Reserved for the Wicked

In return for his delight, she tightened her grip on his back and dug possessively into his flesh with a taunting gleam in her eye. Ever so slowly, she raked her fingers down, leaving hot red trails across his shoulder blades. She traced the marks lightly with her fingertips and the caress made every hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Kade smirked again before roughly kissing her back, both of them entangled in an intimate embrace. Everything stopped. The dread, the fear, all of it ceased to exist, and the couple gave in to their most passionate desires. Lia giggled and cuddled close to Kade, inhaling his wonderful essence with every little breath. She loved the way he made her feel. No one could bring out the tenacious side of her like he could, and yet in that same moment she longed to kneel before him and devote every part of her to his existence. Her pride would never allow such a thing to slip from her supple lips, but the impulse scared her all the same. She never knew herself to be so, well—doting wasn’t the right word, and yet it was. Lia craved the warmth of his acceptance all the while encouraging him to banter with her, to fight and to bicker until nothing was left unspoken between them. It was an endless game of prodding and prattling and not even their restless travel could exhaust their wiles. Yet in spite of their quarrels, one would inevitably yield to the other and the night would become theirs, and theirs alone. Was love so illogical? Was it acceptable to feel such an obsessive desire for someone you wanted to trouble? Was it normal to want to please another like that? Lia’s head had become far too muddled and she pushed the thoughts away, indifferent with what the rest of the world might think. Her chocolate gaze returned to Kade who blinked back at her with a smile, melting her insides, and she returned the warm gesture with her hand gallivanting across the smooth skin that was his chest, “I’m pretty sure that was worth risking our hides,” she commented before giggling into the night. Kade snorted at her remark as she ran a delicate finger along the groove of his left clavicle, her drowsy chestnut gaze smiling lazily up at him. The gesture might not have been anything more than a caress in Lia’s eyes, but in response to her touch Kade clutched her waist possessively with his right hand, reiterating his claim on her as if to put some deep animal instinct to rest. Her delightful warmth radiated from beneath his caress as he cupped her hip in his palm and slid his hand over her side in the most loving way. Enthralled by the sensation, he continued to gently encircle the maiden’s skin with his fingertips, his mind oblivious to anything that did not involve her. She meant everything and more to him, and yet despite all that they had been through together he caught himself wondering once again whether or not she knew just how much he loved her, that he would die for her in a heartbeat. The thought stirred an ambiguity that stung like a knife in his chest, the kind of insecurity that can drive men to madness. Just when he felt the ravenous uncertainty would consume him altogether, its scheme was interrupted by the joy that spread across Kade’s face. Lia was nodding off, as desperate as she was to stay awake in his company and there was nothing more amusing than watching her stubborn nature, as strong as it was, lose to the powerful will of the sandman. Lia fought the losing battle against her heavy eyelids for another moment until at last she drifted off into a satisfied slumber, curled up next to the one man she had dreamed of waking up to.