The room smelled of them: musk, salt, earth-deep bond, the lamplight gilding their glistening skin like liquid gold.
She nodded faintly, a small smile curving her lips despite the lingering weakness tugging at her limbs, shifting her hips to draw him deeper one last time, eliciting a shared groan as sparks flared anew.
"The heat... it's quiet now. You chased it away." Her free hand tangled in his hair, pulling him down for another kiss, hungrier at the edges, but he eased back gently, pressing her into the mattress with his bulk, lips trailing to her marked shoulder where he nuzzled the faint scar, teeth grazing possessively without bite.
"Rest, love. You've fought enough... let me hold the line."
Dakota sighed contentedly, body molding pliant to his as exhaustion reclaimed her, but not before her fingers mapped his sweat-damp abs, dipping lower to tease his hipbone, drawing a low chuckle from him that vibrated through her bones.
