Solace

His hand slipped down between us then, searching, searching until they landed on my clit. I gasped, letting go of his ear, and threw my head back to look at him.

He liked the wildness in my eyes, liked the way his touch pushed me to the edge. Goddess, but the smallest stroke made me quiver. His eyes said he liked that reaction, he liked it very much. So much that he began to stroke my clit slowly, then faster, then slowly, then faster until I was begging him to stop teasing me.

As my lady wishes.

I thought what had gone before was good. What came next was incredible. Patrick thrust harder, his hand on my hip pressing me down at the same time. First shallow, then deep, then shallow again. And his hand kept massaging my clit, kept teasing me and building the heat and pressure inside me that threatened to explode.

He caught my eyes and held them. It was as though I were spellbound, incapable of looking anywhere but those two beautiful sea jewel eyes of his.

The pressure was building, pounding at the limits of my body, begging to be let out. He moved inside me and I moved against him, our eyes locked, the need and desire naked for each other to see.

When I thought I couldn't stand it anymore, when I thought I'd have to explode or die, he moved both hands to my thighs and began thrusting in sharp, quick bursts. Inside me, his cock shifted, hitting a small, hidden pulse I wasn't aware I had.

My eyes widened and Patrick smiled. His hands tightened and he kept moving, touching that pulse over and over until my eyes rolled back and I convulsed around him, spilling power and heat from my body to his.

He caught his breath as my orgasm pulled him over the edge, and then we were both falling, falling and pulsing and bursting into fountains of bright, burning white light. Until we couldn't be sure where one of us ended and the other began.

Until I felt the heat of his soul nestle against mine. This time, I grabbed it. Grabbed it and clung to it possessively. Mine! I thought.

In that second between heartbeats, between one breath and the next I had a sudden blinding flash of Patrick. Not Patrick as he was now, but Patrick as he had been all those centuries ago before whatever curse that made him immortal had been cast.

The flash was incomplete, just bits and pieces. Patrick dressed as a Roman soldier. Patrick standing inside a temple. A woman crying, begging him in a language I didn't understand. A red-haired priest rising before a fire, casting the curse at Patrick.

And then it was gone and I collapsed against my Patrick in the here and now. My Patrick. I rolled it over in my mind. This hadn't started out that way. It was supposed to be a little comfort sex between friends. But I had a sneaking suspicion he was now My Patrick.

I felt his hand on my back and remembered to breathe. We lay coiled in my bed, a sweat-soaked tangle of naked limbs. I didn't have the strength to look up at him. I didn't have the strength to move. I barely had the strength to breathe.

He nuzzled against my neck, hands holding me as tightly as they could. If he hadn't, I would have spilled over backward.

My Patrick. I waited for the fear to rise in me, the panic of being trapped. But it didn't come. Laying there against him, all I felt was peace. Peace and a sense of…safety. That made me shiver. I hadn't felt safe around a man in a long time.

He kissed the side of my neck then, groaning as he moved us slowly onto our sides. It took a moment to detangle our limbs, but then I was curled back against his chest again. Safe. I was safe again.

I looked up at him then, at that sex-tossled dark hair and those shining eyes. Something more than sex had definitely happened tonight, but I wasn't sure I could put a name on it. I had questions. I had so many questions to ask him, I didn't know where to start.

Patrick smiled down at me, those beautiful eyes heavy with sleep and satisfaction. "Shhhh, love. Tomorrow. Tomorrow you can ask me anything you want."

I wanted to protest. I wanted to demand answers immediately. But I didn't. Instead I smiled back at him, then ducked my head and nuzzled against that wonderfully fuzz-free chest of his and closed my eyes. Tomorrow was soon enough.