by Kyle, Celia
He tried as hard as he could to give her space. He wanted nothing more than to make her happy. His lion scratched under the surface, begging to touch her, begging to love her.
With its fierce male pride, the lion wanted to feast on her until she submitted body and soul. The animal part of him believed that if he could only touch her enough, she would remember.
Worst of all was her pregnancy. He could almost smell his cub, a sweet scent overlaying her own, making her even richer and more delicious to his senses. He longed to sit with his cheek pressed against her belly and feel the baby respond to his voice.
Avery enjoyed every room of the suite, taking long baths and resting on couches. He couldn’t stop looking at her. He realized that standing at a distance and staring at her was not healthy, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
She went out to work for a few hours and he stayed by her side the entire time. With his senses on high alert, he checked out everyone who came near. He was ready to fight for her, to rend, tear and kill if anyone even looked at her sideways.
When they returned to the hotel, he ordered food for her and rubbed her feet. When she relaxed under his hands the lion purred in pleasure, quickly becoming a low growl. It escaped from his throat before he could hold it in. Her eyes snapped up to him, questioning him.
“I’m sorry.” He rubbed her feet firmly, trying to reassure her and soothe her emotions at the same time. “I just can’t keep the lion quiet. It’s maddening having you here and not being able to hold you like I did before.”
“Elias.” She shook her head, making her glossy, dark hair fall over her shoulders. “I just don’t remember. If it was as serious as you say, surely something would have come back to me by now. I’m starting to feel something—little clues. But it’s all about me. None of it has anything to do with you.”
His eyes closed with disappointment. The lion thrashed against such rejection.
Impossible! it screamed.
“Tell me then, what you do remember.”
She leaned back, relaxing and looking up to the ceiling. “I’m starting to remember a sense of freedom. The hint of adventure in the air. Like I can go anywhere, do anything.” She grinned and it was so much like the old Avery it tore his heart.
“Every time I think of her, I feel a little bit more of what I must have been like. The confident smile and easy manner. She didn’t stress about things, this other me. She didn’t carefully calculate the odds. She just jumped.”
“Yes,” he whispered, concentrating on her feet. “That’s right, exactly.”
“So, Elias.” She sat up, looking at him until he met her eyes. “Does that sound like the kind of woman who makes a lifelong pledge in the first few days of meeting someone?”
“That’s what happened,” he replied stubbornly.
“I can’t agree. The strongest feeling I get when I try to remember is freedom. She wasn’t tied down by anything or anyone. Are you sure this relationship was as important to her as it was to you?”
It was like a blade turning over in his heart, hearing those words. This truly was a different woman in his hands now.
“Avery.” He put her feet down, wiping oil off his hands. She laid her head back down again, relaxing into the cushions as he shuffled along the floor to get close to her face.
“Yes, Elias?” She was very happy, enjoying his attention and the luxury of the hotel. He had hoped these simple things might jog her memory. After all, they had spent a full week locked in their hotel room back in Greece.
“I told you we were mates. A perfect match.”
“I still don’t really understand what you mean.”
“I’m telling you. From the moment I put my mark on you, we became the other’s future. There is no going back from that, Avery. You will never feel desire for anyone else.”
She looked at him with some skepticism. “I’m not sure I believe that.”
“Have you found anyone attractive since the accident? Anyone at all?”
She shook her head. “No. But I did come out of a coma where I was brain damaged.”
He smiled gently. “But you’re well now. Aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And you haven’t felt any desire to be with anyone until you saw me. Have you?”
She shook her head.
“I know you’re confused—”
“No, you don’t, Elias,” she snapped at him. “You have no clue. I don’t remember you. I don’t know how to make you understand that. Yes, I feel something when I’m around you. But that’s not the same as knowing you.”
“You’re getting to know me all over again.” His hands closed on hers, willing her to feel the passion inside him.
“You’re saying that it’s just us, forever?” she whispered. “No questions and no doubt?”
“That’s how it works. Last time… When we first met, you couldn’t wait. The only thing that mattered to you was starting the rest of our lives together.”
She sat up, eyes shimmering with tears. He could see that his words were having an effect on her. “Elias…”
“Yes.” He felt full of fire, like his lion was going to come roaring out and he couldn’t stop it.
“I want…”
“Yes.” He leaned forward, holding her hands gently.
“I want you.” Her warm, soft eyes looked deeply into his. His heart leapt in joy and hope.
“Do you remember?” His voice was strained. He wanted it so much that he couldn’t see it clearly. The only thing he cared about was her eyes looking into his with that same acceptance, that same fire.
“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t remember. But I want to. What you’re describing… It sounds amazing. It sounds like every love song come true. I want it. I want you.”
She leaned forward, gently taking hold of his face. She kissed him, lightly at first and then deeper. He sat up on his knees, pushing her down on the couch. She yielded as every part of her gave to him. He moaned as he slid on top of her, trying to kiss her as he crawled up her body.
