A slender finger gains my attention as he lifts my chin so that we are eye to eye, “LJ, this isn’t about just my demon. I’m just as drawn to you if not more. I can’t even explain the draw to you. It’s as if my next breath depends on it. I know that I should resist, for your sake, but I can’t. You’re … you’re my kryptonite.”
“Why are you so hesitant to embrace what is going on between us?” I ask before taking a bite of our dinner.
Daxell has a way of devouring me with his gaze and I melt under his scrutiny before he replies, “Because I don’t want to doom you to being tied to The Underworld. You see, I can only stay here six months of the year. I must reside in The Underworld for the rest of the year. I cannot truly exist in both realms unless I split my time between them. I don’t want that for you, LJ. No matter what my demon thinks, The Underworld will squash that beautiful light soul of yours.” For a brief moment, he lifts the ends of my hair, reverently. As if he has never seen anything so beautiful, before smiling a sad smile and saying, “That’s why I’ve been fighting this. Of all people, you should not be tied to me.”
For a moment, I’m stunned, and then I shake it off, needing more information. “So you are kind of like Persephone? You have to spend half your time in both places?”
“Yeah. Something like that. My time in hell has been just that, Hell. I constantly crave to be topside.”
I’m blown away, but I can’t help but ask, “Would my spending time there with you help?”
He shudders, “You have no idea. Having you there with me would be like finding an oasis in the middle of a desert. But that’s not remotely possible. You can not bond with me or my demon. If you do? Then you will be doomed to the same fate. LJ, I don’t want that for you.”
My meal forgotten, I move closer to take his face in my hands, and say, “I don’t think it has anything to do with what we want. What if it has to do with what we need? Rather, who we are meant to be with. I’m not saying that want doesn’t mean anything, because it does. You can’t tell me that you haven’t wanted to kiss me since the moment you laid eyes on me. Can you? Yet you have kept me at arm's length all because of your noble heart. You are full of contradictions. I’m not only intrigued by you but I admire that about you. What if you don’t have to walk your path alone? What if you and I were meant to walk our paths together? Supporting one another. Balancing one another.”
Dax leans forward until our foreheads are touching and ever so slowly he tilts his chin forward, brushing his lips over mine in an almost reverent show of devotion. His hand cups my cheek as his tongue parts my lips in a gentle caress. Just as I begin to let go and fall into all the sensations that his kiss has evoked, he pulls back, his eyes sad, “LJ, I’m bad news. You’re killing me here. All I want to do is wrap you in my arms and run far away and have my way with you. You should heed my warning before it’s too late. Before I throw caution to the wind.”
“To hell with caution,” I throw myself into his arms, my lips crashing down on his and he wraps me up in his strong arms and for the first time in my adult life, I feel as if I’ve come home. His lips capture my own as he takes the lead and deepens the kiss. Instantly, a spark flares to life, the same spark that has been hovering below the surface since we met. As our kiss deepens, my body reacts and oh my freakin’ goodness. My demon boy can kiss, not that I’ve had much experience in this arena but, damn. I know on a fundamental level that I can never let him go. He is mine and I am his.
16
Surrendering My Heart
(Daxell)
Irealized in mere moments that I would never be able to let her go. Not now. Not ever. How the hell am I supposed to protect her now? Protect her from me, from my demon? From The Underworld? As the implication shudders through me I pull her closer. Needing to feel her decadent body in my arms. At some point, we ended up wrapped around one another lying close to the pool of water beside us. Kissing LJ is like tasting heaven. As much as I want her, I’m still conflicted and so I gently pull away from her. I know that I need to put some distance between us, even though her every touch seduces me.
“LJ,” I breathe out. “We should stop.” I pull back, cupping her face in my hands, “By all that is holy, you are so beautiful to me, but I need to think.”
“Don’t you dare push me
