The pace intensifies. Ashen's thrusts grow more powerful. An urgency builds, that we are both chasing something to a precipice. His hand grips my thigh and I fold my leg across his back, lifting my hips, taking him deeper. I feel my climax coming like a breaker crashing onto shore. My back arches and my core pulls taut around him as I say Ashen’s name, over and over until I can’t speak anymore. My veins spark like fuses and my breath catches in my chest. Ashen buries his face into my neck, moaning in pleasure as he empties into me. Stars explode in every nerve, in every chamber of my heart.

For a long while we lie unmoving, Ashen's weight comforting on my body. I feel the storm of beats and breath in his chest as it presses against mine. When his lungs steady, Ashen layers kisses across my neck until it tickles and I laugh.

"That sound," he says as he pulls away. His gaze shifts between my eyes and then trails across the details of my face, landing on my mouth. "I cannot imagine your song could be better than that sound."

I laugh again and his eyes spark with delight as he sweeps an errant strand of hair from my cheek. "You haven't heard me sing anything by Celine Dion. I crush that shit. I'll make you cry, guaranteed."

Ashen smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling. Up this close, I can see the tiny flecks of gold that warm the tones of brown. His smile slowly fades away until only his attentive gaze remains.

"Sing for me," he says.

I shake my head but smile. The way he looks at me, he knows that I will.

"Come on, vampire," he murmurs as he snakes his arms beneath my back and lifts me until we're sitting chest to chest, still joined at our center. He pulls the bunched-up dress over my head and the elastic free from my hair, running his fingers through the long strands.

"Sing what?" I ask as Ashen drags his lips across my neck up to my ear, biting my earlobe. It sends a shock of gooseflesh down my arms. The hot coil of desire turns in my belly and I close my eyes, my heart already raging as I feel him harden within me.

"The song from Bit Akalum," he says, and I tilt my head to catch his gaze with a question in my eyes. "I wanted to hear it in your voice. I thought if you could place your trust in me that maybe you would sing it for me one day." Ashen trails his fingers across my cheek and locks his eyes to mine. "I already knew who you were. That I wanted you, like this. That I would break any rule, that I would do anything for you."

I watch him for a moment. I must have the most surprised expression on my face, because a faint smile lifts the corner of Ashen's mouth.

"Did you hear me, vampire?"

I nod, trying to unlock the sudden tightness in my throat. I lean forward and press my kiss to his. When a rhythm starts to build between us, I pull away to hold my lips to his ear.

I've been sleepless at night

'Cause I don't know how I feel

I've been waiting on you

Just to say something real

I sing until there is no more room for words in passion, until even a siren song can't withstand the power of a kiss.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 25

I wake to a heavy arm draped down the length of my back. Ashen's fingers trail a slow progression at the base of my spine. I open my eyes and there's a dim light in the room but it's still dark outside beyond the narrow windows, or at least darker, so it must still be night.

This should feel really fucking weird, waking up in a Reaper's bed on his slick, silky sheets in the Shadow Realm. But it doesn't. It feels like pieces have fit together in a puzzle I couldn't solve until now.

I draw in a deep breath and take stock of my body. I'm a little hungry but I don't want to bother with food. I'm tired but rubbery and relaxed. I'm sore but in a way that makes me just want more of what made me feel way in the first place.

When I turn over, Ashen's hand follows the flow of my movement, settling to trace the same slow pattern on my ribs. He's propped up with pillows, a large book resting against his legs.

"No sleep?" I ask, and he shakes his head. "Was I sleep talking?"

"No."

"Snoring?"

"No."

"Singing?"

"No."

"Farting? Not sleep farting."

"...maybe." Ashen smiles so I know he's only joking and we watch one another for a silent moment. His smile fades, the pattern on my ribs slows. "We need to talk."

"That doesn't sound ominous at all," I say, my heart dropping into my stomach as I pull myself up to sit facing him. I don't cover my chest as I figure boobs can only help. His eyes linger on my breasts and I can see him try to subdue the flame of desire in his eyes as they meet mine once more and he clenches his jaw.

Note to self: Reaper likes boobs.

I roll away off the bed to retrieve my journal and pen from the floor. I give him plenty of time to take in the rest of my body before I turn around and write a note about the boobs in my collection.

Addendum: also ass. 

I fold the journal closed and throw it and the pen on the edge of the bed, then stalk across the silken sheets like a predator. I hear the whoosh of blood through the caverns and crevices of Ashen's heart and I smile as I draw closer.

"Fuck," he whispers, dragging a hand through his hair as he tries to conquer his urges. I prowl past his legs and close the book, tossing it on the floor with a heavy thud. I climb up the length of tattoos that flow from his abdomen to his neck.

"You had something you wanted to discuss?" I whisper in his ear as my hand starts to trail a slow path down his chest, down the ridges of muscle across his stomach.

Ashen growls with frustration and catches my wrist. "We need to talk about Ember.”

I sigh and sit back, resting my body on his leg. I drape my arm across his knees so I can lean my head on my hand. "That is such a buzzkill," I tease.

"Ember usually is. She's had several millennia of practice," Ashen says, and sweeps some hair back from my shoulder. "What did she want?"

"To force me into helping her make a hybrid of her own, then ferry it to the Realm of Light and release vengeance or some shit," I reply, catching Ashen's hand to hold it in my lap.

"And the soul she brought, you knew her?"

"She was my sister, Molpe. Ember said she knew where Aglaope's soul was and that she could bring her back to life. Can she do that?"

Ashen's eyes darken and he looks down at our joined hands. "Yes, potentially. She could petition to bring her back as a Reaper, but she doesn’t have the power to do it herself."

I don't want to think about what Aglaope would make of that if she were still alive. Maybe it would be better than being a wandering soul trapped in this place. Or maybe it would be better for me to kill her for good, like I did with Molpe. Ashen squeezes my hand and I meet his eyes with a faint and melancholic smile.

"She said if I didn't help her, that she would bring you into it too. Something about Rosaria Wyre."

Ashen's eyes widen before he heaves a heavy sigh of dismay. He tilts his head back against the headboard. "Fucking hell. I cannot believe she knows about that."

"In the short time I've known her, I get the feeling there's not much that goes on among the Reapers that Ember doesn't know about."

"Astute observation," Ashen says, bending his head as he presses the fingers of his free hand to his forehead. His gaze is trapped in our joined palms as he loses himself in thought.