Her belly immediately got in the way and they both laughed. He felt the baby kick against his hand as he rubbed the tight skin. She got bigger every day. He couldn’t wait to see his cub, to hold it in his arms and see the blended features of him and his love.
She leaned forward and kissed him again and her belly got in the way again. He helped her get her shirt off and she practically tore his from his shoulders, trailing her fingers over his chest and arms.
Her eyes were warm and bright as she looked at him. He glowed under her attention, his lion purring happily.
He savored every inch of her legs as he helped her out of her skirt and panties. She grasped his belt buckle and tugged it out of his pants, hurling the belt across the room. She shifted sideways on the couch and plunged her head down.
His back arched, and his fingers fluttered. Her lips wrapped around his cock and her tongue worked the shaft as she slid her head down, worshipping him with her mouth. He stayed still, swaying back and forth a little to her motion. It had been so long… He had convinced himself he would never have this again.
Tingles shot down his spine as she worked him even harder. He moaned and the lion roared, demanding to take her.
When she came up for air, he tilted her back, holding her knees. His mouth went straight to that sweet spot between her legs and he began to suck on her clit.
She writhed on the couch, thrusting her hips at him. When her hands found his hair and pushed him in even deeper, he increased his efforts, using his tongue to probe and his lips to tease.
He felt her trembling, pussy clenching. He gripped her thighs and gave her clitoris long, firm strokes, darting down to tease the delicate folds apart and then putting all his attention back on the clit.
Her cries when she came were heaven to him. His skin broke out in goosebumps, pleasure racing like fire through his bones. When he sat up, he just drank in her expression, loose and lazy.
When her eyes flickered open, he could see the raw lust still rising inside her. She reached out for his cock, the staff rock hard and pointing toward her. She rubbed it with her fingers, pulling him toward her.
“No,” he whispered.
“No?” she was genuinely shocked. He laughed.
“No, not here. In the bed. I want you and the baby to be comfortable.”
She wrapped her hands around her belly, letting him help her up. They went to the big bed together and he laid her down, touching her all over with his big, firm hands. She closed her eyes, sinking into the pleasure he gave.
Gently, he turned her onto her side. He crawled up behind her and teased her entrance gently until she was dripping wet. Her cries of pleasure stroked his animal to a sensual frenzy, intense and all-consuming.
He put a hand on her thigh, leaning over to look into her face. Seeing her contented and smiling sent shivers of pleasure running down his spine.
He pressed his cock against her, gently pressing apart the sweet pink lips. He knew that from this position he had to be careful, but it was the most comfortable way for her and her ever-swelling belly.
She curled before him in a rough L-shape, her fingers stroking at the mattress. He knelt behind her, stroking the backs of her thighs. Then she leaned forward, just a little, so she could point her pussy at him.
The lion growled, hungry for her. He slipped his cock into the wet lips of her cave, gasping at the sensation of her inner muscles closing around him. He went slowly, inch by inch. The moans she made as he slowly parted her excited him even more, his cock throbbing with urgency.
Even while his body begged him to finish in waves of pounding male dominance and his beast roared, he held himself in check. He pleasured her with long, sure strokes, pulling out all the way to the tip before sliding himself back in again. He made sure she felt every single inch.
He wanted to stroke her pussy in its every fold, leaving no part of her untouched. He kept up his slow and careful attention until she started to writhe against him, her pussy gripping at him while it got even more slick with her lust.
She screwed her hips toward him, crying out in joy. He pressed his hips forward, holding his cock hard and stiff inside her and pressing against the soft, spongey place inside that begged to be pounded. He waited for her orgasm to explode around him, the shudders of her pussy echoing in every single part of her body.
Then and only then did he let himself go. As he started to thrust harder and faster, the sound of their bodies slapping together almost overpowered her growing moans. She started to yell, his cock pointing hard inside her and pulsing in time with her own inner movements.
When he finally tipped over and spilled his hot seed inside her, a roar ripped out of him that made the walls tremble. Avery turned under him, looking up at him to smile.
She might not remember him, but she was learning to love him again. She wasn’t afraid.
She wanted him.
In that moment, she was the only thing that mattered in the entire world.
Chapter Twelve
When Elias swelled, joining their bodies even more tightly together, Avery gripped the sheet under her fingers and let out a long, drawn-out wail. He was big and hard, but she was so wet that all she felt was incredible, delicious friction.
She was so comfortable curled on her side, him kneeling behind her. She couldn’t believe he had gone to so much effort to put her in a position that would support her belly.
He was getting bigger and bigger and she wanted to see his face. She had to look into his eyes.
She shifted sideways and he immediately moved away. As she rolled on to her back he reached out and touched her cheek, eyes wide and serious.
“Are you alright, Avery? Do you need anything?”
“No.” She shook her head, amazed all over again at his sweetness. “I just want you.”
His expression didn’t change much, but she could see his contentment radiating from him. It felt amazing to be able to make someone so happy. She had never felt so loved and treasured.
