Read Primal Heat 04 - Forever in Darkness for Free Online Page B

personalization that told her that it was simply for
her. That she was all that mattered. An offering of his very soul to her, if
she wanted it. A deep, masculine warmth enfolded her like a solid wall of
strength, and she knew it was Ian, showing her that she was safe with him. He
wasn't kissing Catherine, he wasn't making love to a name, he was completely
and irretrievably connected to her, to her soul, to the very essence of who she
was.
    The demon was still there inside him.
The despair. The shadows that clung to his heart and had burrowed their way
into his soul hadn't lessened, but beside all of that, she could sense a purity
of spirit, an honesty of intention, a commitment to her safety.
    His emotions and his spirit were
unlike anything she'd ever felt before, and she was overwhelmed by it, by how
he made her feel. Unable to articulate her emotions, she showed him the only
way she could, by wrapping her arms around him and kissing him with everything
she was.
    "And now you're mine,"
Ian whispered it into her mouth, a fierce statement of possession that made her
shiver in anticipation. Then he thrust deep, and she was lost to him.
    The kisses turned frantic and
desperate, and suddenly she couldn’t get enough of him. She clung to him as he
thrust again and again, driving deeper and deeper, sending her catapulting
toward the precipice. Tension built inside her, coiling tighter and tighter,
twisting her insides into a seething mass of desire so intense she couldn’t
even think. "Ian—" she gasped.
    "Catherine," he growled
as he thrust one more time, and then everything fragmented inside her and she
came apart in his arms. Ian shouted fiercely and then he was crushing her
against the wall, his body rigid as the orgasm took him, spinning them both wildly
out of control, into a place so dangerous and so right that she knew everything
had changed for her forever.
    * * *
    Ian leaned his forehead against
Catherine's as he fought to regain his breath. His muscles were vibrating from
the violence of the orgasm that had just taken him, and from the intensity of
what he'd felt from Catherine.
    He understood more about her. So
much more. And it wasn't good.
    "Ian." Her voice was
throaty and sensual, easing into his gut as she ran her fingers through his
hair.
    He smiled and lifted his head,
placing a kiss on her mouth. That amazing, beautiful mouth. "Hey."
    Her eyes were at half-mast, the
expression of a woman well-loved, but there was a furrow between her brows. "That
shouldn't have been able to happen between us."
    Ian nodded. "I know. I can
tell."
    Surprise flickered across her face.
"You can? What are you talking about?"
    Ian rested his palm on her chest,
over her heart. "There are shields inside you so strong that I couldn't get
past them. I could feel you reaching out for me, inviting me in, but I couldn't
get in. You're blocked from connecting with me. With anyone?"
    She nodded, watching him warily, as
if uncertain how much to share. "I thought you could get that information
out of me. Wasn't that why we had sex?"
    Ian chuckled at the flash of
vulnerability in her eyes. "Sweetheart, we made love because there was
nothing on this earth that could have kept me from you."
    A small smile flickered at the
corner of her mouth. "I know that's not the whole truth. I know we had sex
to build an intimate connection between us, but I really liked that you said
that."
    "I meant it."
    Her smile grew wider. "That's
why I liked it."
    Ian grinned, but he couldn't shake
the feeling of something being wrong. He'd felt it when he was inside her,
connected to what little of her spirit he'd been able to reach. Yeah, the sex
had been something off the charts, and there was no question that she was the
other half of his soul, but something was off, and he didn't know what. There
was a gap between them, a gap that was dangerously wrong.
    The doorknob behind him turned, and
he heard the thudding as someone tried to open the door. Catherine glanced