Their lips moved in a desperate dance, their limbs entangled and their bodies burning. It was so wonderfully passionate that Hunter forgot to keep control of the fire. But that didn't matter. Will was not Eli, he could not be burned by her flame. And even if he could, he didn't complain one bit.
Soon she began to notice things about him that she hadn't thought much of before. Things like the stubble that lined his jaw, becoming thicker as it grew closer to his ears. Or the fact that he smelled like dirt mixed with soap in a strangely rugged sense. Things like how big he was when he guided her onto the pillow of the bed and towered over her, making her feel more protected than she'd ever felt in her life. Her thoughts strayed to Eli for just a brief second when she recalled the last time she was in such a passionate embrace, but then she felt like laughing. Her love for Eli was not the same as her love for Will because of how much she'd changed and experienced and endured.
And Will was ... more. So much more.
For someone who hadn't ever expressed this hunger in a romantic sense, he somehow knew exactly how to make her toes tingle. He held himself above her, pressing down only slightly to keep her trapped beneath him. He buried his face in her hair and kissed a line down her neck, making goosebumps appear on her skin. He dipped over the strap of her tank top and kissed the bump of her shoulder. At that point, Hunter's inhibitions went completely haywire and she grabbed his neck in a vice-tight grip and pulled him back against her mouth. Their lips clashed together, the taste of mint lingering on his teeth as their tongues touched shyly and disappeared again. She gripped his T-shirt, pulling upward until he gave up and yanked it over his own head. She gazed up at his sculpted chest and lightly tanned skin that looked golden in the dim light from the candles. There were no scars on his chest, only the one down the side of his cheek, so faded now it was hardly noticeable.
Will couldn't be away from her lips any longer and cupped her head with one hand. Will's kisses were delicate even when forceful and she felt weak after each movement.
"I could kiss you ... all night," he murmured against the side of her mouth.
Hunter opened her eyes and they fluttered in surprise at how close Will's were. "I'd happily kiss you all night," she replied with a smile as she ran the tip of her finger along the line of his jaw and marveled at the sparkle in his doe-brown eyes. "You help me forget the world."
They were lost to each other from that moment onward. Hunter remembered clothes being torn from their bodies. She remembered how strong he was and how beautifully seductive his eyes were as they captured her and made her insides burn with desire. In the glow of the candlelight, she never looked away from his gaze as he took her completely, in a way that she'd never imagined possible. After everything they'd been through together, she had waited for this moment, to be entangled with him in both a physical and spiritual sense, to be intimately close to him and to know that he loved her. Losing members of their family or being betrayed by Joshua again or knowing that the world was about to end now that Dr. Wolfe had Ravenadium was a distant worry, overpowered by comfort and passion and safety.
She knew, without a doubt, that Will was the man her soul had searched for all her life. It was an electric connection unlike what she had with Eli. Eli was fragile, Will could not be burned. Eli was her opposite, Will had been through every hardship she had, and more. Perhaps she knew the very moment that he came to her rescue in the bathroom of ICE. It was only a matter of time before they let their responsibilities go and realized that the only thing that ever mattered was that they be happy, and happy together.
Will kissed her delicately when it was over and settled in beside her with his back against the cool wall of her room. Hunter twisted sideways, spreading her injured arm over his heaving chest and pulled the sheet over them with her other hand.
"Will ... I'm sorry, but I have to ask. You mentioned paradise this morning when you were ..."
"Heavily intoxicated?"
She tilted her head and smiled at him. "What did you mean by paradise?"
Will stared up at the ceiling. His thumb traced invisible circles on her skin, making her tingle all over. "For some people, paradise means heaven. A place where there are no fears or cares. I wanted heaven in ICE, and I wanted release. For a long time I dreamed of being dead. And then when I met you ... my perspective of paradise changed. I saw it as a place, anywhere in the world, where you were there with me. A place where we don't have to hurt. A place where no one could separate us and we were happy. That is the paradise I want."
Speechless, the only thing Hunter could do to promise that was kiss him again and pray they would find happiness soon.
"I wish I could end this. I wish we didn't have to worry about Dr. Wolfe or Jet or even Jack anymore. I want paradise too."
"We're getting close," he whispered.
She tilted her head up and frowned. "I'm pretty sure this is as close as we can get."
He chuckled, his smile spreading and sending her heart into a frenzy again. "No, you silly goose. To paradise."
"Oh. Yeah. Paradise."
Hunter closed her eyes. Will's body rose and fell with each breath and if she listened to it carefully, she could forget everything and lie with him.