Maybe he made me feel like this every day.
It hurt that she could not remember.
She opened her legs, reaching for him.
“Are you okay? Your belly—”
She smiled. “Just try not to fall on top of me. Okay? I want to see you.”
His smile settled into a kind of awe. He came forward on his knees and she couldn’t believe how big and hard he was. Yet he was full of control. He didn’t need to rush to the moment of release. His main purpose was only to pleasure her.
She opened her thighs as widely as she could, propping her back up on one pillow. She didn’t remember him. It was true. She didn’t remember any of this at all. But something felt right—so right that the sweetness rushed through her and she almost cried. Again, she had the sense that she had missed this.
She didn’t need the memories to know that something was gone and now it had been found again. The sense of completion was too strong to deny.
As Elias pressed forward with his hips, holding himself up on his massive, tanned arms, she watched his eyes. They glowed with gold, the glimmer pricking itself out like stars and then flooding through the iris like dawn light flowing across the horizon.
She couldn’t look away. She raised a hand and touched his cheek, keeping her eyes locked on his. He looked right into her eyes as if he could fall into them.
Avery twisted her hips toward him, and he wrapped his powerful hands around her upper thighs, caressing her butt. He thrust in long, slow strokes and she felt her deep muscles clenching around him again. She was coming and it seemed all it took for her body to respond to him was his focused attention… And his beautiful body.
The mark on her shoulder began to throb. It wasn’t painful, but it was if blood had decided to run to that spot. It tingled and pulsed, and these sharp sensations ran down her spine and raced to her toes.
She leaned her head back, gasps becoming screams as her inner muscles grabbed and held him, clamping around his cock with a force that stopped his thrusting and kept him in place until the final edges of the orgasm made her pussy pour with slick juice.
He slid his hips backward, enjoying the slippery feel of her. He waited for her orgasm to settle, leaving her gasping and trembling. Her entire body had felt the pleasure. Every single cell had turned itself inside out as if being reborn.
“Avery…” He reached out, careful not to put pressure on her belly. He traced her cheek with one finger, gazing at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world.
Tears pricked her eyes suddenly, and she couldn’t see him. He blurred away to smudges of color and she couldn’t bear to wipe the tears away to look into his face again. She had been struck by a sudden terrible realization.
She had been worried about herself all this time. Thinking about how she felt—not remembering him or anything else. She had not for one second imagined what he had been living through.
The love of his life gone. Disappeared, most likely dead. The ocean of grief that must have swallowed him and destroyed his joy, robbed any pleasure from the moments of his life. Only now, taking in the way he looked at her, did she realize this man had been torn to shreds.
Not even half a man, but broken pieces of man and beast left scattered across the remnants of a long, happy future that had been denied him.
She blinked hard to bring him back into focus and saw that his eyes had become more intense as he looked at her, his hands gently tracing her body and trying to drink her in through every single one of his senses.
“I love you, Avery,” he whispered.
She felt helpless and torn. She wanted to say it back. She just didn’t know how. Was this love? She could not speak it falsely. She felt something for him, true. She felt more by the second and she knew it would be painful to be separated from him.
Perhaps love was simply, “I cannot live without you.”
Already, she felt that way, but sh
e could not bring herself to speak the words. She only closed her eyes and turned her head away.
She felt him grip her even tighter and start to thrust with complete abandon. She knew his release was near and she let herself ride on the wave, loving the pressure of his hands and hips. Her back arched, she slid closer to him and she looked up to see his eyes closed and his body taut as he let himself go.
She felt the moment he came and the cry that burst from his throat almost made her tears return. He was so full of relief that she couldn’t help but be affected by it.
She might not remember him, but she couldn’t deny the connection between them. He had missed her—missed her so terribly that it caused him real pain to see her alive and well.
Even if it was a far sweeter bite to see her alive than assuming she was dead, she could sense it rested on a keen edge. Because he had been forced to live without her, he could never have that old joy back. He would always be terrified of losing her, especially with dark strangers jumping her at every opportunity.
She did not know if he would ever get her back. How could she guarantee she would remember? She couldn’t know such a thing, but she was trying.
He held himself still within her, head thrown back as he gasped in the strength of his release. She realized he had not been with anyone since she went missing and he never would. It was her or nothing.
It was a powerful sensation, to think that if he could not be with her, he would rather be alone. She felt like crying again and wondered how so much joy could be mixed with so much pain.
He settled on the bed next to her, putting his arms around her and pulling their bodies together. Snuggled against her shoulder, he fell asleep almost immediately, and she had never seen anyone so happy.
She watched his face, how he relaxed as the breaths drew out into longer, deeper exhalations. She felt he had not slept this well since she disappeared and again, she admonished herself for not thinking about his feelings in all of this.
She could not fight the sense of comfort and familiarity that flooded her. This moment—of quiet dark, soft sheets and Elias’ hands—had happened before. The recognition was shocking and all-consuming. She was home. She was exactly where she was meant to be.
