Breath of Innocence Read Online Free

had made love before without Roka getting involved, but never without him in the room. His presence had been ubiquitous from the very beginning.
    This felt very different. This singular focus they had for each other. It would end soon, but he intended to savor it.
    She tilted her head back when he moved closer, and accepted his mouth with hers. Her lips were wet and tasted a little soapy, but her tongue was as sweet and velvet soft as always. Eben lingered, absorbing her need like a sponge until he felt saturated. He released her and bent to her breasts, taking her nipples between his lips one at a time, sucking them into pebble-hard peaks.
    Her fingernails raked through his hair, scoring his scalp and pulling him closer. “Oh, Eben. You know I love you, don’t you? I’ve always loved you.”
    The words had the force of cleansing fire, but they weren’t enough to sear away his worry. They only served to reveal his weakness, and it was too stark to deny. He loved her. He always had, and sharing her had become a heavy yet necessary burden.
    He claimed her mouth again and pushed her hard against the thick glass at the back of the shower. With both hands, he gripped her thighs and lifted her up. Her skin made rough skidding sounds against the glass as he slid her higher until her legs could wrap around his waist.
    “Yes,” she whispered when he pressed his throbbing tip against her hot core. “I want you. Always.”
    He slid deep, his hips rocking hard against hers. Her slick heat was so welcome. After the cold air on the deck above, the shower’s heat had done little to warm him. Her warmth seeped into him with each steady thrust, with each tight squeeze of her muscles, urging him deeper. She clutched at his head, pulled him to her again. Her lips traced silent affirmations against his jaw, his mouth. Their tongues slid together in an intimate dance, articulating the things they felt, but had no words to adequately convey.
    They climaxed together, shuddering, clutching, clinging to the last drops of pleasure. Their mouths bit and sucked, seemed to drain each other dry like parched wanderers in a desert being dragged away from the long sought oasis.
    He refused to release her, however. He punched the knobs for the shower, turning everything off.
    “You can put me down now,” Camille said, pushing away just enough to look him in the eye.
    “Do you want me to put you down?”
    She shook her head and wrapped her arms around his neck. He grabbed a couple towels with his free hand and draped one over her shoulders. At the bed, he climbed on slowly, scooting on his knees until he could lay her down against the pillows, following so that their hips never parted. He intended to keep making love to her for as long as possible, to take advantage of this window of opportunity to have her all to himself, even though the steady, throbbing glow of her mark made it agonizingly apparent that she would never be wholly his, ever.
    ***
    “What is it?” Rafe asked, his brow creasing with concern when Roka hadn’t spoken in several moments.
    Roka met his friend’s gaze and studied him for a moment. The Shadow knew the trials of love well enough, but he had yet to forge the kind of bond with another that Roka had with Eben and Camille. He might understand, and after the story Rafe had shared, Roka believed he could share his own in confidence.
    “It’s the bond I have with them. It was unconventional to begin with, but at least the Council has no laws against us mating with two humans upon awakening. Issa refused to take him.”
    “Was there something wrong with him?” Rafe asked.
    “Nothing at all, save his love for Camille. In spite of my bond with him, which is mutually satisfying, I think he still prefers her.”
    “You have the power to release them, you know. Or to simply let them be together and get out of their way.”
    “In theory, yes…” Roka glanced toward the narrow stairwell that led down to the lower deck where