shared great inhales of air, like maybe we had just drowned and brought each other back to life. I saw the vulnerability and fierce awe in her eyes as she clung to me.

Her flushed cheeks and swollen lips stirred a yearning and I couldn’t think. If it wasn’t for her air, I don’t think I’d be breathing either. I couldn’t remember the version of the world before this kiss, and I didn’t want to.

My hands slid down her sides and around her waist. I pulled her against me and rested my forehead against hers, just to hold her—to revel in this moment of calm in the storm of everything we still had to face.

A knock on the door pulled a groan of protest. I wanted nothing more than to drag her back into bed and continue exploring this new thing between us.

“Go away!” Seven called.

The knock came again. “Would love to—” It was Nyx. “But, North wants Deathwing to go over the schematics of the island.”

“Sure he does,” I grumbled. “We’ve only gone over them a hundred times already.”

Emersyn huffed a laugh, her breath warm as it coasted across my lips. She leaned in and pressed one more weighted kiss against my mouth.

“Find me later?” She whispered.

“Always.”

Somehow I tore myself from her.

“Fuck, that was hot,” Seven muttered.

I opened the door to find not just Nyx outside, but Doc.

“No!” Seven called out. “Do not let him in here!”

Doc rolled his eyes and moved into the room to more of Seven’s protests, as I followed Nyx down the stairs. Nyx kept casting sly smirks my way.

“Hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” he chuckled.

“Sure, Nyx,” I grunted. “You’re real sorry. Were you sorry in the kitchen too?” I asked as I thought about how the crash of cooking sheets had been perfectly timed.

Nyx laughed. “Okay, I’m not really sorry. Do you know how many times I get interrupted in this house? It’s a lot.”

We walked into the war room and North, West, Atlas and Knight sat around the table. Various monitors held schematics and photos.

“So the drone made it?” I asked as I peered at the images.

West nodded. “Kaelin’s doing. We have two of them out there.”

“Any movement?”