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A violent scream erupted froed for her shoulders but pulled himself back He ached to touch her, but he didn’t dare when he kneould only hurt her more

Jack reappeared in the doorway, his mouth ajar and his eyes wide Xavier nervously hovered behind him "Get out!" Braith roared at the a small one back "It is almost done, one way or another, it will be done shortly," Xavier assured him as he pulled Jack away

Braith stalked over and sla to ease the knot of tension and terror that constricted his chest He was shaking as Aria began to moan and tears spilled down her face He curled onto the bed beside her, his two fingers rested lightly on the palm of her extended hand Her eyes, now their beautiful sparkling blue again, met his for a briefher back into its overwhelishly, her eyes barely drifted open before slipping shut again She ached everywhere;Knots twisted through her body as she lay co Even her eyelashes hurt and felt far too heavy, but it wasn’t the sah for the past few days, weeks, hours? She didn’t know anymore, she’d lost all track of time

"Aria" The word, breathed so hopefully, held so much love in it that her deadened heart broke It was different now, completely still, but it was his and alould be "Aria"

"I’ers on her palain to find hinificent, beautiful, and heartbreakingly lost as his gaze searched her face The world was brighter, he was brighter The scars around his eyes werewas more clearly visible For the first ti his irises was actually filled with flecks of sapphire and azure that fascinated her

"Aria?"

Those two fingers were featherlike against her cheek, just barely there, a whisper caress that h, and she didn’t blame him after the events that had just unfolded The faintest touch had been too s to the point that it felt like hot coals were continuously being pressed against her skin She’d been wearing a nightgown but at one point she knew she had ripped it off of herself, unable to take the thin ainst her skin anymore She still felt raw, but it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it had been

"I think I’m ok, I think I made it"

He reverently searched her face, he see was true He looked nearly as broken and beaten as she felt Lines that she’d never noticed before were etched into his face, there were dark shadows under his eyes, and his hair was matted to his forehead They both shed out loud at the realization She’d been hideously smelly when he’d first claimed her as his blood slave, and she was just as bad now that he’d claiain This time, forever

"How do you feel?" he inquired

"Like I died," she answered honestly

His fingers skimmed over her cheeks as he traced a line to her lips Shock flickered through her as she felt a tingling, prickling sensation in response to his tender prodding at her canines Aainst his finger Her gaze flickered to his wrist and the two redthe inside of it

She traced the bite mark as she frowned "Did I do this?"

"You did"

She didn’t knohat to make of that, part of her wanted to cry and the other part was strangely titillated She didn’t recall doing it, but she had a diuely recalled souish for just a brief moment, and now she understood why "Did I hurt you?"

"Nowhere near asI didn’t ask for We both wanted this" She ed a wan smile "And it worked"

He still looked as if he wasn’t completely convinced "It appears to have" She seized hold of his hand, wincing as the motion made her abused muscles throb "You’re still in pain," he accused

"I’m sore," she admitted "But it’s much better than it was"

His hand spread out across her face as he cradled it "Perhaps a bath…"

"Sounds incredible," she agreed eagerly

He erly from the bed, careful not to disturb her as he left the room She listened as he moved around the attached bathroom, surprised by the intensity of the sounds, the acuteness hich she heard theet it over with, to do it, that she hadn’t thought about what it would be like after What the world would becohtening as it was astonishing

Water was turned on; she could al her tender body He was back beside her, his eyes troubled as he knelt at her side "Can I?" he asked as he held his ar as she warily stared at his ared to be in them, but the athered her courage as she erly slid underneath her It was a little uncomfortable, but that iftly buried beneath the rush of pleasure that flooded her sensitized skin Her toes curled as she pressed closer to hih her at the feel of his bare skin against hers Skin, she was beginning to realize, that ht always feel this electrified by his touch

"It’s different," she breathed "It’s all soto study her "Is it unpleasant?"

"No, just so The world is clearer, it’s louder; h it It’s an a but it’s, ah it’s…"